It Happens Here: The Roots of Racism on the North Shore

“It Happens Here” was launched in 2022 to explore the question, “Who are WE, anyway, when it comes to racism and inequality in our community?” Since then, we’ve explored the diverse history of Cook County, learned about the different forms of racism, and shared the knowledge and experiences of people of color and diversity trainers related to the history of racism and unequal power dynamics on the North Shore.

In this final episode, we review the tools that are needed to undo institutional racism in our community, including listening to each other, holding our institutions accountable, respecting others’ experiences, and organizing “with intelligence and integrity” with others, in order to create positive change. You’ll hear the perspectives of Grand Portage elder and Diversity Trainer John Morrin, community member Bea Sorenson, and Brandon Schorsh, community organizer and outreach coordinator for Jewish Community Action in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

It Happens Here launched in 2022 as a way to explore who we are as a community, and how Cook County fits into the bigger picture when it comes to the problem of racism. Since then we have learned a lot about the diverse history of the North Shore, explored the differences between micro-forms of racism and institutional racism, and worked with historians, scholars, and anti-racism trainers to help us navigate this often difficult and murky terrain.
In Episode 19 we look at how positive change can happen through the hard work of community members who serve as allies alongside people of color. We hear from Grand Portage elder and anti-racism trainer John Morrin, Bois Forte bandmember and diversity trainer Christina Woods, as well as some familiar voices from the WTIP community, who have covered the news and helped steer earlier conversations about racism.

This segment is written and produced by Staci Drouillard and co-hosted by Tyler Howell.

In Episode 18 of “It Happens Here,” Staci Drouillard and Tyler Howell discuss the complicated nature of cultural symbols. With insights by John Morrin, Brandon Schorsch and Professor Anton Treuer. Morrin shares how offensive symbols, like cigar store Indians and US Army commercials, perpetuate negative stereotypes about Native Americans. Treuer emphasizes the need to contextualize harmful symbols , rather than celebratory settings. Brandon Schorsch from Jewish Community Action highlights the disparity in hate crime data across different countries. The episode also explores the tension between free speech and public harm, particularly in educational settings, and the role of colonialism in shaping American culture.

Read the full transcript: It Happens Here_Ep 18_Symbols_otter_ai

It Happens Here is an award-winning series that explores the historical roots of race-based inequity on the North Shore. Episodes in the series explore the question, “how do we fit into the larger picture when it comes to racism and racial inequity.”
In Episode 17 Grand Portage elder and diversity trainer John Morrin and Ojibwe language and culture teacher Anton Treuer take on “internalized negative stereotypes” and the danger of relying on a single story, when it comes to understanding the diverse and complex nature of our communities.

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The mission of this ongoing series is to explore where our community fits into the bigger picture of racial inequality and the history of our public institutions. In Episode 16 hosts Staci Drouillard and Tyler Howell present an early history of schools on the North Shore of Lake Superior, beginning with the very first religious-run school on the banks of Omiimiiziibi-The Pigeon River. Additional voices include John Morrin, Dr. Brenda Child, Tim Cochrane, Anton Treuer and other community members.

Jim Giizhik and Charles A. A. Nelson

Alta McQuatters has lived in Lutsen, Minnesota for 80 years. Her great-grandfather is Jim Giizhik, an Anishinaabe man who lived at the mouth of the Poplar River along with his family, when the Treaty of 1854 first opened up the North Shore to white settlers. In 1885 the fisherman Charles A. A. Nelson filed a homestead patent for the land where Giizhik lived. Competing with at least two others, Nelson secured 160 acres for the sum of $12.00 and by 1893 Charles and his wife Anna had built “Lutzen House”–the first lodge on the North Shore.
Jim Giizhik was allowed to stay, and the two men “became good friends,” according to Alta. Giizhik and his son White Sky helped the Nelsons keep the kitchen larder full, sharing hunting and gathering duties during the early days of Lutsen Resort. The Giizhik family cabin remained at the mouth of the Poplar, until it was moved to the Mink Ranch, north of Highway 61 in Lutsen. Miigwech to Alta McQuatters and Prof. Anton Treuer for contributing to this episode. Photos courtesy of Alta McQuatters.

Read the full transcript here: It Happens Here_Homestead

This episode takes a look at how curriculum in our public schools has been shaped over many years and the current controversy over “Critical Race Theory.” Calling on the expertise and personal experience of Diversity Trainer Christina Woods, Grand Portage Tribal Citizen and DEI Trainer John Morrin and BSU Professor Anton Treuer, we learn more about BIPOC efforts to include a broad history of the United States in social studies and history courses in the state of Minnesota and here in Cook County.

Listen to the full transcript here.

This episode of It Happens Here focuses on the history of the U.S./Canada border and how the physical border upended the social boundaries of Ojibwe families from Grand Portage to Lake Nipigon. Featuring interviews with David Thompson, Ojibwe/Anishinaabe from Lake Nipigon, North Shore historian Tim Cochrane and the late Norman Deschampe, Grand Portage Tribal Chair for 27 years.

This segment explores the Ojibwe world views about traditional territory and adds historical perspective about the two traditional classifications of land: 1) land that is shared and 2) land that is exclusive of all others. Drawing from the perspectives of former Grand Portage Chairman Norman Deschampe and Bemidji State University Professor Anton Treuer, we learn how conflicting views about “owning” land have created past and present misunderstandings about treaties, access to ceded territory and tribal sovereignty.

In this episode of “It Happens Here,” U of MN Professor Brenda Child discusses the role that the Federal Boarding School system played in the dispossession of Native American people from their homelands. She also explains the connection between federally-run boarding schools and the establishment of government land policy toward Native American tribes as enforced by the Allotment(Dawes) Act of 1887 through the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.

To learn more on this topic we recommend the book “Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families, 1900-1940,” Brenda Child, University of Nebraska Press, 1998.

This episode features the recollections of Grand Portage elder John Morrin, whose parents were taken to boarding schools at Pipestone and Red Lake, Minnesota. Bemidji State University Professor Anton Treuer shares more about the history of the Carlisle Industrial School and Brenda Child, a U of MN Northrup professor of American Studies talks about the relationship between early mission schools, the first on-reservation schools and the Federal Indian Boarding School system.

To learn more on this topic we recommend the book “Boarding School Seasons: American Indian Families, 1900-1940,” Brenda Child, University of Nebraska Press, 1998.

Featuring the insights of John Morrin and Anton Treuer, this episode explores how “day one” of colonization took shape for the people of Omiimii Ziibing–the Pigeon River.
“It Happens Here” is hosted by Leah Lemm, produced and written by Staci Drouillard.

In this episode of It Happens Here WTIP continues to take a hard look at the three levels of racism: Micro (individual acts), Meso (institutionally constructed) and Macro (a wide lens), specifically the Meso level where the patterns, policies and procedures that uphold the tenants of racism are constructed and supported on an organizational or institutional level. Featuring community voices and the insight of Bemidji State University Professor and anti-racism trainer Anton Treuer.

It Happens Here is an ongoing series that explores the roots of racial inequity on the North Shore of Minnesota. In this episode, Bemidji State University Ojibwe Language Professor, and anti-racism trainer Anton Treuer explains the three different levels of racism: Micro, Meso and Macro, and shares his insight about why even the word “racism” can cause confusion, when the focus is on racist acts at the Micro or Macro level.

In this episode, Tim Cochrane, Christina Woods and John Morrin contribute to the history of religious conversion on the North Shore, as it relates to the Lake Superior Ojibwe at Grand Portage and Ft. William. We learn how the arrival of the Jesuits on the North Shore helped to shape and enforce the newly defined International Border, divide Anishinaabe people and even change the names of some very well-known landmarks on the North Shore.

It Happens Here is an ongoing series that explores the roots of racial inequity on the North Shore. In this segment, John Morrin and Christina Woods discuss how the negative words of history contribute to modern stereotypes and the development of implicit bias.

It Happens Here Ep. 4 – Asterisks. This segment looks at the history and modern implications of checking boxes and what Christina Woods calls the “gatekeeping” of our history. Christina is a citizen of the Bois Forte Nation, executive director of the Duluth Art Institute and trainer for the Diversity Institute. This segment also includes the insights of John Morrin, Grand Portage band member and trainer for the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond.

It Happens Here is a production of WTIP North Shore Community Radio and is funded by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

It Happens Here is an ongoing series that explores the history of racial inequality in the communities that live in far, northeastern Minnesota. In this segment, we continue to explore the cultural and land history of Minong—or Isle Royale, which was recognized as the “Traditional Cultural Property” of the Grand Portage Ojibwe in July of 2019.

To learn more we recommend the book “Minong – The Good Place: Ojibwe and Isle Royale,” Tim Cochrane, Michigan State University Press, 2009.

Episode 2: Forever is about historical connection that the Grand Portage Ojibwe have to Minong–Isle Royale. We learn about the ancient history of the Ojibwe people and discover when Anishinaabe people first arrived on the North Shore. Features interviews with John Morrin, Anton Treuer and Tim Cochrane.

To learn more we recommend the book “Minong – The Good Place: Ojibwe and Isle Royale,” Tim Cochrane, Michigan State University Press, 2009.

WTIP asks, “who are WE, anyway?” In the first episode of this ongoing series, hosts Leah Lemm and Staci Drouillard explore how Cook County fits into the bigger picture when it comes to racial inequity on the North Shore.