It Happens Here: The Roots of Racial Inequity on the North Shore

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.

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.