By Jannet L. Walsh
Sept. 22, 2021
Murdock, Minnesota
Greetings!
I’m just back from the Good Place, or Minong, located in the middle of Lake Superior.
Just off the North Shore of Lake Superior near Grand Portage, Minnesota, not far from the Canadian border, there’s an island humans have been visiting for about the last 4,500 years. Minong, meaning the Good Place in the Ojibwa language, is an ancient name for Isle Royale, an archipelago, and part of the ancestral land of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, commonly known as the Grand Portage Anishinaabe, or Ojibwe.
Video – I’ve created a video to share my experience. I estimate I had about 10 to 12 encounters with moose, all cows and calves, no bulls, during my visit to Isle Royale. Learn more about Isle Royale National Park at the National Park Service website.
I was camping and hiking at Isle Royale National Park, Michigan, a wilderness island, Aug. 25-31, 2021. I took the Voyageur II ferry from Grand Portage, Minnesota, to Windigo, the nearest location of the island to Minnesota. I spent my days writing, photographing and exploring nature, especially enjoying visits with resident moose. As all good things must come to and end, I returned to the mainland glad to stand firmly on the shores of Lake Superior in Grand Portage.
Learn more about the American Indian heritage and culture, and Minong at the National Park Service website, or at the official website of Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.
2016 Isle Royale video and blog – Here’s a link to my blog and video from 2016 at my teaching website.
Best wishes,
About the writer – Jannet L. Walsh, of Murdock, Minnesota, is a photographer, writer, and educator. She is the author of forthcoming creative nonfiction quest narrative Higgledy-Piggledy Stones: Family Stories from Ireland and Minnesota, scheduled publication is 2023 by Shanti Arts Publishing. Follow Walsh on Facebook and Twitter.
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