Way to dig deep, who knew so much history of the area is available in various locations. You inspire.
I like the top map for perspective. I look forward to seeing the location of Massacre Island and learning more. Seems the French could've used some of this background here before inserting themselves (?) And did it slow or keep others away? Thanks Jill.
Hindsight is 20/20, right? The French couldn't have known in advance of their explorations what they would find, however, you're right in that it wasn't their first event at this rodeo. There are previous accounts of early American history which echo what happened here when the French traded guns to the Ojibway in Minnesota. Where I used to live in the Finger Lakes in upstate New York, it was Hudson (of the famous fur company) who introduced guns to the Haudenosee. The Dutch and British traded guns with them whereas the French traded with the Algonquins and Hurons. I have found so many historical connections between the history in the Finger Lakes and the history in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Oneida tribal reservation here in Wisconsin near where I live has a strong historical connection to the Oneida Nation in NY. The history of colonialists trading guns with tribesmen is overlooked, erased, inverted by our contemporary stereotypes, dontcha think? The points on the map in NY connect to points on the maps in the Midwest. History makes more sense the older I get.
History we are just learning sadly, makes more sense yes. And did the gun trading coinside with the contaminated blanket trading the same years? Thanks Jill.
Can’t really “like” that. Trade blankets to kill 😢🤬. Genocide history as the perps get street names, statues ...and white kids are raised on stories that glorify this untold history.
You’ve sent me on my own hunt ... “Massacre Island” is such an ominous & unforgettable name ... it appears there is some dispute about which of the many Lake of the Woods islands is THE Massacre Island. Love all the history here!
This one is officially named as such and is right over the border the runs across Lake of the Woods so it is now considered part of Ontario, not Minnesota.
Here come the guns. I don't blame the local people on Lake of the Woods for defending their homeland. I look forward to the next installment about war-road. And I loved the skates hanging on the sign. I imagine they have ice again after the recent blast of cold.
Always more to come... although as a reader are these bite-sized pieces TOO small? I think most readers here want something short (TIME!?!) and gives them a little something to chew on after they stop reading. Hopefully it's an invitation to come back next week to learn more?
I definitely like the bite sized pieces. Not only is it easier to work that into the schedule to read, it's also easier to remember everything that you've written in a particular post. A larger post could prove more difficult to consistently remember and connect when reading the next post the next week. Moreover, there is nothing "small" about these pieces. Just because they're not long in length does not mean they are not weighty in nformation, insight, and reflection.
Thanks for letting me know your needs and desires as a reader. Frankly, I'm following my own gut sense that people are overwhelmed by all there is to read on their screens with lots of competition for your attention and time. I am trying to honor that need in readers here while still trying to figure out what to name this thing.
Hi Jill, Last night I struggled with how long to make my substack post. I started out with more than 1,000 words. Then I worked to cut it back and kept cutting, finally ending at 569. I wanted it to be 500 or less, but didn't want to cut out anything else. I'm assuming that that most people don't want to read a long post. Most blog posts are about 300 words. But an internet search on this questions says, "it depends."
Hmm, not being a substack writer, I can only offer perspective from content strategy: short and bite-sized is good, but make it complete. Answer the question that you posed to draw them in, but don’t give all the details. Or plant seeds to nurture their further curiosity. I’m definitely still curious!
Why is it called Warroad isn't actually posed in this post, but I did tease it that way when I shared it on FB this morning. And now I realize how strategic I must be about teasing content on social media....gulp, did I commit the sin of click bait? But stay tuned another week and you'll an answer that may be more than you bargained for. Thanks for the tips on strategy....
I always am reminded in histories like the one you are sharing about all the things we cannot begin to know that led either to conflict or peace. What prior experiences to the arrival of the French led to these choices. And how did this location get the name Warroad?
Thanks, Margaret, for reading and reflecting upon how much we can't know exactly because so much has been erased or ignored or silenced even more than forgotten. That question of how Warroad got its name is what made me dig into this because for me it relies upon an old stereotype of Indians as violent and war-mongering. Yet even the church archival records from the colonial period forward cannot begin to tell us the full story. So much has been lost. But what has been found can be examined anew with the tools of critical reflection and I am to do that.
I remember in your last post your mention of conflict between Dakota and the Ojibway due to French interference. Gosh....this post (well several) reminds me of a ridiculous field trip we had in elementary school in Appleton, WI. We went to see a reenactment of a "Frenchman" and an "Indian" in a canoe, rowing to the shore somewhere along the Fox River. And when they exited the boat, they walked side by side up a grassy and rocky incline, then shook hands when they reached this open, grassy park-like area. Our teacher told us to clap. I remember thinking "I don't get this. This seems made up." I don't know how close or disconnected that reenactment was in illustrating some aspect of Native American-French relations in the early Fox Cities, but I do know that so much of what I was taught and a lot of what I have (even recently) understood to be true or relevant is complete hogwash. And that realization alongside my memory of that school trip (and the Pow Wows our parents took us to in the 1970's) is triggered often when I read these posts, Jill. I feel a bit ashamed and a lot foolish for what a white self aggrandizing and deliberately false set of "facts" and general constructs I believed with little question or skepticism for a long time. Thanks for giving me an opportunity to confront and address that. What a tremendous amount of researching, interviewing, collating and then organizing you've done-- so much information, Jill!
Stephanie, thanks for sharing this childhood memory. Was this at Telulah Park? I can visualize this there easily. Which elementary school did you attend? What year was this (if you don't mind me asking)? This pageantry of a living history field trip sounds like the 60s and for the time was probably a pretty progressive event in Joseph McCarthy's hometown. Kind of a Kumbaya moment? I don't think feeling ashamed or embarrassed helps too much. It is important to recognize those feelings, but I like how you take the opportunity to push past shame to take a deeper look. While you can see now how the whole story had been kept from you then, you can also see how your teachers and parents made sure you had some knowledge and experience that was not directly from a textbook about the American Indian experience. It would be so easy to blame a secret cabal, a conspiracy, for keeping these secrets from us, but the way in which these stories get passed is far more complicated. And today with everything going digital, the likelihood of being buried seems like a new threat in homogenizing the stories.
Way to dig deep, who knew so much history of the area is available in various locations. You inspire.
I like the top map for perspective. I look forward to seeing the location of Massacre Island and learning more. Seems the French could've used some of this background here before inserting themselves (?) And did it slow or keep others away? Thanks Jill.
Hindsight is 20/20, right? The French couldn't have known in advance of their explorations what they would find, however, you're right in that it wasn't their first event at this rodeo. There are previous accounts of early American history which echo what happened here when the French traded guns to the Ojibway in Minnesota. Where I used to live in the Finger Lakes in upstate New York, it was Hudson (of the famous fur company) who introduced guns to the Haudenosee. The Dutch and British traded guns with them whereas the French traded with the Algonquins and Hurons. I have found so many historical connections between the history in the Finger Lakes and the history in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Oneida tribal reservation here in Wisconsin near where I live has a strong historical connection to the Oneida Nation in NY. The history of colonialists trading guns with tribesmen is overlooked, erased, inverted by our contemporary stereotypes, dontcha think? The points on the map in NY connect to points on the maps in the Midwest. History makes more sense the older I get.
History we are just learning sadly, makes more sense yes. And did the gun trading coinside with the contaminated blanket trading the same years? Thanks Jill.
Can’t really “like” that. Trade blankets to kill 😢🤬. Genocide history as the perps get street names, statues ...and white kids are raised on stories that glorify this untold history.
Guns and germs. There are so many instances of both from one coast to the other and over centuries. In a general sense, yes, they coincided.
You’ve sent me on my own hunt ... “Massacre Island” is such an ominous & unforgettable name ... it appears there is some dispute about which of the many Lake of the Woods islands is THE Massacre Island. Love all the history here!
This one is officially named as such and is right over the border the runs across Lake of the Woods so it is now considered part of Ontario, not Minnesota.
Here come the guns. I don't blame the local people on Lake of the Woods for defending their homeland. I look forward to the next installment about war-road. And I loved the skates hanging on the sign. I imagine they have ice again after the recent blast of cold.
Thanks for noticing the skates as Hockeytown USA hosts Minnesota Hockey Day the end of this month and I'll share more about that soon, too.
Fascinating history. I’m hoping you’ll share the answer; I’ve been wondering about the reason behind such a descriptive name.
Always more to come... although as a reader are these bite-sized pieces TOO small? I think most readers here want something short (TIME!?!) and gives them a little something to chew on after they stop reading. Hopefully it's an invitation to come back next week to learn more?
I definitely like the bite sized pieces. Not only is it easier to work that into the schedule to read, it's also easier to remember everything that you've written in a particular post. A larger post could prove more difficult to consistently remember and connect when reading the next post the next week. Moreover, there is nothing "small" about these pieces. Just because they're not long in length does not mean they are not weighty in nformation, insight, and reflection.
Thanks for letting me know your needs and desires as a reader. Frankly, I'm following my own gut sense that people are overwhelmed by all there is to read on their screens with lots of competition for your attention and time. I am trying to honor that need in readers here while still trying to figure out what to name this thing.
Hi Jill, Last night I struggled with how long to make my substack post. I started out with more than 1,000 words. Then I worked to cut it back and kept cutting, finally ending at 569. I wanted it to be 500 or less, but didn't want to cut out anything else. I'm assuming that that most people don't want to read a long post. Most blog posts are about 300 words. But an internet search on this questions says, "it depends."
Thanks for reading. I try to think about what would fit on a postcard in the mail instead of the length of the letter. Though everyone loves letters.
Hmm, not being a substack writer, I can only offer perspective from content strategy: short and bite-sized is good, but make it complete. Answer the question that you posed to draw them in, but don’t give all the details. Or plant seeds to nurture their further curiosity. I’m definitely still curious!
Why is it called Warroad isn't actually posed in this post, but I did tease it that way when I shared it on FB this morning. And now I realize how strategic I must be about teasing content on social media....gulp, did I commit the sin of click bait? But stay tuned another week and you'll an answer that may be more than you bargained for. Thanks for the tips on strategy....
I always am reminded in histories like the one you are sharing about all the things we cannot begin to know that led either to conflict or peace. What prior experiences to the arrival of the French led to these choices. And how did this location get the name Warroad?
Thanks, Margaret, for reading and reflecting upon how much we can't know exactly because so much has been erased or ignored or silenced even more than forgotten. That question of how Warroad got its name is what made me dig into this because for me it relies upon an old stereotype of Indians as violent and war-mongering. Yet even the church archival records from the colonial period forward cannot begin to tell us the full story. So much has been lost. But what has been found can be examined anew with the tools of critical reflection and I am to do that.
I remember in your last post your mention of conflict between Dakota and the Ojibway due to French interference. Gosh....this post (well several) reminds me of a ridiculous field trip we had in elementary school in Appleton, WI. We went to see a reenactment of a "Frenchman" and an "Indian" in a canoe, rowing to the shore somewhere along the Fox River. And when they exited the boat, they walked side by side up a grassy and rocky incline, then shook hands when they reached this open, grassy park-like area. Our teacher told us to clap. I remember thinking "I don't get this. This seems made up." I don't know how close or disconnected that reenactment was in illustrating some aspect of Native American-French relations in the early Fox Cities, but I do know that so much of what I was taught and a lot of what I have (even recently) understood to be true or relevant is complete hogwash. And that realization alongside my memory of that school trip (and the Pow Wows our parents took us to in the 1970's) is triggered often when I read these posts, Jill. I feel a bit ashamed and a lot foolish for what a white self aggrandizing and deliberately false set of "facts" and general constructs I believed with little question or skepticism for a long time. Thanks for giving me an opportunity to confront and address that. What a tremendous amount of researching, interviewing, collating and then organizing you've done-- so much information, Jill!
Stephanie, thanks for sharing this childhood memory. Was this at Telulah Park? I can visualize this there easily. Which elementary school did you attend? What year was this (if you don't mind me asking)? This pageantry of a living history field trip sounds like the 60s and for the time was probably a pretty progressive event in Joseph McCarthy's hometown. Kind of a Kumbaya moment? I don't think feeling ashamed or embarrassed helps too much. It is important to recognize those feelings, but I like how you take the opportunity to push past shame to take a deeper look. While you can see now how the whole story had been kept from you then, you can also see how your teachers and parents made sure you had some knowledge and experience that was not directly from a textbook about the American Indian experience. It would be so easy to blame a secret cabal, a conspiracy, for keeping these secrets from us, but the way in which these stories get passed is far more complicated. And today with everything going digital, the likelihood of being buried seems like a new threat in homogenizing the stories.