The Bois Forte reservation is home to the Bois Forte band of Lake Superior Chippewa. These are Ojibwe people or Anishinabe.
Nett Lake is a small village on the reservation. It’s more than 60 miles away from any other town. There is one road in and one road out. The small houses, the elementary school, the tribal government building, the clinic, and the convenience store are snuggled along the shore of the waterway that is Nett Lake. About 150 people live here.
Historically the Anishinabe people of Nett Lake lived off the land. They spent weeks with extended family in ricing camps, maple sugar camps, tending gardens, gathering plants, hunting game. This is where Nett Lakers strengthened bonds, spoke their language, observed tradition, practiced their spirituality.
Generations of historical trauma brought on by broken treaties, the forced break up of families through foster care and boarding schools, and the resulting epidemic of addiction, rocked Nett Lake and the traditions that strengthened its Anishinabe culture.
The elders who remember being part of the rich traditional practices are passing on and they worry that as they go, their traditions will also go —and the Bois Forte nation will be weaker as a result. They worry — we’ve lost so much already — can we afford to lose any more?
But some in the younger generations are embracing new ways to stay connected. They are taking to the airwaves to strengthen their Anishinabe culture and to remain a strong sovereign nation.