Red Lake Nation, Minnesota Historical Society collaborate on history project

By Molly Miron Pioneer Editor

From birch bark canoes to basketball teams and casinos, new displays at Red Lake explore the history of the Red Lake Nation.

The project, a collaboration between the Red Lake Archive and the Minnesota Historical Society, depicts highlights of Red Lake history through historic photos and quotes from Red Lake Nation members.

“The messages on the panels emphasize the long existence of the Red Lake community, its uniqueness in surviving and its resistance to attempts to divide its land while holding on to its cultural traditions,” said Susanna Short, coordinator for the Indian Advisory Committee of the Minnesota Historical Society.

Jody Beaulieu, Red Lake archivist and a longtime member of the society’s Indian Advisory Committee, said a Red Lake timeline has been on display since 1990. The new 4-by-8-foot panels update the history exhibit in a compelling format, she said. Each of the reservation schools

Ponemah, Red Lake Elementary, Red Lake Middle and Red Lake High and St. Mary’s Mission, received a copy of the display. A sixth panel is in the archives center at Red Lake.

“I took a smaller version to Harriet Island to the American Indian Festival over the weekend,” said Beaulieu. “It went over real well.”

She said people asked her how they could obtain copies.

Short said the team began working on the historical display in May as a way to reach out to the grieving Red Lake Nation.

“When I talked with Jody, she immediately brought up the timeline,” Short said. “It seemed like a good fit. All of the (Historical Society) staff who worked on it enjoyed it so much because we worked with the tribal archive.”

She said DIGIgraphics, the company that printed the graphics, also enjoyed the opportunity to take part in a creative effort. Many of the photos are from the Historical Society collection, she said.

“The picture really are compelling,” Short said. “You would think the people in them could almost speak to you. Everybody who went by was immediately drawn to it.”

She said the Red Lake people who watched the assembly of the panels last week also pointed out people in the historical photos whom they knew.