A Cross-Border Visit: It was nice to hear that the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Alder got to travel this week from its home port in Duluth up to Thunder Bay to do a little more ice breaking in anticipation of next Wednesday's opening of the Soo Locks. (In a late announcement, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced the opening moved up from midnight March 25 to noon March 24.) Although the crew did encounter ice to shove aside, there also appeared to be plenty of open water around the Sleeping Giant. A fun sped-up video shows the Alder "making big ice cubs into small ice cubes" in what the captain's wife calls "silly circles". The crew also gave her a shout-out for her birthday on St. Pat's Day. Meanwhile, this week it was announced that the border closure will continue at least until April 21. The border has been closed to non-essential land crossings since March 21, 2020 - so one year come Sunday.
Living with Ma'iingan: Wisconsin undertook a hunting season this year of gray wolves, as allowed by changes in the species' federal status, and the regional tribes claimed, as they can by treaty rights, 50% of the quota the state set for all hunters. That left 119 wolves for non-tribal members, according to a WUWM story, though within the first three days of the weeklong hunt, non-tribal hunters killed 215 wolves – about 20% of the estimated 1,000+ wolf population in the state. The tribes chose not to kill any wolves, which are considered sacred within the Ojibwe culture. Ojibwe narratives cast Wolf as the first friend (or more of a brother) and traveling companion to the Original Man; together they named all other parts of creation. The WUWM story quotes Abi Fergus, a wildlife specialist for the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, about her desire for the state to work more closely with the tribes in better understanding the predator's role in the local ecosystem and to plan accordingly. Bad River created a Ma'iingan Relationship Plan in 2019 that designates the wolf as a tribally protected species. In the plan, where this photo by Abi Fergus appears, it also reports on a 2009 study by Victoria Shelley, a graduate student of the Carnivore Coexistence Lab of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In her research, Victoria conducted a random survey of tribal and non-tribal residents in northern Wisconsin to judge the differences on views about wolves, as shown in the pie graphs here on just one question. Anishinaabe writer and scholar Thomas D. Peacock recently had published his fictional book The Wolf's Trail, The Ojibwe Story, Told by Wolves based on Ojibwe narratives and history. Find more about Tom's work on that book on our website.
Maggie's Moments: An all-call has been sent out for fans of the recently closed Maggie's in Bayfield, Wis., and for fans of the funky-fun restaurant's founder, the late Mary Rice. Graphic designer/artist/author Ros Nelson is working with Mary's daughters , Katherine and Molly, to create a celebratory book about the history of Maggie’s. "We are busy going through the considerable piles of memorabilia: menus, labels, notes, schedules, lists, T-shirts … and, we need your help," notes Ros. They are asking for stories and photos from former employees, regulars at the restaurant or others with memories of eating in the flamingo-festooned establishment. Plus they are looking for special memories of Mary, too, an equally flamboyant figure of influence and generosity in the community (seen here during a Bayfield parade). We loved Ros' "memory
joggers," which certainly show the tenor of the restaurant and its founder: Lutefisk dinners, Anniversaries, Parades, Birthdays, Workplace romances, Mass band, Ethnic dinners, Recipes & Menus, Special customers (good, bad, and ugly!), Flamingos and the train, Tending bar. The work on the book is well under way, so send your memories soon to Ros at ros@winternet.com.
When 'Being Under Water' Is a Good Thing: Tamara Thomsen, a Wisconsin maritime archeologist, diver and photographer extraordinaire, is celebrating the 25th anniversary of her Diversions Scuba shop in Madison. You might think the shop a little far afield from the Big Lake to note such an accomplishment, but then you don't know Tamara. She has been the power behind getting more than 40 shipwrecks in Wisconsin waters onto the National Register of Historic Places, including many in Lake Superior. She's part of the crew behind one of our favorite shipwreck websites: Wisconsinshipwrecks.org. She's a regular speaker and exhibitor at the Gales of November program in Duluth, and she also has taught numerous people the joys of diving in the Great Lakes, inland lakes, rivers and almost any place with water in a hole. She done special emphasis on teaching women about recreational diving. On the dive shop's website is a nice tribute video. The Capital Times did a wonderful Q&A with her in 2016. Congrats to Tami and her crew.
At the Rock: Hayes Scriven, the newest keeper of the Split Rock Lighthouse in Minnesota, has discovered renewed passion for photography on the North Shore. Brett Scott of Fox21 recently did an interview with the site manager of the lighthouse about his photo work. Hayes and his family live on-site all year at the historic locale. The pandemic shutdowns gave Hayes some extra time with his camera, he tells Brett. “I want people to realize that you should try to slow down and find the beauty in the little things in life,” Hayes says. Besides seeing his work (and that of others) on the Split Rock Lighthouse Facebook page, Hayes also has his own Facebook photography page worth following.
Adoption Kits: We're liking this idea from the Great Lakes Aquarium of getting "adoption kits" as gifts for yourself or others. Each kit has a stuffed representation of the animal or fish, an adoption certificate, an informational card about your animal and a Great Lakes Aquarium tote bag. Among the adoptable critters are bald eagles, chipmunks, skunks, sturgeon, trout (looks like a rainbow to us), zebra sharks, opossums and otters. In this image, the GLA opossum in residence, Socks, shares a snack with his stuffy representation. The aquarium is open for visitation and has its Animal March Madness under way. Next week's round will match up, through multiple animal enrichments, Freeway the American crow, Hollywood the muskie and Mazda the longhorn cowfish. Who will move up on the GLA bracket board?
OverTheWaves
They're Baaaack: And we're glad they are. Our two traveling friends have uploaded more views and news from the Big Lake neighborhood for us to enjoy. Bick Smith of CyBick Productions in Oakdale, Minn., brings to us another "Over the Waves" presentation from his fall trip to Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula. Bick tells us this comes from his visit to the "epicenter of Finnish-American history and archives … in Hancock, Mich." He's speaking, of course, of Finlandia University. As Bick notes (backed up by establishment of the Keweenaw National Historical Park), "There’s a lot of culture packed into the Keweenaw Peninsula." On the other side of the border, our friend from Toronto, Andy Kaknevicius of 4-FUN Video Productions, has three new episodes of his Lake Superior Circle Tour documentary series to share. (We love this little note about the Circle Tour he put up with a video during the hiatus between episodes.) In "Superior Inspirations" he rides the Agawa Canyon Tour Train to explore the history of the Group of Seven artists and several picturesque locations they discovered a century ago in the Algoma Region. Then in "Faces of Gitchee Goomee," Andy introduces us to Shane "Spike" Mills, a Michipicoten First Nation artist inspired by the Big Lake and the surrounding forest. As Andy says of Spike, "He is a master woodcarver, artist, author who has signed his totem style creatures as Gitchee Goomee, his Goomees. His story is one of a lifelong spiritual connection with Lake Superior wrapped in tragedy, mystery that has morphed into fine art and a variety of fun-loving Disneylike creatures in wood. His story is captivating." Finally, Andy flies us up and over from a sea plane base in Wawa to Kabinakagami Lake in the northern Algoma region for "Watson's Windy Point Lodge." Nice to have you back, fellows, to help us do a little arm-chair traveling and dreaming.
Photo & graphic credits: USCG cutter Alder; Abi Fergus/Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa; Ros Nelson; Tamara Thomsen; Hayes Scriven; Great Lakes Aquarium; CyBick Productions; 4-FUN Video Productions