Snowshoe hikes in Porkies to be held Jan. 19, 26

SILVER CITY, MICH. -- Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, located on the south shore of Lake Superior near Silver City in Ontonagon County, is offering guided snowshoe hikes on Saturdays in January. Two more hikes are scheduled -- for Jan. 19 and Jan. 26.

All experience levels are welcome. Meet at 1 p.m. EST at the log cabin between the open slope and the chalet near the ski hill. See the map for directions. The group will stop at East Visa to take in the view, then trek through untouched snow on the way down. Participants are encouraged to bring a camera on this picturesque hike.

The park has extra snowshoes available to borrow for those who do not have their own; simply arrive a few minutes early. The hikes is 1.5 - 2 hours and of moderate difficulty. Participants can take part in this hike, then make some new "trails" of their own.

If the weather is not favorable for snowshoeing, the event may be canceled. Please call ahead to inquire about cancellations by calling 906-885-5206.

For more information on winter recreation opportunities at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, call (906) 885-5275 or visit www.mi.gov/porkiesvc.

What's with the Russians and ballet?

By Jennifer Donovan, Michigan Tech Public Relations Director

HOUGHTON -- Ever wonder why ballet is so important to Russian culture? Interested in learning more about classical Russian and American Ballet? If so, Michigan Tech's Rozsa Center invites you to attend Ballet 101, a pre-performance discussion of classical Russian and American ballet, by Donna Armistead, Mary Muncil and Elizaveta Egorova, at 6 p.m. this Saturday, Jan. 19, in the Rozsa Center Lobby.

Ballet 101 will feature a panel discussion and brief demonstration of traditional ballet movement and gesture, and will explore the history and culture of classical Russian ballet. Armistead, a local dance educator and choreographer, will focus the discussion specifically on the ballet Sleeping Beauty, to be performed by the Russian National Ballet Theatre later that evening.*

Armistead is an admissions assistant at Tech and a former principal dancer with the Ballet Dance Theatre of Boston and the Buffalo Ballet Theatre. Mancil is head coach for the University's Competitive Cheer Team and Dance Team. She also coordinates Tech's youth dance program and pilates program.** Egorova is a PhD candidate in electrical and computer engineering, specializing in power and energy systems. She is from Russia.

Ballet 101 is free, and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. 

* Click here to read about the Russian National Ballet performances coming to the Rozsa Center Friday, Jan. 18, and Saturday, Jan. 19. You do not need to attend the ballet to attend Ballet 101.

** Click here to read about Michigan Tech's Power Pilates classes.

Green Film Series continues at Michigan Tech, beginning Jan. 17

HOUGHTON -- The Green Film Series at Michigan Tech will continue to present issues and dialogue one Thursday each month, January-May 2013. The events will take place from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Atrium and G002 Hesterberg Hall, Noblet Forestry Building, on the Michigan Tech campus.

Coffee, dessert and facilitated discussion will follow each film. Cost: Free, $3 suggested donation.

The series begins this Thursday, Jan. 17, with the 29-minute film River Planet, which explores the very different environmental, cultural and social issues around how humans and wildlife interact with six major rivers on our planet. The discussion facilitator for this film will be Evan McDonald, Keweenaw Land Trust. He will discuss local efforts to protect the Pilgrim River Watershed -- a local area vulnerable to urban development.

Here is the schedule of films to follow:

Feb. 21: Last Call at the Oasis -- Be it through consumption or contamination, water is becoming more scarce globally, including in the United States. (108 min.)
Discussion Facilitator: Prof. Alex Mayer, Michigan Tech Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

March 14: The Strange Disappearance of the Bees -- Across the globe, the disturbing mass death of bees has more than just beekeepers worried -- at least one-third of the world’s food relies on bee pollination. (58 min.)
Discussion Facilitator: Melissa Hronkin, apiarist and proprietor of Algomah Acres Honey Farm.

April 18: Switch -- Join energy visionary Scott Tinker as he explores the world’s leading energy sites, from coal to solar, oil to biofuels, many highly restricted and never before seen on film. (98 min.)
Discussion Facilitator: Prof. Wayne Pennington, chair, Michigan Tech Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences.

May 9: Chasing Ice -- Acclaimed environmental photographer James Balog ventures to the Arctic to document the melting of ice mountains using state-of-the-art, time-lapse photography. Chasing Ice depicts a photographer trying to deliver evidence and hope to our carbon-powered planet. (76 min.)
Discussion Facilitator: Prof. Sarah Green, chair, Michigan Tech Department of Chemistry.

The Green Film Series is Cosponsored by Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative, Michigan Tech Center for Water and Society, Keweenaw Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and Keweenaw Land Trust.

Finlandia Gallery to exhibit "Matthew J. Frock: Love Squared" Jan. 17 - Feb. 16

HANCOCK -- "Matthew J. Frock: Love Squared" will be featured at the Finlandia University Gallery, located in the Finnish American Heritage Center, Hancock, from Jan. 17 to Feb. 16, 2013.

Love 24, by Matthew J. Frock. (Photos courtesy Finlandia University)

An opening reception for the artist will take place at the gallery from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 17. The reception is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

In this exhibit of more than twenty original illustrations, artist and writer Matthew Frock invites the viewer to journey to the planet Earl where scientists Gary and Ronda are about to discover a new and mysterious energy and make "Love Squared."

In preparation for their space journey, Gary and Ronda have converted Ronda’s house into a spaceship. But before they lift off, they must face some obstacles, including "Earl bureaucracy, daytime-television, and mob mentality," according to a synopsis of the book on Frock’s website.

Love 27, by Matthew J. Frock. Acrylaguache on illustration board, 2011.

Frock explains that Love Squared is intended to enlighten and instill a state of reflection in the reader. He describes it as "humorous confirmation for like-minded readers and a cuddly, warm arguing gun for those who would be at odds."

At least, in Frock’s mind it is these things. He adds that the audience is always entitled to their own interpretation of his writing and his humorous, thought-provoking illustrations.

"As a painter, the documentation of vision is a given. It goes with the territory," Frock notes in his artist’s statement. "As an artist, I insist the visions I pursue be meaningful and provide my audience with a beneficial experience. Love Squared falls within these parameters."

Love Squared is Frock’s first illustrated book. He says the book "began as a single paragraph and in my mind it was an overly ambitious animated film that I’d never be able to afford to make."

However, his vision persisted and he recalls that once he began the writing process, his ideas flowed as if "the book needed to write itself and I was merely a conduit."

Artist Matthew J. Frock.

"I wrote the story in a week," Frock says. "It flowed like the stream of consciousness my ideas are written in, except in far greater detail."

Frock created more than 30 illustrations for Love Squared using acryla-guache on illustration board.

Frock received a bachelor of fine arts in illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, and a master of fine arts in painting from The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, Pa. He currently teaches art at the Haverford School in Haverford, Pa. Visit his website at matthewjfrock.com.

"Love Squared" will be on display through Feb.16, 2013.

The Finlandia University Gallery is in the Finnish American Heritage Center, 435 Quincy Street, Hancock. Gallery hours are Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Thursday 8 a.m.to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., or by appointment.

For more information, contact gallery director Carrie Flaspohler at 906-487-7500 or carrie.flaspohler@finlandia.edu.

Idle No More movement honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on his birthday

Photo courtesy #idlenomore, Facebook page for the Idle No More movement, posted on Jan. 15, 2013, birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Reprinted with permission.

Keweenaw Now extends thanks to the Idle No More Facebook page (#idlenomore) for permission to publish the above photo of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His statement is an inspiration for their peaceful global protest to reclaim indigenous people's rights to their treaty rights and protection of land and water.

Thanks also to #idlenomore for posting a link to our Jan. 14, 2013, article, "Videos, photos: KBIC Idle No More Rally/Walk expresses solidarity on protecting treaty rights, environment," on the Jan. 11, 2013, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Idle No More Rally/Walk in Baraga.

Michigan Tech to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., at banquet Jan. 21

HOUGHTON --  The 24th annual MLK banquet will be held from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 21, in Michigan Tech's MUB Ballroom. The event will feature guest speaker Dr. Tricia Rose, who will give a presentation on the history of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Legacies of the Civil Rights Era. Tickets are free and can be picked up at Hamar House, Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI), on the Michigan Tech campus.

For more information contact Dr. Renee Wells, CDI assistant director, at (906) 487-1829.

Russian National Ballet to perform Jan. 18, 19, at Rozsa

A scene from Cinderella by the Russian National Ballet, coming to the Rozsa Center this Friday, Jan. 18, along with Sleeping Beauty, Saturday, Jan. 19. (Photo courtesy Rozsa Center)

HOUGHTON -- Michigan Technological University’s Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts will present two magical nights of incomparable Russian ballet! Direct from Moscow, the Russian National Ballet Theatre, featuring fifty of Russia’s finest dancers, will perform two timeless ballet pieces, Cinderella on Friday, Jan. 18, and Sleeping Beauty, on Saturday, Jan. 19, at 7:30 p.m. each evening.

According to Rozsa Center Director Susanna Brent, "…the Russian National Ballet Theatre is an institution in Russian Ballet. Legendary Bolshoi principal dancer Elena Radchenko, the founder of the Russian National Ballet Theatre, has focused the company on upholding the grand, national tradition of the major Russian ballet works."

Cinderella: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 18

On the first of two nights, they will perform Cinderella, Rostislav Zakharov’s 1945 ballet for the Bolshoi seen as the first landmark Cinderella. Zakharov was then the Bolshoi’s principal choreographer, and he conceived the work at a time when the Soviets were in a celebratory mood: the German World War II invasion had been beaten back and a new ballet was needed which could serve as a metaphor for triumph over tyranny. The great Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev created a definitive score for Cinderella, and the work received a triumphant premiere on Nov. 21, 1945, at the Bolshoi Theatre.

Prokofiev dedicated his composition to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, saying "…. I see Cinderella not only as a fairy-tale character but also as a real person, feeling, experiencing, and moving among us. What I wished to express above all in the music of Cinderella was the poetic love of Cinderella and the Prince, the birth and flowering of that love, the obstacles in its path and finally the dream fulfilled."

Sleeping Beauty: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19

On the second evening, the Russian National Ballet Theatre performs perhaps the greatest of Russian ballets: Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty, a crowning jewel of the preeminent 19th-Century choreographer Marius Petipa's career. Although not immediately well received at its premiere on Jan. 15, 1889, Sleeping Beauty is often considered the finest achievement of the classical ballet. It is a grandiose and refined blending of the traditional, expressive, and spectacular -- in a lavish theatrical setting. Tchaikovsky was delighted with the invitation to write the music for a ballet based on Charles Perrault's well-known fairy tale. The Sleeping Beauty was the first of Petipa's classics to be seen in Western Europe. Under the title The Sleeping Princess, it was presented by Sergei Diaghilev (1872-1929) in London in 1921. In 1939, it was remounted in Great Britain and has been considered the foundation of the Classical ballet repertory in that country ever since. It has now been adopted worldwide, and performance of the leading role remains a kind of initiation rite for aspiring ballerinas.

Further, if great classical Russian ballet is not enough, Rozsa guests who arrive early will be treated to an added bonus each evening: At 6 p.m. on Friday a reception and gallery opening  titled "The People Respond: Paintings by Miguel Levy," will take place in the Rozsa Gallery. Saturday, patrons are invited to a "Ballet 101" workshop to be presented at 6 p.m. in the Rozsa Lobby. Tickets to the Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty performances are not required to attend either the gallery reception or the ballet workshop, and both are free and open to the public.

The Russian National Ballet Theatre performances are sponsored by the James and Margaret Black Endowment.

Tickets to the ballet performances each evening are $28.75, adults; $26.75, seniors; and $24.75 for students. To purchase tickets, please call (906) 487-2073, go online at rozsa.mtu.edu, or visit Ticketing Operations at Michigan Tech’s Student Development Complex (SDC), 600 MacInnes Drive, in Houghton. SDC box office hours are 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. Saturday and 12 noon - 8 p.m. on Sunday. Please note the Rozsa Box Office is closed during regular business hours and will only open two hours prior to show times.

Rozsa Gallery to host exhibit of paintings by Miguel Levy

"Free Gaza!" painting by Miguel Levy. (Photo courtesy Rozsa Center)

HOUGHTON -- The Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts presents "The People Respond: Paintings By Miguel Levy" in the Rozsa Gallery, opening this Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, with a reception for the artist at 6 p.m. Come explore Levy’s expressive, powerful paintings depicting people in times of crisis. Witness resistance and human courage through the eyes of this self-taught painter and Michigan Tech professor. The exhibit will run for four weeks, until Friday, Feb. 15, 2013, and is free and open to the public.

Miguel Levy is a Professor of Physics and Materials Science working in photonics at Michigan Tech. He is also a self-taught artist. He was born in Lima, Peru, and lived in New York City for more than 20 years before moving to Houghton in March 2000.

According to Levy, "History is not made up of the actions of presidents, generals and prime ministers. History is made by ordinary people in their millions and hundreds of millions standing up against injustice and for a better life….It is this courage that the exhibit aims to recapture."

Rozsa Gallery hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday - Friday. Rozsa Gallery events are sponsored in part by the James and Margaret Black Endowment.

Videos, photos: KBIC Idle No More Rally/Walk expresses solidarity on protecting treaty rights, environment

By Michele Bourdieu

Participants in the Jan. 11, 2013, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) Idle No More Rally/Walk set out from Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College and walk to the KBIC Senior Citizens' Center in Baraga to express their solidarity with the global movement for indigenous rights and environmental justice. (Photos by Keweenaw Now)

BARAGA -- Brightening up the end of a wet, drizzly day with their colorful regalia, signs, drums, songs and chants, participants in the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community
(KBIC) Idle No More Rally/Walk in Baraga expressed their solidarity with indigenous people asserting treaty rights and environmental justice on Friday, Jan. 11, 2013.

At Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College, Elder Donnie Dowd (center, with hat) offers encouragement to participants in the KBIC Idle No More Rally/Walk on Jan. 11, 2013.

About 50 or more people joined together for the event, which began at Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College with prayers and encouragement, some in the Ojibwa language, offered by KBIC Elder Donnie Dowd. Despite very recent open-heart surgery, Dowd also led the walk down to the Ojibwa Senior Center for ceremonies, dances and songs, followed by a feast of chili and corn bread.

The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Idle No More Walk begins at the Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College. Walkers head through Baraga to the KBIC Senior Citizens' Center to continue their Rally, dance, sing and enjoy a feast. (Videos by Keweenaw Now)

A group of Lac Vieux Desert youth from Watersmeet, Mich., joined the walk, adding their chants of "Idle No More" to the songs of the leaders.

The number of participants increases when youth from the Lac Vieux Desert Chippewa community (Watersmeet, Mich.) join the KBIC Idle No More Walk as it progresses through the streets of Baraga.

The Idle No More indigenous movement is gaining supporters around the world, many of whom held events on Friday, Jan. 11, the day First Nations (Aboriginal) leaders in Canada were scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Governor General David Johnston to discuss Bill C-45 -- recent legislation that First Nations leaders in Canada say violates claims to self-governance and control of traditional land bases and also threatens the environment by reducing federal protection for bodies of water and fisheries.

Idle No More walkers in Baraga carry signs to show support for the Canadian First Nations protests against Bill C-45 and to express their own concerns about water issues and treaty rights. (Click on photos for larger versions.)

According to an article in TheProvince.com, "The bill significantly reduces the number of federally protected bodies of water, which critics fear will leave them open to harm from major resource projects, such as Enbridge's proposed $6-billion pipeline from Alberta's tarsands to Kitimat. Changes to the Indian Act will allow aboriginal people to sell or lease their land to non-natives. Critics say that the changes, which were done without consultation, violate aboriginal treaty rights."*

Toward the end of their walk, Idle No More participants gather for a circle dance before continuing to complete their rally and share a feast at the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Senior Center.

Charlotte Loonsfoot, one of the organizers of KBIC's Idle No More, says Bill C-45 can also affect natural resources in the Great Lakes Basin and treaty rights of tribes living in the United States as well as in Canada.

"We share Lake Superior with Canada so what they do there affects us here in the UP, northern Wisconsin and northern Minnesota," Loonsfoot said. "And since the bill C-45 has protection for lakes and streams at the 2 digits instead of millions I am very concerned for our freshest water in the world. This will also affect our treaty rights to hunt, gather, and fish because if our food and medicines are contaminated from Canada's pollution it is a violation to the tribal governments of the United States."

After the feast in the KBIC Senior Citizens' Center, organizers of the Idle No More event pose for a photo: from left, Jessica Koski, Nancie Lamb, Margaret Boyer and Charlotte Loonsfoot.

The youth group from Watersmeet joined the KBIC Rally/Walk at an invitation from Marisa Van Zile of the Sokaogon Chippewa of Mole Lake, Wis. (some of whose family members were involved in the struggle against the Crandon Mine in Wisconsin).

Van Zile, now a student at Northern Michigan University, where she is studying sociology and Native American studies, said she had attended several Idle No More events in Minnesota as well as Wisconsin before helping to organize the Jan. 6 event in Watersmeet, Mich.

"I was inspired to bring that home," Van Zile said.

After Watersmeet, she returned to Mole Lake for an event on Jan. 10 and then returned to Michigan for the Jan. 11 Idle No More in Baraga. Van Zile also said she was happy to meet KBIC's Charlotte Loonsfoot at the Watersmeet event last week.

"She's my hero," Van Zile said. 

KBIC Idle No More co-organizer Charlotte Loonsfoot carried this wolf flag during the walk. The proposed wolf hunt, recently passed as legislation in Michigan, is another of her concerns. "I walked for the wolf," Loonsfoot said, "because the wolf is our brother and we're brothers and sisters with Canada, so it all ties together."

Jessica Koski, KBIC member, was also an organizer of the Jan. 11 Idle No More event in Baraga. At the gathering of the participants in the Senior Center, she read her statement of solidarity with the Idle No More movement.

Jessica Koski, KBIC member, reads a statement of solidarity with the global Idle No More movement for indigenous rights and protection of land and water.

"Today, we are standing in solidarity with people across the globe for First Nations and indigenous peoples in Canada. The movement calls upon the government of Canada to honor and implement Aboriginal Treaty rights of First Nations. This call echoes throughout the world in many indigenous communities and nation-states, including our own right here at Keweenaw Bay," Koski stated. "This movement began with the hearts and courage of indigenous women. It is about the land, water, healing, and justice. Corporate profits have been privileged over our lands and waters for too long. Indigenous peoples, deeply rooted in place, continue to carry ancestral knowledge and wisdom of how to walk a good way of life, what we call Mino-Bimaadiziwin, on Aki, Mother Earth. With our youth, Elders and women, we are stepping into our leading role. Many say we are the last chance of saving the planet."**

KBIC's event was also held in support of Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence, who has been on a hunger strike for more than a month to call attention to this bill and other problems between First Nations peoples and the present Canadian government under Harper. She had requested the meeting with Harper and Johnston, but ended up boycotting it, along with other leaders from Ontario and Manitoba, when Harper said he would meet only a half hour and Johnston refused to attend.***

However, a Jan. 12, 2013, Canadian Press article said the meeting lasted four hours and "National Chief Shawn Atleo declared that Harper has finally agreed to top-level talks to modernize and implement the ancient treaties that were always supposed to bring peace and prosperity to First Nations."****

Spence and other leaders, however, were not satisfied with the results of the talks, and she is apparently continuing her hunger strike (a liquid-only diet) despite requests by some First Nations leaders that she end it.*****

Idle No More founder Sylvia McAdams says the agenda from the Jan. 11 talks between the government and First Nations leaders is too narrow, since it doesn't include removing the C-45 legislation. She says the peaceful grassroots movement, now worldwide, will continue. They are calling on a worldwide Idle No More event, co-ordinated with other groups, on Jan. 28.******

Margaret Boyer, who also helped organize the Jan. 11 KBIC Idle No More event, explained her own connection to the movement in Canada: She is from Batchewana First Nation, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, under the Robinson-Huron treaty of 1850. Boyer moved to this area two years ago to attend Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College, but she has family in Canada and concerns about her children and grandchildren.

Co-organizer Margaret Boyer speaks to the group of KBIC Idle No More participants about First Nations issues in Canada and her own concerns for her family there.

"I am Canadian but have lived most of my life here in the States because I love living here," Boyer said. "I first heard about the Idle No More movement from Facebook in November. I followed the movement's actions from the beginning to present."

Boyer said she has no T.V. or radio in her house, so all her outside communication is from Facebook.

"The quick uprising is due to social networking," Boyer added. "There are a lot of things going on with this movement. My main concern is the dismantling of the Indian Act without any regard to First Nations."

Georgenia Earring of KBIC, who also participated in the Idle No More visit to Eagle Rock on Dec. 28, was among many who joined the Walk in support of Theresa Spence.

"I'm here in support of Chief Spence," Earring said, and the power of prayer -- coming together for indigenous people and their treaty rights."

KBIC Tribal Council Member Elizabeth Matthews also mentioned support of Theresa Spence's effort.

"Just like everybody else it affects us down here in the States, and we are in support of Chief Theresa Spence," Matthews noted. "And I hope she accomplishes what she set out to do."

Matthews added the Tribal Council gave a money donation for Friday's feast following the Walk.

KBIC Tribal Council Member Elizabeth Matthews, left, enjoys the feast after the Walk with KBIC Elder Janice Shalifoe, center, and Lisa M. Denomie, KBIC member and program director for the Early Childhood Child Care Center.

Joining in the Walk and the dances that followed was Lisa M. Denomie, KBIC member and program director for the Early Childhood Child Care Center.

"The first thing they need to do is unite," Denomie said of the indigenous groups joining the Idle No More movement. "That's the only way you're going to become stronger. This is a good start to bring back the Anishinaabe way. People are making peace here."

Participants in the Jan. 13, 2013, Idle No More event at the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) Senior Center in Baraga, Michigan, do a dance and song to honor people fasting for Indigenous peoples' rights and environmental justice, including Chief Theresa Spence and two KBIC members who fasted for this event: Denise Cadeau, Keweenaw Ojibwa Community College dean of student services, and Nancie Lamb, co-organizer of the event.

Sheila Halverson, wearing a traditional jingle dress, and Sammi Tolenon, Miss KBIC, wearing her shawl dance regalia, do a healing dance as others sing to the beat of the Four Thunders Drum. The dance preceded a feast for all participants in the KBIC Senior Citizens' Center.

Margaret Comfort from Marquette County also attended the Walk.

"I was honored to be amidst some of the leaders, the visionaries, of their community -- Charlotte Loonsfoot, Jessica Koski, and Nancie Lamb," Comfort said. "It made my heart smile to see the mothers with their children and the teens walking in solidarity with Chief Spence. As Margaret Boyer said, this work is for our children and grandchildren. This work is about giving a voice to ALL people."

Corrie Hohli of Calumet also participated in the Rally/Walk, carrying a sign in the Ojibwa language, which she studies. It said, "Gaa Geyaabi Bizaanabi magasinoon!" Hohli said, while it is difficult to translate "Idle No More" into Ojibwa exactly, this phrase means, "No longer will we sit quietly."

KBIC member Jeffery Loman, who had just moved back to Baraga from Alaska and was settling into his new residence near the college, said he heard the drums of the walk as he was pulling out of his driveway and then saw the group walking. He joined them at the Senior Center for the talks, dances, drumming and feast.

"I was delighted and inspired to see the protest and (delighted) that my community is joining other nations in being Idle No More," Loman said.

Loman, who has been following the Eagle Mine issue on Facebook and who spoke at public forums held by Rio Tinto when he was visiting the area in the past, said he has no plans to leave the area now that he has moved back to Baraga.

"I have a lot of things that I want to do here. There's a lot of work to be done to protect the natural resources of the tribe and to protect the reservation environment -- all these people that live here," Loman explained. "There's a lot of litigation on the horizon."

More photos ...

KBIC Elder Donnie Dowd speaks to participants in the Jan. 11 Idle No More Rally at Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College. (Photos by Keweenaw Now)

KBIC's Debbie Williams presided over sacred ceremonies and spoke at the Rally.

Carrying colorful signs and their flag, youth from Lac Vieux Desert join the Walk and chant "Idle No More!"

A young participant in the walk carries a sign stating a major purpose of the Idle No More movement: "Protect Our Treaties, Land, Water and Animals."

Arriving at the Senior Citizens Center are some leaders of the Walk: from left, Rodney Loonsfoot, Jessica Koski, Lisa M. Denomie and Donnie Dowd.

Notes:

* Click here for the article, "Idle No More: The problems with Bill C-45."

** Read the rest of Jessica Koski's statement, "Idle No More: Global Day of Action," on Keepers of the Water.

*** See "Indigenous Movement 'Idle No More' Gains Allies" on ABC News/ Univision.

**** See "Atleo: Harper commitment to treaty talks will bring fundamental change."

***** See "Chief Theresa Spence will continue to forgo solid food, spokesman says."

****** Watch this video: "CTV QP: 'Idle No More' founder speaks out."

Editor's Note: Read our two articles about the Dec. 28, 2012, KBIC Idle No More visit to Eagle Rock: "IDLE NO MORE: Returning To Our Sacred Places - Migizii wa sin" and "More photos: Idle No More: Returning to Migizii wa sin (Eagle Rock)."

Finlandia to host documentary, author visit for Campus Read selection

HANCOCK -- Finlandia University will introduce its spring 2013 Campus Read selection at 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 15,  with a screening of the documentary film The
Armenian Genocide at the university’s Chapel of St. Matthew, Hancock.

The event is free and open to the public.

The Campus Read selection, The Gendarme, by Mark T. Mustian, is a novel set alternately in early 20th-century Turkey and in the U.S. in the 1990s.

Mustian will be on the Finlandia campus Feb. 11 and 12, 2013, to speak in several classes and engage in other campus and community activities. His visit is sponsored by Finlandia University and the Lutheran Writers Project at Roanoke College.

Mustian will present a public lecture titled "Words and War" at 4:15 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 11, at Finlandia’s Maki Library. Also, Mustian will speak on the topic "Where is God?" at 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 12, in the Chapel of St. Matthew.

Additional Campus Read 2013 activities include a student writing contest with the theme "Forgotten" and a public panel discussion about the cruelties of armed conflict and war later this spring.

"The Finlandia University Campus Read Committee found Mr. Mustian’s novel rich with opportunity for poignant and pertinent classroom discussion," said Terri Martin, assistant to the executive vice-president for academic and student affairs and a member of the committee.

To those around him The Gendarme’s protagonist, World War I Turkish veteran Emmet Conn, is a senile 92-year-old man, notes a book synopsis on the author’s website. Conn has been affected by memory loss since being injured in the war. Now, at the end of his life, he’s beset by frightening dreams and visions and he becomes convinced that they are actual memories of events he and others have denied or purposely forgotten. In the dreams, Conn is a gendarme escorting Armenian women and children from Turkey. A young woman among them, Araxie, captivates him and becomes the love of his life. But when the trek ends, the war separates them. Seven decades later, Conn sets out to find Araxie and beg her forgiveness. The Ottoman Empire’s systematic extermination of ethnic Armenians from their homeland in what is now Turkey came to be known as the Armenian Genocide or the Armenian Holocaust. It was implemented in two phases, during and after World War I: the wholesale killing of the able-bodied male population through massacre and forced labor, then the deportation of women, children, the elderly and infirm on death marches to the Syrian Desert. The total number killed is estimated at between 1 and 1.5 million.

When Mustian, who has Armenian ancestors, learned of the fate of these people and of those who survived the forced trek into Syria by Turkish soldiers, he recalls that he was mesmerized. How could this horrible thing have happened? Mustian asked himself. And why do so few know anything about it?

As Mustian began to read survivors’ stories and history books, he learned of Turkey's denial that this occurred; and he learned that to speak of the Armenian deaths as genocide remains a crime in Turkey to this day. Eventually, he began to write The Gendarme, a novel about the deportations told from the point of view of one of the policemen, the gendarmes, who escorted these groups from the country.

Mark T. Mustian is an author, attorney, and retired city commissioner. He lives in Tallahassee, Florida, with his wife, three children, and dog. He is the current chair of the Lutheran Readers Project, a nationwide effort to connect readers and writers associated with the Lutheran faith. Mustian’s fiction has been published widely. Visit his website at markmustian.com.

The Gendarme (Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam, 2010) is available for purchase at North Wind Books and will also be available for purchase at public events during Mark Mustian’s visit to campus.

For additional information, please contact Terri Martin at 906-487-7512 or terri.martin@finlandia.edu.

Cross Country Trails notice: Swedetown Trails re-opened; ice on Tech Trails

CALUMET -- After being closed for two days, Swedetown has received five inches of new snow overnight and trails are open. The new snow is rolled over the icy base. By now the groomers will have set tracks on the easy and intermediate trails near the Chalet. Less new snow on Papa Bear and towards M203 trail head.

January 13th (today) is Winter Trails Day sponsored by Swedetown Trails Club and Cross Country Sports of Calumet. Free all-day pass for skiing or snowshoeing. Free snowshoe or ski rentals, provided by Cross Country Sports of Calumet. First come, first served for rental equipment, as available from noon to 5 p.m. Come to the Swedetown Chalet to check out equipment. Trails Club members will be on hand to suggest what trails to try.

At the Chalet, free hot chocolate and apple juice from noon to 5 p.m.*

Warning: Ice at Tech Trails

HOUGHTON -- Just a warning to potential skiers at Michigan Tech Trails. In the parking lot, stadium, and trailhead area there is absolute glare ice under the snow. Wherever the water from the thaw couldn't drain well there is a significant risk of falling and parking lot auto accidents. Grooming snowmobiles have gotten stuck on flat ground and groomers are falling like nine pins. Use caution or wait until the new snow (yay!) bonds with the ice.*

* Editor's Note: Sorry for late posting of these Sunday morning announcements.

Community Alliance for Progressive Education to meet Jan. 13; Family Fun day Feb. 2

HOUGHTON -- CAPE (Community Alliance for Progressive Education) is holding meetings every second Sunday of each month for anyone who is interested in learning more about their mission and/or being a part of their journey towards founding a charter school. The meetings will be held from 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. at the Portage Lake District Library Community Room, and the first meeting this year will be TOMORROW, Sunday, Jan. 13. Everyone is welcome!

CAPE to host Silent Auction/Family Fun day Feb. 2

CAPE (Community Alliance for Progressive Education) will host a Silent Auction/Family Fun day from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb.2, at the Orpheum Theater, 426 Quincy St., Hancock. The event will include live music, games, art projects, a story corner, and a silent auction. CAPE's objective is to raise enough money for the application fee to become a Non-Profit organization, which is the first step towards their application to become a charter school.

Admission to the event itself is free, with a suggested donation of $2 per person. For questions or comments, please contact Sarah Kirchner at skirch01@yahoo.com or (906)370-6073. Visit the CAPE Web site at superiorcape.org.

Save the Wild UP hires new director, adopts online focus

MARQUETTE -- Save The Wild UP (SWUP) kicked off 2013 with a bang, announcing that they’ll move their operations -- online! -- and hire Alexandra Thebert as Executive Director.

Alexandra Thebert, new Executive Director of Save the Wild UP. (Photo courtesy Alexandra Thebert)

Save the Wild UP has eliminated their Marquette office, citing a nationwide trend for streamlined, adaptive, grassroots organizations.

"The website is a key part of our identity," says SWUP Board Member Kristi Mills. "Savethewildup.org receives a high volume of traffic, and is a clearing house for information about sulfide mining and diverse issues impacting natural resources in the Upper Peninsula."

Kristi Mills (front, center), former executive director of Save the Wild UP and present board member, speaks against the proposed CR 595 during the Oct. 7, 2010, Road Commission hearing. The Department of Environmental Quality recently denied the permit for building this haul road for the Rio Tinto Mine -- a wilderness road which would have impacted many wetlands and streams. (Keweenaw Now file photo)

Save the Wild UP is grassroots environmental organization dedicated to the preservation of the Upper Peninsula’s unique cultural and natural resources.

"We're thrilled to be taking this step," says SWUP Board Member Kathleen Heideman. "It aligns really well with our base -- concerned citizens who are widely dispersed across the Upper Peninsula, but easily reached via social networking. Nonprofits are always being challenged to stretch their resources. The decision to 'go virtual' means we'll have more to work with; we're allocating resources to fund our ideas."

Board Member Jon Saari applauds the change.

"I will miss the sign on Third Street, but the change really makes sense at this time." He notes that some other UP environmental organizations already thrive without a central office. "In the era of Facebook, the brick-and-mortar office model has become less advantageous and efficient," says Saari.

Following board retreats, Save the Wild UP has hired Alexandra Thebert as Executive Director. Thebert is uniquely qualified to drive SWUP at this transformational moment.

"We are poised to expand our efforts across the UP to educate and engage new people," says Thebert, who previously worked in Chicago for a national health care nonprofit, but longed to "move back home to the beautiful UP."

A former organizational and communications consultant, Thebert also brings to SWUP her experience working with political campaigns.

Save the Wild UP's recent activities included meeting with EPA Region 5 Director Susan Hedman and MDEQ Director Dan Wyant to share concerns regarding the now-defunct CR 595, sponsoring the 2012 "Water is Life" educational tour throughout central and western UP, and providing testimony at hearings for the proposed Copperwood Mine in Gogebic County.

During a break between the question-answer session and the formal Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) hearing on the Orvana Copperwood Mine on June 28, 2012, Margaret Comfort, Save the Wild UP president, and Richard Sloat, center, of Iron County, Mich., speak about environmental concerns with Steve Casey, MDEQ Water Resources Division district supervisor of the Upper Peninsula District Office. Save the Wild UP members and officers have spoken at several public hearings concerning mining issues. (File photo by Keweenaw Now)

In 2013, Save the Wild UP's "Keeping It Wild!" campaign will focus on environmental issue awareness, expanded educational forums, UP-wide community outreach, and a special projects integrating the arts with environmental concerns.

Save the Wild UP is a grassroots environmental organization dedicated to the preservation of the Upper Peninsula’s unique cultural and natural resources. For more information, visit their updated Web site at savethewildup.org or contact them at (906) 228-4444 or email info@savethewildup.org.

Michigan Tech Mind Trekkers to take science demos to Green Bay Jan. 12

HOUGHTON -- The Michigan Tech Mind Trekkers are taking hands-on science excitement to Green Bay this Saturday, Jan. 12. Twelve students and two Center for Pre-College Outreach staff will bring 17 different science and engineering demonstrations to the Einstein Project Science Expo.

At the 2011 Houghton County Fair, youngsters line up to try running or dancing through oobleck, a sticky white substance that grabs your feet and holds you if you don't move fast. It's a favorite Mind Trekkers event. (File photo by Keweenaw Now)

Mind Trekkers is a regular at the Einstein Science Expo. This is the third year they have participated in the popular event, which draws thousands of children and families for a day of do-it-yourself science fun.

Dance Zone Marquette to host Bob Buchkoe and Blue Champagne Jan. 12

MARQUETTE -- The Dance Zone in Marquette will host Bob Buchkoe and Blue Champagne for your dancing and listening enjoyment beginning at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12. 

Come and bring your friends for a fun time. $10 per person at the door. Please do remember to bring clean shoes to protect your knees and this great dance floor.

Blocks of tickets will be available for sale starting with this Saturday's dance -- $30 for 5 tickets or $50 for ten tickets. This actually brings the price down.

You might want to try contra dancing (Fridays) or Zumba (M, W, F at 6 p.m.; Sat. at 10 a.m.) if you're looking to expand your dancing horizons.

Let Marge know if you have any questions: 906-236-1457. Dance Zone is at 1113 Lincoln Avenue (Lincoln and College) in Marquette. Click here to visit the Dance Zone Web site.

DNR Western UP Citizens' Advisory Council to meet Jan. 14

LANSING -- The Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR's) Western Upper Peninsula Citizens' Advisory Council (CAC) will meet in Houghton County on Monday, Jan. 14, in Isle Royale Ballroom B, at Michigan Technological University’s Memorial Union Building, located at 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton.

Beginning at 5:30 p.m., DNR staff will present division reports on current DNR projects and business and will answer questions from council members and the public. The council meeting will immediately follow from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. (all times are Eastern).

Agenda items include the following:

• DNR presentation on regional state forest planning process

• Upper Peninsula Deer Advisory Team options and update

• Public comment (for public comment instructions, see www.michigan.gov/upcac)

The Eastern Upper Peninsula and Western Upper Peninsula CACs are designed to advise the DNR on regional programs and policies; identify areas in which the department can
be more effective and responsive; and offer insight and guidance from members’ own experiences and constituencies.

The council members represent a wide variety of natural resource and recreation stakeholders and interest groups. Agenda items are set by the council members, and council recommendations are forwarded to the DNR for consideration.

CAC meetings are open to the public. If you would like to be considered as a future CAC member, please fill out the nomination form found on the DNR website at www.michigan.gov/upcac. For more information, contact DNR Upper Peninsula Regional Coordinator Stacy Welling Haughey at 906-228-6561.

This meeting was supposed to take place on Dec. 10, 2012, but was cancelled because of weather and re-scheduled for Jan. 14, 2013.

Editor's Note: Some concerned citizens were not aware of the Dec. 10, 2012, cancellation and met at Michigan Tech in the DNR's absence. Keweenaw Now reported on their concerns. See our Dec. 12, 2012, article, "UPDATED: KBIC elder comments on proposed wolf hunt despite cancellation of DNR meeting."

Natural Resources Commission to meet Jan. 10 in Lansing

The Michigan Natural Resources Commission (NRC) will hold its regular monthly meeting TOMORROW, Thursday, Jan. 10, at the MSU Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health, 4125 Beaumont Road, Lansing. All meetings will be held in Room 101 of the center.

The day will begin at 9 a.m. with a meeting of the NRC's Marketing and Outreach Advisory Committee. The committee will receive updates on the Mentored Youth Hunt, webcasting NRC meetings and the Youth Conservation Council. Also on tap are discussions on the ongoing Michigan Waterfowl Legacy program, the 2013 Youth Outdoor Jamboree, and improvements in the state's system for hunting and fishing on-line license sales.

At 10:30 a.m., the Policy Committee on Wildlife and Fisheries will receive reports from the Fisheries and Wildlife division chiefs, including updates on the recently completed elk hunt, and review a land order that would limit access to Kirtland's warbler habitat during nesting. The committee will also receive a status update on wolves following a new law that declared the wolf a game species in Michigan.  Click here to read more ...

Portage Library to host wellness program on essential oils Jan. 10

HOUGHTON -- The Portage Lake District Library will host its monthly program in the Natural Health and Wellness series from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 10.

Jessica Jukari and Karyn Ruohonen-Rudak will present "Dr. Mom’s Essential Oils First Aid Kit: How to use essential oils to keep your family healthy."

Participants will learn the benefits of and uses for healthy, natural essential oils instead of using over-the-counter medicines. Participants will also learn how to use essential oils for cleaning.

Jukari is a licensed cosmetologist and massage therapist and owner of J. Jukari Spa and Salon. Ruohonen-Rudak is a school counselor and owns a listening and wellness practice in the Jutila Center. Both are mothers of young children.

The Natural Health and Wellness series is held on the second Thursday of each month. All library programs are free, and everyone is welcome. For more information, please call the library at 482-4570 or visit www.pldl.org.

Houghton County Dems to host Inauguration Party Jan. 19

HANCOCK -- Everyone is invited to the Houghton County Inauguration Party to celebrate President Obama's inauguration. The event starts at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19, at the Brownstone Hall in Atlantic Mine.

A DJ will play fun music, including music popular in America during inaugurations past. This will be a great evening of music, dancing, conversation, and refreshments.

Early Bird Special

Reserve your tickets by Tuesday, Jan. 15, to get the discounted price of $15 each. Buy tickets now online at https://secure.actblue.com/page/houghtonball or send the Houghton County Democrats a check at the address below to reserve your tickets.

Checks must be received by January 15 to honor the advance ticket price.

Last-minute tickets

After January 15, tickets reserved by mail, purchased online, or at the door will be $20 each.

Here is the office mailing address:
Houghton County Democratic Party
323 Quincy Street, Suite 2
Hancock, MI 49930
Visit the Houghton County Dems on their Web site. Questions? Please email HoughtonDems@gmail.com or call (906) 523-1233.

Idle No More event to be held in Baraga Jan. 11

On the way to Eagle Rock in solidarity with Idle No More on Friday, Dec. 28, 2012, are, from left, Kathleen Heideman,  Georgenia Earring, Jaimee Loonsfoot, Nancie Lamb, Margaret Boyer, Charlotte Loonsfoot and Dan MacNeil. Another Idle No More event will be held this Friday, Jan. 11, in Baraga. (Photo © and courtesy Jessica Koski. Reprinted with permission.)

BARAGA -- Members of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) invite supporters of the Idle No More movement to a rally and march beginning at 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11, at Ojibwa Community College in Baraga. Participants will walk from the college to the Ojibwa Senior Citizens' Center, where they will have Chile and Corn bread and drumming from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Idle No More calls on all people to join in a revolution that honors and fulfills Indigenous sovereignty which protects the land and water. Colonization continues through attacks to Indigenous rights and damage to the land and water. We must repair these violations, live the spirit and intent of the treaty relationship, work towards justice in action, and protect Mother Earth. Bring: hand drums, shakers, signs, and regalia. Images of the event will be shared widely in solidarity with the movement.

Editor's Note: Click here and here to read about the Dec. 28 Idle No More visit to Eagle Rock.

Portage Library to offer EBook training sessions Jan. 9, 12

HOUGHTON -- If you received a Kindle or a Nook for the holidays and are still wondering how to use it, join Portage Lake District Library staff for a training session that will teach you how to use your eReader or tablet. You will also learn how to download books from the library’s downloadable books collection.

Two sessions will be offered: Wednesday, Jan. 9, from 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, Jan. 12, from 1 p.m. - 2 p.m. There will be time for questions and a practice session after the presentation. Bring your eReader and learn a new way to enjoy books.

Library programs and events are free, and everyone is welcome. For more information please call the library at 482-4570 or visit www.pldl.org.

Portage Library to host local Food Policy Group Jan. 15

HOUGHTON -- The Portage Lake District Library will host the Western U.P. Health Department and the recently established U.P. Food Exchange for an organizational meeting to create a local food policy council from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 15.

Representatives from the U.P. Food Exchange will share information about their successes in the Eastern and Central U.P. They will discuss the viability of local foods and show how investing in local food has had a positive impact in the region. They will also discuss future plans for the U.P. Food Exchange that include establishing an online marketplace to connect producers and consumers, training in season extension, marketing, and outreach.

The presentation will be followed by an opportunity for group dialogue about food production and food access in the Western U.P. and as well as forming a food policy group in our region.

Please RSVP by emailing ssalo@hline.org or by calling (906) 482-7382 ext 114 if you are planning to attend.

Library programs and events are free and everyone is welcome. For more information, please call the library at 482-4570 or visit www.pldl.org.

From Earthworks: Wisconsin’s Mining Moratorium Under Attack

By Al Gedicks and Dave Blouin*

Posted on EARTHblog Jan. 4, 2013

Reprinted with permission

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and the mining industry have begun a major lobbying effort to overturn Wisconsin’s landmark Mining Moratorium Law. The law, also known as Wisconsin’s "Prove it First" law, was developed to address the problem of acid mine drainage from metallic sulfide mining.

The law requires that before the state can issue a permit for mining of sulfide ore bodies, prospective miners must first provide an example of where a metallic sulfide mine in the United States or Canada has not polluted surface or groundwater during or after mining. So far, the industry has not been able to find a single example where they have mined without polluting water. A recent study of metallic sulfide regulation in the Great Lakes region by the National Wildlife Federation called Wisconsin’s "Prove it First" regulation an exemplary law.

Tim Sullivan, chairman of the Wisconsin Mining Association, is leading the effort to repeal the law. Sullivan is the governor’s special assistant for business and workforce development and a past director of the National Mining Association. He is a former president, CEO and director of Bucyrus International, the largest mining machinery company in the world, now owned by Caterpillar Corporation. He recently told a Wisconsin Senate Mining Committee that Wisconsin’s Mining Moratorium was an obstacle to new sulfide mine proposals, including Aquila Resources’ gold and copper sulfide deposits in Marathon and Taylor counties in north central Wisconsin.

Mining lobbyists have cited the "success" of the partially-reclaimed Flambeau metallic sulfide mine in Ladysmith, Wisconsin, which Kennecott/Rio Tinto operated from 1993-97, as a reason for repealing "Prove it First" legislation. However, there is no scientific evidence to support such claims.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently completed an investigation of water quality at the Flambeau Mine site and recommended that "Stream C," a tributary of the Flambeau River into which Flambeau Mining Company (FMC) has been discharging polluted runoff from the mine site since 1999, be included on its list of "impaired waters" for 2012 for "acute aquatic toxicity" caused by copper and zinc. These illegal discharges of toxic metals are why U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb recently ruled that FMC violated the Clean Water Act on numerous counts.

Wisconsin is now under a well-funded mining industry attack on the grassroots environmental, sportfishing, and tribal movement which mobilized tens of thousands of Wisconsin citizens to successfully oppose Exxon’s destructive Crandon mine at the headwaters of the Wolf River and enact Wisconsin’s landmark Mining Moratorium Law. That citizen movement also supported the sovereign right of the Mole Lake Ojibwe Tribe to protect itself from any mining pollution upstream from the tribe’s sacred wild rice beds. In 2003, BHP Billiton admitted defeat of the Crandon mine project and sold the mineral rights to the zinc and copper deposit to the Mole Lake Ojibwe and the Forest County Potawatomi Tribe.

Veterans of the 28-year Crandon mine battle were among those who mobilized public opinion against Gogebic Taconite’s (GTac) proposal for a giant open pit iron mine in the headwaters of the Bad River watershed adjacent to the sacred wild rice beds of the Bad River Ojibwe Tribe on the shore of Lake Superior. GTac wrote legislation that exempted itself from critical environmental protections and excluded the public and the tribes from the permitting process. Strong criticism of the Iron Mining bill led to its defeat by one vote in the Wisconsin Senate last spring.

With new GOP majorities in the Wisconsin Legislature, Governor Walker, along with the WMA and Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, has made passage of the Iron Mining Bill and repeal of Wisconsin’s Mining Moratorium Law their top legislative priority in 2013.

Many of the new Republican legislators are unfamiliar with the Crandon mine conflict and the ongoing pollution at the closed Flambeau mine. How else can one explain the disregard for the sovereign rights of the Bad River Ojibwe Tribe, whose sacred wild rice beds and way of life are threatened by mining pollution from GTac’s proposed open pit mine?

The tribe has sovereign authority, under the Clean Water Act, to protect its wild rice from mining pollution. They also have the right to be consulted about any legislation that would affect their treaty rights. So far, these rights have been ignored. Legislators rushing to accommodate the wishes of powerful corporate actors may be in for a painful reminder about the power of engaged citizens and tribes.

* Al Gedicks is the Executive Secretary of the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council, one of the plaintiffs in the successful lawsuit against the Flambeau Mining Company. He is also the author of Resource Rebels: Native Challenges to Mining and Oil Corporations. Dave Blouin is the Mining Committee Chair for the Sierra Club -- John Muir Chapter (WI) and co-founder of the Mining Impact Coalition of Wisconsin.

Editor's Notes:
Visit the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council Web site to learn more about these issues.

Click here to sign a petition to protect Wisconsin's Minin Moratorium (You don't have to be a resident of Wisconsin to sign it.)

See also our Nov. 19, 2011, article about Al Gedicks and the Penokee iron mining project: "Updated: Penokee iron mining proposal threatens Bad River watershed."

Photo: Al Gedicks speaks at Protect the Earth, Eagle Rock, 2009. (Keweenaw Now file photo © and courtesy Gabriel Caplett)

Nordic Film Series to present "Iris" Jan. 10

HANCOCK -- The Nordic Film Series will present the film Iris (Finland, 2011) at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 10, at the Finnish American Heritage Center in Hancock. The film, in Swedish with English subtitles, tells the story of a young girl who leaves her comfortable life in Stockholm for a summer with her mother’s peasant family on Åland. The film is 121 minutes in length.

The Finnish American Heritage Center is at 435 Quincy Street, Hancock. For additional information, contact Hilary Virtanen, programming coordinator for the Finnish American Heritage Center, at 906-487-7505.

Genealogical Society to meet Jan. 8 at Portage Library

HOUGHTON -- The Houghton-Keweenaw County Genealogical Society will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 8, at the Portage Lake District Library, in Houghton. A group project will be introduced to commemorate the victims of the Italian Hall Disaster. The meeting is open to the public. For further information, call 482-4021, or email HKCGSociety@gmail.com.

Calumet Library to host 1913 Strike exhibit Jan. 7 - Feb. 1

The "Tumult and Tragedy" traveling exhibit will be on display at the Calumet Public-School Library Jan. 7- Feb. 1. (Poster courtesy Michigan Tech Archives)

CALUMET -- An exhibit exploring labor in Michigan’s historic copper mining district will visit the Calumet Public-School Library in January. "Tumult and Tragedy: Michigan’s 1913-14 Copper Strike," a traveling exhibit created by the Michigan Tech Archives, will be on display from Jan. 7 through Feb. 1.

The library is open to the public Monday: 8 a.m. - 4 p.m., Tuesday: 8 a.m. - 6 p.m., Wednesday: 8 a.m. - 7:30 p.m., Thursday: 8 a.m. - 6 p.m., and Friday: 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.

A special open house will take place Tuesday, Jan. 15. Architectural historian Kim Hoagland will present an illustrated talk titled "Seeberville 1913: Everyday Life in Violent Times" at 6:30 p.m., and the exhibit will be open to visitors. Support for this event is provided by the Friends of the Calumet Public Library.

On July 23, 1913, members of the Western Federation of Miners took to the streets over grievances about pay and working conditions. The strike was marked by violence and tragedy, including the deaths of more than 70 people, mainly children, during a Christmas Eve party at Calumet’s Italian Hall. Local mining companies refused to recognize the union, however; and the strike finally ended in April 1914. The confrontation between organized labor and mining companies affected local residents from all walks of life, created headlines across the nation, and continues to resonate in Michigan’s Copper Country today.

The "Tumult and Tragedy" traveling exhibit consists of 12 panels and includes photographs, excerpts from newspapers, documents, and songs from the strike era. A free giveaway brochure contains links to related web content about the 1913-14 Michigan copper strike online at http://www.1913strike.mtu.edu.

The exhibit will remain on display at the Calumet Library through Friday, Feb. 1, and then tour to four other locations in Houghton and Baraga Counties. The exhibit was made possible through a $14,500 grant from the Michigan Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional funding was provided by Michigan Technological University, Cranking Graphics, and Dr. Robert and Ruth Nara.

For further information, contact the Michigan Tech Archives at copper@mtu.edu or 906-487-2505, or the Calumet Public-School Library at 906-337-0311, extension 1107.

More photos: Idle No More: Returning to Migizii wa sin (Eagle Rock)

By Michele Bourdieu

A sacred fire on top of Eagle Rock, near Big Bay, provides inspiration and some warmth for participants in the Dec. 28, 2012, visit to the Rock to reclaim it as a sacred Anishinaabe (Ojibwa) site. (Photo © and courtesy Kathleen M. Heideman. Reprinted with permission.)

EAGLE ROCK, MICH. -- Participants in the Dec. 28, 2012, visit to Eagle Rock in solidarity with the Idle No More movement and Chief Theresa Spence, who continues her hunger strike to call attention to First Nations issues of treaty rights and environmental justice in Canada, seemed undaunted by the cold as they climbed through deep snow at the Anishinaabe sacred site, now being used as the portal for Rio Tinto's Eagle Mine.

Carrying signs, supporters of the Idle No More movement climb Eagle Rock on a chilly Dec. 28. (Photo © and courtesy Margaret Boyer. Reprinted with permission.)

Charlotte Loonsfoot, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) member, organized the activity along with Jessica Koski, KBIC mining technical assistant.* Koski recorded a statement by Loonsfoot atop Eagle Rock.

"My main reason for being here is to come pray for Chief Spence," Loonsfoot said. "I just pray that the leaders of the Canadian government will meet with her. It takes a lot of courage, and women are coming to a spiritual time right now and we're feeling our strengths. I think the women of the earth will get a lot done in the future. I pray for everyone in Canada -- they are our brothers and sisters too all the way down to South America. We are all related!"**

Charlotte Loonsfoot (foreground), one of the organizers of the Dec. 28 visit to Eagle Rock, is pictured here with friends Jessica Straczowski and Dan MacNeil at the top of the Rock. (Photo © and courtesy Kathleen M. Heideman. Reprinted with permission.)

Kathleen M. Heideman, artist and writer, posted this comment about the Eagle Rock event on Facebook: "Inside the gates of Rio Tinto's 'Eagle Project' we hiked to the top of Eagle Rock. To the south, a divine terrain of snow and pines, the Yellow Dog watershed and distant blue hills. The sacred promontory of Eagle Rock is penned in on the North, West and East by the new mine, but we tried to stay focused on what remains. Sacred fire, heartfelt wishes for Chief Spence, and many prayerful thoughts of water, earth, air and life. Songs of deer and eagle; songs of healing....!"

A view from atop Eagle Rock. (Photo © and courtesy Kathleen M. Heideman. Reprinted with permission.)

Nancie Lamb of KBIC said she also went to Eagle Rock to show support for Chief Theresa Spence.

"I support what she is doing wholeheartedly because I believe if it doesn't stop now, it's going to happen here on our reservation," Lamb said. "I also went because the Idle NO More people asked that everyone return to their sacred place, and Eagle Rock is one of ours that needs recognition."

Nancie Lamb of KBIC, center, is pictured here at the sacred fire on Eagle Rock Dec. 28. Helping tend the fire are Richard Sloat, left, of Iron River, and Jim Haun, right, of Skanee. (Photo © and courtesy Margaret Boyer. Reprinted with permission.)

Margaret Boyer, from Batchewana Band, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, said she has been following all the news updates about Idle No More since the time it began, and she participated in a 24-hour fast in support of Chief Spence earlier in December.

"Normally I am not an activist of any sorts," Boyer noted, "but while learning about what the Harper government is doing I find myself getting frustrated with what is happening with our lands, with the treaties, and to my people. I am angered by it all -- and with all the activity around the world and in my homeland, I knew that, I, too, had to show my support."

On Dec. 28, Georgenia Earring of KBIC places signs in support of the "Idle No More" movement to reclaim and protect sacred places during the group visit to Eagle Rock, a sacred Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) site. (Photo © and courtesy Margaret Boyer. Reprinted with permission.)

Boyer, who is now a student at Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College in Baraga, said Nancie Lamb invited her to join the group for the visit to Eagle Rock.

"My worry is my grandchildren," Boyer said. "How will this affect them? And this is where I get angry and want to fight the cause...What will this leave for them? What will THEIR country be for them when they are growing up?"

Kristi Mills of Big Bay also climbed the Rock along with her young son Tom.

"I was so glad that Tom came with me," Mills said. "He was able to witness a beautiful ceremony rich with prayer, reflection and song. Still tingling from that experience made the announcement about 595 all the sweeter."***

April Lindala, director of the Center for Native American Studies at Northern Michigan University in Marquette and a member of Grand River Six Nations, holds an Idle No More sign on Eagle Rock. Lindala is also a poet and singer and led the group in singing. (Photo © and courtesy Margaret Boyer. Reprinted with permission.)

A view of the decline tunnel (center toward lower left of photo) -- the portal to the Eagle Mine -- that descends under Eagle Rock. (Photo © and courtesy Margaret Boyer. Reprinted with permission.)

Notes:

*See Jessica Koski's article on this event: "IDLE NO MORE: Returning To Our Sacred Places - Migizii wa sin."
** Click here for an update on Chief Theresa Spence and her hunger strike.
*** On Jan. 3, 2013, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced they would not issue a permit for CR 595, a haul road for the Eagle Mine, because of a complexity of issues concerning impacts to wetlands and streams. Click here for the DEQ letter to the Environmental Protection Agency.