After publishing last week's newsletter, I was itching to watch the Northern Minnesota episode of America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston. So I did, and of course “Minnesota: A Better World” was a beautiful and moving episode. As you know, I love this show and how it features the nobility of our American citizens and landscapes. Also, I'm a Minnesota gal — born and raised. This episode poignantly captured the quiet wonders of the watery and wild place I come from. The episode features numerous Minnesotans who treasure the land, wildlife and water resources of the Arrowhead region where both Dan and I grew up.
Baratunde starts on the North Shore of Lake Superior, a vast inland sea which the Indigenous Anishinaabe refer to as Gitchi Gami, meaning big sea or huge water. It is the largest body of fresh water in the world by surface area. It's cold, clear, unpredictable and boasts a stunning shoreline — from high cliffs to pebbled beaches and sand dunes to forested shores. Many streams and waterfalls enter the lake providing dramatic features in the numerous parks and trails gracing the area. Baratunde meets with a couple living off the land and raising climate-change-adaptable tree seedlings. He also spends time with a found-objects nature artist.
From the North Shore of Lake Superior, we also visit an Anishinaabe couple and learn of the ancient art of wild rice collecting. I'm fortunate to have friends among the Anishinaabe, and I've learned much from them. I'm also fortunate that wild ricing is part of my heritage on my Mother’s side of the family. Although we are not of Native American descent, many Finnish Americans honored the ways of the Anishinaabe and learned how to respectfully glean rice from traditional Native ricing lakes. This was the case for my grandparents Hans and Jenny Sandnas in Pike Sandy Township who were not far from Big Rice Lake. My Mom grew up ricing from a canoe (using cedar sticks to knock the rice from the bending plants into the canoe) and also saw the large ricing camps of the Anishinaabe in the area.
I, however, have never been ricing myself, and I need to experience it someday. Dan and our two oldest daughters, Lydia and Isabelle, harvested wild rice a couple of times with my Stepfather when we were living in Minnesota several years ago. They have stories of big harvests, meager harvests, lots of bugs, a canoe capsizing and losing shoes in the muck of the shallow rice beds.
Getting back to the episode, Baratunde also visits the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) Wilderness which is a protected wilderness adjacent to the Superior National Forest on the Minnesota/Canada border. No motor vehicles or development are allowed, and transportation is provided by old-fashioned human power.
Years ago in college, Dan and I and our three close friends, Melanie, Tim and Rob, spent several days in the BWCA where we portaged in with our canoes and gear — setting up our tents on a dark and rainy night. After a not-so-ideal start, we spent our days in the quiet embrace of the nation’s largest Wilderness area east of the Rockies and north of the Everglades. The tranquility of the BWCA is awe-inspiring — with no light or sound pollution. The night sky views are absolutely magnificent. It's a sacred place, and many are fighting to keep it unspoiled – like the Save the Boundary Waters group.
Baratunde also introduces us to photographer and author Dudley Edmondson who wrote Black & Brown Faces in America's Wild Places. We get a window into the sense of freedom he experiences as a Black man in nature and the awareness of discrimination against People of Color in our wild places and parks.
This brings me to another resource I treasure: the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources produces this compact magazine six times per year, and I look forward to every issue. The photography is world-class from many Minnesota professional photographers; some of them are Jim Brandenburg, Richard Hamilton Smith and Sparky Stensaas — someone I knew briefly in college. The articles are educational and inspiring. In the recent May-June 2022 issue, the feature “Tapping New Knowledge” was especially heartwarming as students are introduced to tapping maple trees to make maple syrup. Much like the New Roots group in Idaho I referred to last week, the Quarry Hill Nature Center offers a wonderful program which immerses kindergarten through 5th grade immigrant and refugee students in nature.
“The program, ‘M is for Minnesota’, aims to give students a greater curiosity about the natural world and a sense of place in their new community. ‘While the children’s cultures, first languages, and economic circumstances are as diverse as their personalities, nature is a common bond’, says Pamela Meyer executive director of Quarry Hill. ‘Nature has that ability to transcend some of those barriers and that's what makes this such a powerful place to welcome those kids and to build their language and their comfort in the outdoors.’”
This makes me so proud of Minnesota — combining natural abundance with openhearted sharing with those who are new. These kinds of programs are taking place all over this nation, and they deserve to be spotlighted.
Thanks for coming along with me on a little Minnesota appreciation journey. If you've never been to Minnesota, I highly suggest a visit to “The Land of 10,000 Lakes” (factually, it has nearly 12,000 lakes). But first watch the episode “Minnesota: A Better World” to see for yourself the watery, green, natural beauty of Minnesota's Northland and the people who appreciate and preserve it. No matter where you live, if you're interested in wildlife photography and writing, you can subscribe to the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer for the price of a donation. I find every issue a little piece of folksy, informative, getting-back-to-nature, heartwarming art.
Wishing you green (and blue) goodness,
Jen
You are truly a Minnesota gal. ❤️❤️❤️