Boozhoo, Brenda ndizhnikaaz.  Bahweting ndoonjbaa.  Ojibwe Kwe ndaaw.  Nishnaabe na gdaaw?
(Hello, Brenda is what they call me.  I'm from Sault Ste. Marie.  I am Ojibwe woman.  Are you Native?)

My grandfather, Edward McKelvie, called this beautiful island God's Paradise.  He lived his greatest years in peace with his children and grandchildren making happy memories at his home.  Every year, he grew a very large garden of corn, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, garlic, pumpkins, and everything else that he loved to give to others.  There was no charge for anything from my grandfather--everything he had he gave to others.  He was kind of a mentor, a friend to everyone on this island.  When he was living with cancer his last few years, many people on the island gave back to him in whatever way they knew how.

This is where the sweet grass grows, where the moose, deer, and bear live free, and where the  eagles soar in the wind.  Gitchi Monito, great spirit, provides everything that we need--we say meegwich, thank you.  Sweet grass, sage, cedar, and tobacco are our four sacred herbs or medicines, and they help us to pray.  We braid that sweet grass for unity, for strength.  When we burn our sacred medicines, we pray to Gitchi Monito, Great Spirit; the smoke carries that prayer.  The number four is sacred--we have four directions, four sacred medicines, four stages in life, etc.  Our circle of life is sacred; everything is created by Gitchi Monito in a circle.  As we live life on Mother Earth, we travel that circle through our four stages in life.  When we die, we travel that circle in the four directions for four days.

My Anishinabek people from the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians migrated from Sugar Island to Sault Ste. Marie and became a federally recognized tribal nation.  We have a pow wow every summer right here at our home.  Also, we have a POW wow on our reservation in Sault Ste. Marie over Independence Day weekend and New Year's Eve.

Duck Lake, off Sugar Island, is where we fish for perch every summer.  There's a spot where we dock our boat and have a picnic.  I love to walk the trails on this island, to view everything green, to smell everything in the clean air, and to listen to the birds in the woods.

Mii wi minik! (That's all!)

Back to CHPI 1999 Michigan U.P.   Presented by School of Information, University of Michigan. Funded by a gift from the Microsoft Corporation with continuing support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Contact Kari Smith at 734-615-0482 or karismit@umich.edu if you are interested in learning more about CHPI. Last updated on July 6, 1999 This page is: http://www.si.umich.edu/CHPI/mich99/land/sugar3.htm