Mino Gizhigad: A Good Day in Fond du Lac and Cloquet

It was a verdant, overcast July day along the shores of Chigami-Ziibiing, the St. Louis River, when community members gathered at the Dunlap Island Park Shelter in Cloquet for a special celebration. After two years of collaborative work, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the City of Cloquet unveiled new riverfront signage reflecting the deep-rooted history and traditions of the land.

“These bilingual interpretive signs showcase a rich tapestry of cultural heritage and historical significance,” explained Holly Hansen, Community Development Director with the City of Cloquet.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony included an honor song and pipe invocation ceremony before remarks from several of the many partners involved in its success.

About the Project

In 2022, project leaders leveraged a grant opportunity from Blandin Foundation to address the fact that for too long the whole history of the Cloquet area hadn’t been told. Too often the stories of settlers to the area would be upheld without including the centuries of Native life and land stewardship that came before them and endures today.

“The grant opportunity allows the collective chance to think big, to acknowledge we haven’t told our collective cultural story,” Hansen explained. “The City of Cloquet sought to embark upon a cultural planning effort, to identify and capture the cultural and historical stories unique to Cloquet, and to integrate that with the local history of our adjacent Fond du Lac Reservations’ Ojibwa culture, creating an interpretive experience for residents and visitors.”

In the two years leading up to the signage unveiling, an advisory panel assembled, an external community engagement facilitator was hired from 106 Group and Full Circle Indigenous Planning + Design, meetings and interviews were conducted, narratives were compiled, an artist was hired, and more. In the end, project organizers hope the new signage generates an increase in local pride, in awareness of Obijwa culture and Cloquet settler history, and in a strong sense of place.

“These signs show everyone who visits – local folks and out-of-town guests – the creativity, resourcefulness and can-do attitude that rural places like Fond du Lac and Cloquet have in spades,” remarked Mary Magnusson, Rural Placemaking Grants Program Officer at Blandin Foundation. “Yet there is more to these signs. I see a community ready, willing and able to change. To not just name that some community history was missing from this place, but to work, together, to bridge that cultural gap. And in the process, strengthen relationships that build up the Cloquet and Fond du Lac area’s pride in place and people”