Anishinaabe Syndicated : A View from the Rez

Introduction: Awenen Aawaad

ix Introduction Awenen Aawaad Chibinesi ezhinkaazo. Makwa dodem debendagozi. Nagaajiwanaang onjibad. Ogichidaa gii miigaazo Vietnamong. Ogichidaa gii giiwekii. Nitaadibaajimo miinawaa nitaa’ezhibiige. Weweni Anishinaabemo ensa giizhigag. Manaajitoonan gakina gegoo akiing. Manaaji’iaan gakina goya maampii. Weweni bimaadizi . Weweni iskigamizige. Weweni nooshkaachinaagananke. Weweni manoominike. Booch igo gda’bizindawaanaan ji-nisidotan bimaadiziwin. Ogashkitoon gikinoo’amawiyangid, aanii ezhi-pindaakojigaamaang asemaa aanii ezhi-anami’aaying aanii ezhi-bizindamoying aanii ezhi-minobimaadiziying. G’miigwetchin, Jim. G’miigwetchaawan chigete Anishinaabeg G’miigwetchaawan gdindawemaaganag. G’miigwetchwigo, Jim. To truly introduce Jim Northrup properly, I would use the words above. He is a member of the bear clan, which explains the fierce and firm way he protects those he loves—their collective culture and their individual everyday lives. He is a warrior, a marine who fought in Vietnam, and he is one who came home bearing the x Anishinaabe Syndicated physical and mental memories of battle. He is a fine storyteller, an accomplished writer, and a constant steward and student of the Anishinaabe language. His respect for the earth and her people is immense . It shows in everything he does, whether it is boiling sap for syrup, making baskets, or ricing on the lakes. Listening to him, we gain an understanding of life on and off the reservation because he teaches what is important. As a lifelong friend I owe him great thanks. I am certain the ancestors thank him along with all the relatives on and near Northrup Road. This “distillation” of the Fond du Lac Follies is an edit of the first twelve years of an ongoing series of newspaper columns. Readers will find in the circle of each year literature, history, community beliefs , shared traditions, and facts about America from the rez perspective . Like the baskets Jim makes, his writing reflects a circular tracing of detail, an attention to both purpose and aesthetics. He finds new shapes in the familiar and makes art out of the ordinary. Each chapter presents selections from a year’s worth of monthly columns, originally published in The Circle Native American newspaper in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and News from Indian Country, based in Hayward, Wisconsin. Although each column ends with a disclaimer, “The views expressed in this column belong to the writer alone,” Jim writes more than just his opinions or his autobiography. The Follies could best be called “auto-commun-ography.” Much more than autobiography, this series reveals a network of reservation relations across lakes and land, through woods and words, as the entire community survives one day, one month, one year, one generation at a time. Children are born, languages are lost and revived, the arts of basket making and bingo gaming develop, and all the while Jim bears witness . He allows readers to see the strange world in which we live from a new angle. Friends and family read his words for updates and honesty. Citizens from other Native nations read for comparison and contrast. Fellow citizens of the United States read to find out what wasn’t in their history books. And because he travels widely , it is clear his readership is international. As new readers journey with Jim through this collection, they are able to see the ways in xi Awenen Aawaad which life has changed radically in recent years as well as the ways in which it has remained remarkably the same. The Follies first appeared in 1989, a year marked by a series of revolutions starting in Poland, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and eventually the death of the Soviet Union, which signaled the end of the Cold War. It was also a time when much was changing in Indian country. In 1988 Ronald Reagan signed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which began an avalanche of issues related to tribal sovereignty and brought new dollars to tribal communities. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act became law in November 1990 and began requiring federal museums, schools, and libraries to return cultural items and human remains to their respective peoples. In 1992 Congress passed the Native American Languages Act to promote and preserve the languages now dying as a result of colonization and forced assimilation. The Follies follows all of these developments and reports on the ways life on the reservation changes—and the ways it does not. Casinos were built and bones were sent home, but Jim finds evidence that not all federal intentions are understood in small towns, and...