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Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

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Page 1: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

Isle Royale Families and Friends Association

Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

Page 2: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

Our Mission

“To continue the over 100 year-presence of our family heritage, culture and rich human tradition on Isle Royale; to assure preservation of historic family dwellings; to enhance the experience of NPS staff and Park visitors by serving as authentic links to Isle Royale’s rich human history

Page 3: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

Our Organization

Board of Directors & Officers

President-David C. Barnum

Vice President-Grant Merritt

Treasurer-Todd Strom

Secretary-Carla Anderson

Assistant Secretary-Sally Orsborn

At Large Board Members-Brian Bergson Merritt, Stuart Sivertson

Page 4: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

Recent ActivitiesWebsite launched 2002

Meetings held, both on Isle Royale and in Minneapolis

Election of Board of Directors

Revised Mission Statement

Incorporation in Minnesota

Meeting with you!

Page 5: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

We can be in Partnership with NPS-We are a Resource on Isle Royale!

Page 6: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

We provide a continuity because of our long family association with Isle RoyaleNPS personnel tend to change frequently. New personnel have benefited by their interactions with original family members.

We are source of local knowledge for visitors and staff.

We have a great deal of experience operating on the land and the water. We are an added safety element to the unpredictable waters of Lake Superior and have been involved with dozens of rescues and provided assistance to distressed visitors over the years.

Page 7: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

We help to enforce NPS rules and model proper conduct on the island to new visitors.

Our presence has enhanced the experience of visitors either through dialog at the dock,on the boats or even when they pass by our dwellings and imagine the seemingly unchanged life on Isle Royale for over 100 years.

Page 8: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

We maintain and preserve historic structure that:are where our ancestors lived going back up to 6 generations. A unique phenomenon in America.

are part of the fabric and landscape of Isle Royale’s unique scenery.

maintain a realistic picture of the actual history of Isle Royale, not “manufactured wilderness”.

it is not difficult to imagine that future generations will lament the loss of many of these structures as a unique insight into what life was like in the early 20th century

Page 9: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park
Page 10: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park
Page 11: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

We are a databank of knowledge and information on the history of Isle Royale

Page 12: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

About important events-not only how they impacted the history of Isle Royale, but a deeper context about the feelings and thoughts of the people who experienced these events. Like the sinking of the America.

Page 13: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

The examination of the suitability of Isle Royale to become a National Park.

Page 14: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

The creation of the park and the granting of life-leases

Page 15: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

The Wenonah era

Page 16: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

About practices, traditions and belief systems, unique to Isle Royale, Lake Superior, and island living.

Page 17: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park
Page 18: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

About significant, but sometimes forgotten people who greatly impacted the lives of the people of Isle Royale

Page 19: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

The human impact that the National Park Service had on the original families of Isle Royale.

Page 20: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

There is a growing movement to re-examine and protect the cultural history and to allow traditionally associated people to continue their practices and lives in National Parks

Page 21: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

“The Apostles are thus a superb example of a wilderness in which natural and human histories are intimately intermingled. To acknowledge past human impacts upon these islands is not to call into question their wildness; it is rather to celebrate, along with the human past, the robust ability of wild nature to sustain itself when people give it the freedom it needs to flourish in their midst.”

Page 22: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

“the riddle we need to answer is how to manage the Apostle Islands as a historical wilderness, in which we commit ourselves not to erasing human marks on the land, but rather to interpreting them so that visitors can understand just how intricate and profound this process of rewilding truly is.” William Cronon

Page 23: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park
Page 24: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

V. Nurturing Living Cultures and Communities

The National Park Service should help conserve the irreplaceable connections that ancestral and indigenous people have with the parks.

These connections should be nurtured for future generations.

Parks should become sanctuaries for expressing and reclaiming ancient feelings of place.

Efforts should be made to connect these peoples with parks and to strengthen their living cultures.

A formal Heritage Areas program should be established to support partnerships among communities, so that the full scope of the American experience is revealed.

Page 25: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

We Propose a Shift in the ParadigmIn partnership with NPS, we will produce an interpretive program that can be given by designated, and trained original family members at Windigo and Rock Harbor on a scheduled basis.

Conduct tours of historic sites of interest such as Barnum Island, Washington Island, Belle Isle area, Tobin Harbor, and Fishermans Home. This could be coordinated with programs of the Isle Royale Institute.

We are working with documentary film maker and photo journalist Dave Stokes to produce a documentary of Isle Royale and its history and people. Would like to work with NPS to make this happen.

Our group can volunteer in a variety of ways and even provide funding that benefits NPS goals in preserving the cultural history.

Page 26: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

This is serious business. We know that this is not about maintaining a special privilege for an elite few. Without this paradigm shift, the authentic culture that currently exists at Isle Royale will soon wither and die forever. You must decide if this is for the betterment of the island. We understand better than anyone that you have dilemma. We want to work with you to solve the “riddle” . We believe, for better or worse how you decide this matter will have a significant effect on the future of Isle Royale and your legacy as superintendent.

Page 27: Isle Royale Families and Friends Association Presentation to Phyllis Green, Superintendent, Isle Royale National Park

History and Purpose of IRFFAStarted 1982

Original purpose

Meeting with NPS Director Dickenson in DC

Thoughts on the integral role that the original families play in the park as the bearers and stewards of the island history

How would the loss of the original families affect Isle Royale?

To implement a 5 year moratorium on evictions of original family members

To ensure a long term presence to perpetuate the cultural history on Isle Royale