From the Cheboygan Tribune:

Recently Ce-naw-de-quay (Andrea) and I attended a gathering sponsored by the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Mt. Pleasant, of which I am a member. It brought together many new members. They were here to see and learn how to make baskets, like our ancestors did long ago.

The meeting brought together many people from all over Michigan, all gathering to learn how to make baskets. Many never made a basket before. People of all ages were there.

As I looked around and saw all the people working on their baskets, it brought back many memories of long ago when I was a young boy and later on a young man. I visited many Indian homes in my work.

I remember going into some homes where the smell of sweet grass hit you in the face when the door was opened. What a welcome that was. Many homes had no electric or gas stoves, only a wood stove upon which to cook. It brought back memories of my childhood. My mother prepared meals on such a stove, and when the stove was too hot, she would just move the kettle over to where it would just simmer. There it would finish its cooking. There were no knobs or dials to turn down the heat. All one did was slide the kettle over to where the stove wasn’t as hot.

Continue reading →