![]() ![]() This was good news to me-I had been following the Polymet proposal and felt like I was the only person asking questions about the potential risks. Frank announced to the small group that, “I’m going to mush my team of dogs to the Capitol to protest sulfide mining.” It was the first of two mining projects proposed within ceded territory-the other was Twin Metals, located in Ely at the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, a federally designated wilderness area. Antofagasta, an international mining conglomerate was seeking permits to build a copper extraction and processing plant in the water-rich area north of the Fond du Lac Reservation. I had been called to attend a meeting about organizing against copper nickel mining in the Lake Superior watershed. When I met Frank 11 years ago, he was wearing his musher regalia-big coat, iceman boots, safety orange hat. “There goes Frank kissing his dogs again,” I would tease, and he would laugh, knowing it was true. He especially liked to check in with each dog before taking off. Last winter we lost Frank to brain cancer and the race starts haven’t been quite the same since. This will be the second year without Frank and his team of twelve dogs at the start. The start is always a festive occasion for dogs and humans-so much barking and excited howling as each team approaches the gate. This year 17 teams entered in the marathon and 23 teams were in the mid-distance. The racecourse used to be longer-over 400 miles-and Frank suggested reducing the number of miles to attract more mushers and he was right. The tradition of moving things via dog sled is deeply entrenched in the culture of the North Shore, and our local mushers are well known in the community, because they also serve as nurses, baristas, conservation officers or change makers-as was the case with my friend Frank Moe.įrank served as the musher representative on the Beargrease Board for a time. The race is named for Ojibwe mail carrier John Beargrease (Mako bimide), who was responsible for bringing mail to and from the North Shore in the late 1800s in the days before highways. The 300-mile route takes teams along the Highlands of Lake Superior, before cutting inland toward Sawbill Lake and the Gunflint Trail, then on to Grand Portage for the finish. The John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon was held at the end of January-the 39th running of the race. “Nibi” is a word for water in Ojibwe, and these features explore the intersection of indigenous history and culture in the modern-day Great Lakes region. Her two books “Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe” and “Seven Aunts” were published 20, and she is at work on a children’s story. A direct descendant of the Grand Portage Band of Ojibwe, she lives and works in Grand Marais on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior.
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