My name is Chi Ayaabe, Big Buck, I’m a Lac du Flambeau tribal member with Bad River, Lac Vieux Desert, and Michigan Tribal blood. Chi-Ayaabe is my Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) name. I’m from the Fish clan and I live In Lac du Flambeau (Waaswaaganing). I’m also known as Brian Jackson. Photos taken by Stanley Schrock I
I’m a senior at Platteville High School. Growing up in Platteville has been a very good experience for me. You go to Walmart and you see everybody you know. If you bump into someone you’re like, ‘Oh. Sorry, my bad,’ then you get into a whole entire conversation about your life. All the teachers know
“I believe that treating other people with kindness shouldn’t be controversial.” Read More »
I was born in Portland, Oregon, but we moved here to Central Wisconsin when I was about six months old, and I have been in the Stevens Point area ever since. When I was younger, I asked my grandpa why we settled here. He said, ‘The housing was cheap.’ So, I’ve been here for almost
“Cooking food is a sign of love.” Read More »
Jazz music is a huge part of my life. Growing up, my dad had all these jazz recordings and so I started out imitating simpler forms on piano, like Boogie Woogie. Photos by Colleen Bies What I didn’t know at that tender age was that I was absorbing the 12-bar blues form, because every Boogie
“Wisconsin’s gentle poet of jazz.” Read More »
I grew up in Milwaukee, in the Sherman Park neighborhood. From as early as I can remember, my life has been about community involvement. I was an only child for the first eight years of my life, so a lot of my social experiences, my social needs were met in community. Photos taken by Nicole
“I was raised like the community is family.” Read More »
There was always music around when I was a kid. I grew up in Rhinelander and lived there for most of my life, but I also lived on the Lac du Flambeau Reservation when I was younger. Photos by Shelby Cheyka I went to UW-Eau Claire after high school, then graduated from dental school in
“It’s never to late to follow your dreams.” Read More »
I would say my family, my mother, my grandmother, and uncles that came by, shaped who I was. Even though we didn’t have much when I was a kid, they made sure my brothers and I were good people. Photos by Hedi Lamarr Rudd Share This Post So I give tribute to them first. But
“I turned my pain into passion and started mentoring.” Read More »
My ancestors came from Ireland and Ohio to a parcel of land in the Driftless region and homesteaded in 1854. Photo by Hedi Lamarr Rudd I am the sixth generation to be raised on the family property formerly used as a 40-head milking dairy farm, but the government pretty much forced out family farms. It’s
Farming Music in The Driftless Read More »
I grew up on the powwow trail. My family and I used to travel to powwows all across the U.S. and enter dance competitions. I didn’t think too much of it at the time, it was normal to me, just something we did. Photos by Colleen Bies Share This Post Every weekend we’d go to
Bringing Lacrosse Back to the Community Read More »
I think my earliest understanding of wanting to work with wildlife was probably when I was six or seven, and my parents had a guest visiting from out of town. Photos by Stanley Schrock Share This Post To this day, I have no idea who this lady was. I just remember they were sitting outside
Following a Master Naturalist Path Read More »
I am the owner of Las Milpas LLC, a Mexican restaurant and Latino grocery store in Baraboo. Photos by Hedi Lamarr Rudd My day starts at 6:30, getting my daughter to school and heading to my store. In the afternoon I pick her up, we eat dinner together, and then I go back to the
“If we all stay united, we can be all stronger.” Read More »
I’m a fourth-generation circus performer. My mother is originally from Hungary and my father is originally from Bulgaria. My great-grandfather and great-grandmother started circus arts in Budapest. He did slack wire, balancing on a thin wire suspended in air and juggled side-by-side with my great-grandmother. Photos by Hedi Lamarr Rudd In 1963, both my grandmas
“I’m a fourth-generation circus performer.” Read More »
