I am called Paul DeMain, but my name is Skabewis in the Ojibwe language. I take the title ‘The Messenger.’ I speak for things that don’t have a voice. I speak for the water, and for our natural world that is impacted by water. Photos by Julian Emerson I grew up in Wausau and have …
I go by Bobby Bullet St. Germaine. Bobby Bullet is a stage name. In the late 70s, I had a couple songs out, one of them which broke the Billboard top 100. Well, my manager and I had the idea to get the name “Bullet” into the conversation because, if a song was really good, …
The Wisconsin Historical Society Press published ‘Hope Is the Thing: Wisconsinites on Perseverance in a Pandemic’. In this series, we feature five writers who share their experiences as they explore hope in the era of Covid. Louie V. Clark III contributed an essay to the book. My wife and I got married in 1975 and …
I’m in school right now, but I’m doing it remotely because of the pandemic. I’m pursuing my associate’s degree in science at Nicolet College in Rhinelander, and from there I’d like to either go into linguistic anthropology or environmental science. Photo courtesy of Jephrey Valliere I was working for Amazon down in Kenosha for a …
I am number seven of ten kids. When I was little, my four oldest siblings already had their own kids and homes. I had my mother and my father, and I was protected. We didn’t have money, but we were cared for and loved. Photos taken by Corey Howell Church was our foundation. We went …
I started playing lacrosse three or four years ago. I am fifteen now. One of my friends asked me, ‘Would you like to come play lacrosse?’ Photo courtesy of Shawn Beaver It was just a pick-up game at a community center. I started with the modern version of the game, but then I picked up …
My canoe building goes way back to when I was born. I was born with a white streak in my hair and my grandmother predicted that I was a reincarnated elder. Photo courtesy of Tim Frandy The spirit of an old Indian went in me when I was born, and because of that, I will …
“Canoe building was part of a long journey for me.” Read More »
One of my fondest childhood memories is sitting in my grandmother’s arms as she read to me. These were the same stories that she read to my father. Photo by Kaluhya Muscavutch VanEvery They were probably the same stories that were read to her—old books that had been read in my family for generations. When …
I’m first and foremost a mother. I have two daughters, a seven-year-old and a four-year-old. Photo taken by Nicole Hansen My girls are Forest County Potawatomi, like their father. I am not a tribal member, but a lot of the community members know me, not only because I grew up here, but because my girls …
“Photography is what I was put on this earth to do.” Read More »
I started singing on the drum when I returned from Vietnam. One of my most memorable times singing was at the dedication of The Highground in 1988. The Highground is a memorial park that pays tribute to veterans. Photo courtesy Gary Kmiecik They were going to dedicate the “Fragments” statue—a Vietnam veterans’ tribute—and they asked …
“It’s a place where we can go and find peace and healing.” Read More »
I am a member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. We are part of the Ojibwe Nation. I grew up in Chicago but moved back to our reservation about twenty years ago. This is my home. Photo courtesy of Liz Perone When the Covid started in March, and people started getting …
My mom is Ojibwe and my dad is Ho-Chunk. My name is Ma’iingan, which means wolf in Ojibwe. There are lots of jokes about the Wolf girls in the family, how they’re headstrong and not really willing to back down. Subconsciously, I think I have internalized that. Photo courtesy of Ma’iingan Wolf Garvin My name …
