Historical Window

• Rosemary Berens

  Historical Window

  Production Date: August 14, 2014

  Rosemary shares her amazement when they installed electric lights in her home. She would flick the light switch so many times, watching the lights go off and on, that her mother got mad at her. How she made a 'smudge' one night, accidently kicked it over and burnt down the pump house.

• Marybelle White

  Historical Window

  Production Date: August 14, 2014

  Marybelle, recalls trading items for food during the Depression. She owed the second television in the village. Marybelle could not understand why they wanted to send men to the moon but it was still an exciting time.

• Luanne Drift

  Historical Window

  Production Date: August 14, 2014

  Luanne was afraid during the Cuban missile crisis, she thought we might go to war with Russia. Luanne's grandpa Louie teased Luanne about the Beattles and the singing going 'yeah, yeah, yeah'. Luanne wishes we had more street lights.

• Lorraine Villebrun

  Historical Window

  Production Date: August 14, 2014

  Lorrainne worked most of her life on the reservation. She remembers the Beattles coming in with a bang, all the kids liked the music, the sound and liked to dance. The assassination of JFK devastated a lot of people in the village. Lorraine recalls a large number of planes flying over the village, it felt like the whole world just quivered.

• HeartWarrior Chosa

  Historical Window

  Production Date: July 23, 2014

  HeartWarrior tells how in the city they held bomb drills and when up in the Boundary Waters area, they would have 'bear drills'. It seemed to her that they were always having drills. During the Vietnam war, Heartwarrior was an activist as a feminist in the Women's Liberation Movement and the American Indian Movement.

• Elaine Villebrun

  Historical Window

  Production Date: July 18, 2014

  Elaine recalls the impact of the asassination of John F Kennedy on her life, the first television brought into her community. How they lived with no electricity, running water and how tough it used to be.

• Cisco Isham

  Historical Window

  Production Date: July 18, 2014

  Cisco recalls: the Cuban missile crisis and how she was afraid of Castro, the arrival of the Beattles, houses in the village getting indoor plumbing, how sad she was on 'the day the music died', the start of the Vietnam war, etc..

• Virgil Solm

  Historical Window

  Production Date: July 9, 2014

  Virgil recalls as a pre-teen "a jet must have hit the speed of sound overhead. We heard a sonic boom and thought that was the end of the world. We pedaled faster than we ever did before and we made it home. We were afraid."

• Myra Thompson

  Historical Window

  Production Date: July 9, 2014

  Myra when she was a young girl, used to carry water for the elders. This one elder would leave her a dime for carrying his water but Myra wouldn't take it but her mother told her not to refuse his gift to Myra, so Myra took it. A dime bought a lot in those days.

• Jerome Whiteman

  Historical Window

  Production Date: July 9, 2014

  Jerome has an interesting interpretation of where 'here' is. He also recalls as a boy how he and his brothers would rent a bike for the day. He learned many hard lessons from his mililtary service during the Vietnam War.

• Mary Strong

  Historical Window

  Production Date: July 9, 2014

  Mary is thankful for the teachings of her grandparents and how they rarely knew hunger for the gathering skills they acquired from their teachings. Mary shares how her grandmother was put into a dungeon when she spoke her Ojibwe language when her grandmother was a little girl.

• Lester Drift

  Historical Window

  Production Date: July 9, 2014

  Lester in the first grade, did not know a word of english and never wore shoes but moccasins. Lester shares the racial tension between the local Ojibwe and the non-Ojibwe of the nearby towns. Lester's dad tried once to deter Lester from riding this bike by removing the handlebars but Lester learned to ride the bike without the handlebars anyway.

• Geraldine Hanks

  Historical Window

  Production Date: July 9, 2014

  Geraldine has fond memories of the Friday night dances and pie socials of her youth. While she had electricity they had a small red wagon they used to haul water to the house. Geraldine recalls opening up their home during pow wows to visitors that need a place to sleep.

• Donald Chosa

  Historical Window

  Production Date: July 9, 2014

  Donald grew up in Vermilion and had no electricity or running water in a 3 room house with 5 kids. They built a waginagaan that stood next to the house and used that as their bedroom. His brother Joe had a misadventure dumping out the slop pail and ended up on his back with the contents of the pail all over himself.

• Hank Mesabi

  Historical Window

  Production Date: June 26, 2014

  Hank shares recollections of his youth, growing up off the reservation and how events influenced his beliefs which he still carries today.

• Maurice Chosa

  Historical Window

  Production Date: June 26, 2014

  Maurice as a young boy won a dance contest to 'get rhythym'. Maurice joined the U.S Marines as soon as he turned 18, having felt a strong sense of duty during the Cuban Missile crisis. Maurice recalls the tv show 'the Lone Ranger' as his first experience with television.