Visited 6-21-22.
NPS site: https://nps.gov/grpo/learn/historyculture/index.htm
HISTORY AND CULTURE
Gichi Onigaming, The Great Carrying Place
Gichi Onigaming (Great Carrying Place) is the name of the 8.5-mile portage trail that allowed Native Americans, explorers, and voyageurs to bypass high falls, cascades, and gorges, and has been a critical transportation route for thousands of years. Because of the area’s geology, topography, natural resources, and strategic location, this trail was part of an ancient transcontinental trade route connecting the Great Lakes to the interior of the continent.
The adoption of native technology and the cultural exchange that took place during the fur trade led to exploration and mapping the continent. The quest for furs caused European expansion into the northwest during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Grand Portage trail itself was a focal point in developing the international boundary between Canada and the United States, and today remains an international road. Under the terms of the Webster- Ashburton Treaty of 1842, use of the trail remains free and open to citizens of both the United States and Canada. Without the Grand Portage, Canadian and American political history and national boundaries might have been quite different.
For more information:
Minnesota: Grand Portage National Monument
Ojibwe Collection Photos
The Great Lakes Fur Trade and the North West Company
The Grand Portage bypasses unnavigable portions of the Pigeon River and connects Fort Charlotte with Lake Superior, where thousands of tons of furs and materials were transported back and forth to Europe and beyond. The North West Company (NWC) depot served as the headquarters and central hub for the NWC as it competed in the global fur trade, and acted as the rendezvous point to exchange North American furs for trade goods from Montreal, Europe, Asia, and South America. Between 1731 and 1804, thousands of men shuttled tons of supplies and furs over the portage and in and out of warehouses at either end of the woodland trail.
For more information:
The Men of the Voyageurs Encampment
The Porters, the Canoe Landing, and the Fountain Pose
Canoes of Grand Portage
Homeland of the Grand Portage Anishinaabe
Grand Portage National Monument is within the homeland of the Grand Portage Anishinaabe. Approximately half of the land for the national monument was donated by the Grand Portage Band. This community is the homeplace and center of tribal government for the Grand Portage Band (the Band) of Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe/Anishinaabe). Their intimate knowledge of and connection to the land, water, plants, and wildlife of the area allowed them to endure in the sometimes harsh environment before and after European exploration and nation-building. As other cultures explored this area, the tools and technologies of the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) were adapted by newcomers to exploit the natural resources as global commodities. The Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) have persevered here for centuries, through the European incursion into this continent and division into two countries, the United States and (then British) Canada.
For more information: Anishinaabe Culture & Language
Grand Portage National Monument
The significance of this historic portage corridor is the reason for Grand Portage National Monument. Bordered on the north and south by Grand Portage tribal land, on the east by Lake Superior, and on the west by the Pigeon River and Canada, the monument is 710 acres and consists of two districts, which are connected by the Grand Portage trail. The eastern, or lakeshore district, consists of the visitor service area with a reconstructed stockade and grounds containing historic buildings and gardens, and where most interpretation occurs.
The western, or Fort Charlotte district, is named for historic Fort Charlotte, which today is a camping area with primitive campsites, a point of debarkation for modern canoe travelers, and a destination for hikers from the lakeshore. A small monument made of river stones marks the location of the historic fort.
For more information: Stewardship at Grand Portage National Monument
Additional history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Portage_National_Monument
As early as 2,000 years ago, Native American Nations probably used Gichi-onigaming, or "the Great Carrying Place", to travel from summer homes on Lake Superior to winter hunting grounds in the interior of Minnesota and Ontario. In 1729, Cree guide Auchagah drew a map for Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye, one of the early French fur traders, showing how to reach the "western sea" of Lake Winnipeg. In time, Grand Portage became the gateway into rich northern fur-bearing country, where it connected remote interior outposts to lucrative international markets.
The Grand Portage trail is an 8.5-mile trail connecting Grand Portage with Fort Charlotte on the Pigeon River. Voyageurs from the Rupert's Land would carry their furs by canoe to Fort Charlotte, and portage the bundles of fur to Grand Portage. There they met traders from Montreal, and exchanged the furs for trade goods and supplies. Each canoe "brigade" then returned to its starting place. The fur traders built Fort Charlotte as a trading fort at Grand Portage. There they built the Grand Hall in the French colonial style, which housed their meetings, a general store, and other facilities.
British operations in Grand Portage came under pressure after the signing of the Jay Treaty in 1795, the finalization of western portion of the U.S./Canada border in 1818, and gradual settlement of the Minnesota Territory by U.S. settlers. In mid-July 1802, partners of the North West Company, the most successful fur trade company in North America, met in their Grand Hall at Grand Portage. They voted to move their summer headquarters from the protected shores of Lake Superior's Grand Portage Bay 50 miles north to the mouth of the Kaministiquia River. Almost from the time the British Nor'Westers had organized at Grand Portage in the mid-1780s, an emerging United States wanted them to stop competing with Americans in this territory.
The July vote meant that the North West Company would tear down its 18 buildings and transport the materials north in company schooners for use in constructing the planned new Fort William, far from U.S. soil. The buildings were constructed from native squared spruce, pine and birch and were surrounded by more than 2,000 cedar pickets.
In 1854, the Ojibwe signed a treaty with the U.S. establishing Grand Portage as part of their reservation. A school was established to educate the tribe members and a post office was created in 1856. In 1887 the government chose to abolish the reservation, opening it to general settlement.
In 1951, the property was designated as the Grand Portage National Historic Site and opened for visitors. In 1958, it was designated a National Monument. The portage trail has also been separately designated a Minnesota State Historic Site. The monument's 710 acres lie entirely within the boundaries of the Grand Portage Indian Reservation. The depot was reconstructed to allow celebration of the fur trade and Ojibwe lifeways. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.
NPS site: https://nps.gov/grpo/learn/historyculture/index.htm
HISTORY AND CULTURE
Gichi Onigaming, The Great Carrying Place
Gichi Onigaming (Great Carrying Place) is the name of the 8.5-mile portage trail that allowed Native Americans, explorers, and voyageurs to bypass high falls, cascades, and gorges, and has been a critical transportation route for thousands of years. Because of the area’s geology, topography, natural resources, and strategic location, this trail was part of an ancient transcontinental trade route connecting the Great Lakes to the interior of the continent.
The adoption of native technology and the cultural exchange that took place during the fur trade led to exploration and mapping the continent. The quest for furs caused European expansion into the northwest during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Grand Portage trail itself was a focal point in developing the international boundary between Canada and the United States, and today remains an international road. Under the terms of the Webster- Ashburton Treaty of 1842, use of the trail remains free and open to citizens of both the United States and Canada. Without the Grand Portage, Canadian and American political history and national boundaries might have been quite different.
For more information:
Minnesota: Grand Portage National Monument
Ojibwe Collection Photos
The Great Lakes Fur Trade and the North West Company
The Grand Portage bypasses unnavigable portions of the Pigeon River and connects Fort Charlotte with Lake Superior, where thousands of tons of furs and materials were transported back and forth to Europe and beyond. The North West Company (NWC) depot served as the headquarters and central hub for the NWC as it competed in the global fur trade, and acted as the rendezvous point to exchange North American furs for trade goods from Montreal, Europe, Asia, and South America. Between 1731 and 1804, thousands of men shuttled tons of supplies and furs over the portage and in and out of warehouses at either end of the woodland trail.
For more information:
The Men of the Voyageurs Encampment
The Porters, the Canoe Landing, and the Fountain Pose
Canoes of Grand Portage
Homeland of the Grand Portage Anishinaabe
Grand Portage National Monument is within the homeland of the Grand Portage Anishinaabe. Approximately half of the land for the national monument was donated by the Grand Portage Band. This community is the homeplace and center of tribal government for the Grand Portage Band (the Band) of Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe/Anishinaabe). Their intimate knowledge of and connection to the land, water, plants, and wildlife of the area allowed them to endure in the sometimes harsh environment before and after European exploration and nation-building. As other cultures explored this area, the tools and technologies of the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) were adapted by newcomers to exploit the natural resources as global commodities. The Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) have persevered here for centuries, through the European incursion into this continent and division into two countries, the United States and (then British) Canada.
For more information: Anishinaabe Culture & Language
Grand Portage National Monument
The significance of this historic portage corridor is the reason for Grand Portage National Monument. Bordered on the north and south by Grand Portage tribal land, on the east by Lake Superior, and on the west by the Pigeon River and Canada, the monument is 710 acres and consists of two districts, which are connected by the Grand Portage trail. The eastern, or lakeshore district, consists of the visitor service area with a reconstructed stockade and grounds containing historic buildings and gardens, and where most interpretation occurs.
The western, or Fort Charlotte district, is named for historic Fort Charlotte, which today is a camping area with primitive campsites, a point of debarkation for modern canoe travelers, and a destination for hikers from the lakeshore. A small monument made of river stones marks the location of the historic fort.
For more information: Stewardship at Grand Portage National Monument
Additional history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Portage_National_Monument
As early as 2,000 years ago, Native American Nations probably used Gichi-onigaming, or "the Great Carrying Place", to travel from summer homes on Lake Superior to winter hunting grounds in the interior of Minnesota and Ontario. In 1729, Cree guide Auchagah drew a map for Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye, one of the early French fur traders, showing how to reach the "western sea" of Lake Winnipeg. In time, Grand Portage became the gateway into rich northern fur-bearing country, where it connected remote interior outposts to lucrative international markets.
The Grand Portage trail is an 8.5-mile trail connecting Grand Portage with Fort Charlotte on the Pigeon River. Voyageurs from the Rupert's Land would carry their furs by canoe to Fort Charlotte, and portage the bundles of fur to Grand Portage. There they met traders from Montreal, and exchanged the furs for trade goods and supplies. Each canoe "brigade" then returned to its starting place. The fur traders built Fort Charlotte as a trading fort at Grand Portage. There they built the Grand Hall in the French colonial style, which housed their meetings, a general store, and other facilities.
British operations in Grand Portage came under pressure after the signing of the Jay Treaty in 1795, the finalization of western portion of the U.S./Canada border in 1818, and gradual settlement of the Minnesota Territory by U.S. settlers. In mid-July 1802, partners of the North West Company, the most successful fur trade company in North America, met in their Grand Hall at Grand Portage. They voted to move their summer headquarters from the protected shores of Lake Superior's Grand Portage Bay 50 miles north to the mouth of the Kaministiquia River. Almost from the time the British Nor'Westers had organized at Grand Portage in the mid-1780s, an emerging United States wanted them to stop competing with Americans in this territory.
The July vote meant that the North West Company would tear down its 18 buildings and transport the materials north in company schooners for use in constructing the planned new Fort William, far from U.S. soil. The buildings were constructed from native squared spruce, pine and birch and were surrounded by more than 2,000 cedar pickets.
In 1854, the Ojibwe signed a treaty with the U.S. establishing Grand Portage as part of their reservation. A school was established to educate the tribe members and a post office was created in 1856. In 1887 the government chose to abolish the reservation, opening it to general settlement.
In 1951, the property was designated as the Grand Portage National Historic Site and opened for visitors. In 1958, it was designated a National Monument. The portage trail has also been separately designated a Minnesota State Historic Site. The monument's 710 acres lie entirely within the boundaries of the Grand Portage Indian Reservation. The depot was reconstructed to allow celebration of the fur trade and Ojibwe lifeways. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.
© David D. Dolton