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Update May
30, 2003
Our last update
was way back in December leading up to the winter meeting. Much has happened
since then and I will try to update everyone on recent events. Our meeting
occurred last winter in Minneapolis. At the meeting we had a total of 35
families and friends. Our discussion was focused and many important decisions
were made after spirited discussion. After our meeting we all gathered together
for dinner. We were able to watch some great old film provided by Roy Snell and
a presentation by Dave Stokes award winning photo journalist from KDLH
television in Duluth about how a documentary could be made about our shared
history. We were also honored to have Jim Marshall of Lake Superior Magazine
with us for the day. Jim made some great contributions to our meeting. Below I
have summarized some of the decisions that were made at our meeting as well as
the follow up that has occurred since we elected a Board of Directors in April.
1.. To formally
select a board of directors, who then would choose officer of our group from
that board. An election was held in April and board members were selected for a
term of one year. The board held a teleconference in May and elected the
officers. Below is a list of board members and officers.
-
David Barnum Board
Member, President
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Grant Merritt
Board Member, Vice President
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Carla Anderson
Board Member, Secretary
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Sally Orsborn
Board Member, Assistant Secretary
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Todd Strom Board
Member, Treasurer
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Stuart Sivertson
Board Member
-
Brian
Merritt Bergson, Board Member
2. To incorporate,
and possibly apply for 501c3 status. Grant is working on this right now.
3. Come up with a
name change. The main concerns related to the "Original" and the lack of
inclusiveness related to the use of only "Families. As there are many who care
as much as we do about the history and heritage of Isle Royale, but who have
never had a family history of owning property on the island. A committee
was formed and worked on coming up with a name more reflective of who we are and
what our goals are. The committee decided on the Isle Royale Families and
Friends Association. This name reflects the fact that we are not an exclusionary
group, but inclusive of any one who shares our passion for the preservation of
the rich culture, history and heritage of Isle Royale and don't want to see it
lost forever, but rather preserved for present and future generations.
4. Review the
mission statement. The board approved a slightly revised mission statement which
can be seen below.
5. The board
has selected a date for the Summer meeting. It will be on Barnum Island on
Sunday August 3rd. For those of you on the eastern or central part of the island
transportation can be arranged via the Voyageur II. You will need to plan to
staying over night and return Monday morning on the Voyageur II. Limited indoors
accommodations will be available, so many of you will need to bring a tent. A
snack and dinner will be provided. You should plan on bringing a lunch for
Sunday and breakfast for Monday. More detail will soon follow.
Summer Meeting Merritt Island 2003
Last winter a
writer to our message board indicated that our effort was self-serving and
"laughable". I was sorry that the writer did not choose to leave his real name
as I would like to engage in a dialog with him or her. I have been told by NPS
personnel that our efforts will have to fly with the public in order to be
successful. I agree with that. I believe, and yes I do have a bias, that my
family history and all the other family histories are worth preserving. I also
believe that the best way to do that is to allow these families to maintain
their traditional use on Isle Royale in a way that benefits NPS and the public.
IRFFA has to make the case that our presence is valuable. We have had a great
deal of encouragement from many individuals in in the National Park Service and
the public who we have talked to over the years. We are greatly encouraged by
new and enlightened policies towards families that have many generations of
history in National Parks. The report from the National Park Service Advisory
Board "Rethinking National Parks in the 21st Century is a great example. Click
on the link above and you can read about what is says about the importance of
maintaining the ancestral connections. Some have suggested that the term
"ancestral connections" only refers to Native Americans. That is incorrect. I
have spoken to the author of the section on culture in this report and she
stated emphatically that although Native Americans have an important cultural
heritage worth preserving that European Americans do as well and are not
excluded in this area.
The Cultural
Resource Management guideline states "The goal of NPS is to allow traditionally
associated peoples to exercise traditional cultural practices in the parks to
the extent allowable by law.... Again I want to emphasize that our goal is not
to be in conflict with NPS or the public. If our group can provide a tangible
benefit to both through our history, heritage and maintenance of historic
dwellings then we should be permitted to stay. If not, we will not argue the
time has come for all of our families to leave Isle Royale forever, and allow
the erasure of any evidence of the over 100 years our family history on Isle
Royale.
Finally, I
want to mention a great article that was sent to me be John Snell. It is about
the Apostle Islands and the reasons why "wilderness" designation should not
conflict with preserving the cultural heritage of those Lake Superior Islands.
The author, William Cronon
points out that
"the
Apostle Islands also have a deep human history that has profoundly altered the
"untouched" nature that visitors find here."
He continue by saying that
"most parts of these
islands have been substantially altered by past human activities, they have also
gradually been undergoing a process that James Feldman, an environmental
historian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who is writing a book about the
islands, has evocatively called "rewilding." The Apostles are thus a superb
example of a wilderness in which natural and human histories are intimately
intermingled. To acknowledge past human impacts upon these islands is not to
call into question their wildness; it is rather to celebrate, along with the
human past, the robust ability of wild nature to sustain itself when people give
it the freedom it needs to flourish in their midst."
Mr. Cronon states the problem
succinctly
"the riddle we
need to answer is how to manage the Apostle Islands as a historical wilderness,
in which we commit ourselves not to erasing human marks on the land, but rather
to interpreting them so that visitors can understand just how intricate and
profound this process of rewilding truly is."
My grandfather,
George G. Barnum II first came to Isle Royale when he was about 6 years old on
the boat the Picket. He spent the rest of his life, until he passed away in 1959
operating boats around the island and generally around Lake Superior. I have
always wondered about his relationship was with his father George G. Barnum I
who first purchased Barnum Island, Beaver Island, Grace Island and Laura Island.
My great grandfather fought in the Civil War, worked on the railroad, built a
modest grain empire and was one of the original citizens of Duluth Minnesota. I
came across the following story that my grandfather wrote about his father.
"My most vivid
recollection of Father is of his great energy. When he got into action, things
were liable to happen. In a short
 sketch
of his army career which appeared in the annals of the one hundredth New Your
Regiment, the writer made the statement that Father was accustomed to do the
work of three men. There must have some truth in this statement because I can
hardly remember of anyone who ever worked for Father, especially outside the
office, who did quite as much in a given time as Father thought was possible.
When I was ordered around for this or that purpose, I used to think that he
really believed that the job should be done almost simultaneously with the
command, and preferably a little sooner. I think most people who worked for him
had a similar impression
To the stories
that Father has told of the early days in Duluth, I might add a couple of
occurrences which illustrate his activity and energy. We
sat before the fire in the cottage at Isle Royale one evening. The fishing had
been good, and Father was in an expansive mood. He told me of the time he was
timekeeper and paymaster on the old St. Paul & Duluth Railroad. It appeared that
the men were paid off in the second story of frame structure in Duluth access to
the room in which they were paid being gained by a flight of iron steps on the
outside of the building. The men came up the steps and passed before counter
where Father sat and checked the time and made the payments. One sturdy
individual who had been doing a little drinking was not satisfied with his time
check and accused Father of being crooked in his figuring. This evidently wasn't
quite the thing to do, as the next thing he knew, Father was over the counter,
grabbed him by his beard with his left hand, back him against the wall,
and struck him in face with his right hand, and the result was that the man's
jaw was broken and his face cut open. In the next instant, he was out at the top
of the iron stairway, being heaved vigorously down. Even in the rather rough
days of early Duluth this was a little bit too much apparently for the
townspeople, and Father was arrested, but nothing very serious came of it. In
telling me of this instance, he thought it would be interesting to illustrate it
so we got up, and grabbed me by the shirt where a beard should have been,
slammed me into the door of the cottage, and explained just what he did. I think
he was about seventy years old at this time. The next day I got the door pretty
well straightened up, and in a week my shoulder was all right. I always thought
it might be a mistake to accuse Father of being crooked."
Our Mission Statement
To continue the over 100-year
presence of family heritage, culture and rich human tradition on Isle Royale; to
assure the preservation of historic family dwellings; to enhance the experience
of NPS staff and Park visitors by serving as authentic links to Isle Royale's
rich human history.
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