Culture & Traditions

 

A Hero's Voice Facts

A Hero's Voice is standard comic book size: 6-5/8" x 10-1/4".

It was published by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians of Onamia, Minnesota, and has been distributed to all public and private elemetary schools in the state.

It is targeted toward fifth graders, but is appropriate for students in other grade levels.

Cover art by:
Steve Premo, a Mille Lacs Band member

Inside art by:
Paul Fricke

Story by:
Cindy Goff

Main characters:

Georgie, a little boy who wants to be a hero, but thinks that means jumping off tall buildings.

Grampa, his wise grandfather who teaches Georgie that being a hero does not mean having supernatural powers. Grampa introduces Georgie to six heroes: Naygwanabe, Shawbashkung, Migizi, Nodinens, Ayshpun (Sam Yankee), and Waywinabe (Arthur Gahbow).

Jennie, Georgie's little sister who wants to make sure that women can be heroes also.

The heroes:

Naygwanabe
Naygwanabe ("the point of a group of feathers") was an important spiritual and community leader for the Mille Lacs Band during the late nineteenth century. Although he was not a chief, he was a prominent medicine leader, which means he possessed the gift of healing.

Shawbashkung
Shawbashkung ("he who passes through") was one of the Mille Lacs Band's most famous chiefs. Through his wisdom and expert negotiation skills, he made sure officials in Washington, D.C., kept the promises they had made in treaties with the Ojibwe.

In 1855, on behalf of the Mille Lacs Band, Shawbashkung signed what the United States government called "the treaty of peace and friendship." This treaty established a permanent home for the Band called the Mille Lacs Reservation.

Migizi
Migizi ("bald eagle"), Shawbashkung's son, followed in his father's great footsteps. A renowned leader, he was later proclaimed chief because of his great contributions to his people.

By the end of the nineteenth century, the Mille Lacs Band's lands were taken by force, and the people themselves could only remain as "trespassers" on their own territory. Migizi was recorded as saying the following about his people's choices at that time: "First, walk into the waters of the lake and die; second, march aimlessly into the wilderness never to return; and third, fight for the amelioration of these wrongs."

Nodinens
Nodinens ("little wind") was a Mille Lacs Band Elder who spent her childhood and early adult years at Mille Lacs. The accounts of Ojibwe life she gave to ethnologist Frances Densmore have proven to be a rare and valuable resource for understanding the lives of the Mille Lacs people between 1850 and 1875.

Ayshpun (Sam Yankee)
Sam Yankee (known to his people as Ayshpun or "very high up") was elected chairman of the Mille Lacs Reservation Business Committee (RBC) in 1960. It was a time of great change for American Indians, from how funding for Indian programs and services was distributed to a shift in attitudes towards Indian education. But Yankee had already seen so many changes go awry for his people that he was suspicious of any new ones.

Waywinabe (Arthur Gahbow)
Arthur Gahbow, or Waywinabe ("seated in a place of honor"), is a contemporary Mille Lacs Band hero. He became chairman of the Mille Lacs Reservation Business Council in 1972 and led the Band through a difficult - yet in many ways progressive - era in American Indian history. Legislation was being introduced that took aim at American Indians' treaty rights, Indians protested with the "Trail of Broken Treaties" march in Washington, D.C., in 1972, and a confrontation took place between Indians and the federal government at Wounded Knee in 1973.

But under Gahbow's leadership, the Band opened the Nay Ah Shing School, created social programs for Band members, and implemented special programs for Elders. Two of Gahbow's biggest contributions were his involvement in the creation of a separation of powers form of government and the establishment of Grand Casino Mille Lacs, which opened close to the time of his death. The tremendous success of Grand Casino Mille Lacs - and Grand Casino Hinckley, which opened a year later - has helped the Band build a bright future for its People.