Indigenous fire practice returns to Minnesota Point

Good fire returned to Minnesota Point in Duluth on Thursday, when the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and its partners set a cultural prescribed burn on the narrow strip of land between Lake Superior and the bay.

The day began with a ceremony led by Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa elder Ricky DeFoe. DeFoe began by making a small fire from cedar and birch bark gathered at the point.

“The objective is to connect, reconnect to our Mother Earth,” DeFoe told project leaders along with two dozen tribal and state fire managers gathered for the ceremony.

At DeFoe’s request, fellow Fond du Lac elder Vern Northrup lit the fire, and later used the embers to ignite the burn on Minnesota Point’s 17 acres of woodlands.