2025 SLCHS Native American Heritage Day

11AM-3PM on Saturday, November 22, 2025

Free and Open to the Public

St. Louis County Depot

506 West Michigan Street

Duluth, Minnesota 55802

The St. Louis County Historical Society (SLCHS), under the guidance of the SLCHS American Indian Advisory Committee, is proud to announce its annual Native American Heritage Day from 11AM to 3PM on Saturday, November 22, 2025, at the St. Louis County Depot (506 W Michigan St, Duluth, MN 55802). The event is free and open to the public.  

“Native American Heritage Day is when we get to share our culture with the public,” says Michele Beeksma, SLCHS board member and American Indian Advisory Committee member. The goal, according to Michelle, “is to provide a common space where all can learn about and experience some of our local Native American heritage.”

Native American Heritage Day gives families and folks who are just curious the opportunity to see, hear, and taste our regional Ojibwe culture. Kids can decorate a bandolier bag (or gashkibidaagan) or gather in the wigwam for story time. Enjoy a free lunch of frybread tacos and strawberry shortcake from The Food Stand, and listen to a Ojibwe hand drummer performance. Also, Dr. Arne Vainio and Ivy Vainio will share the art and stories of their CommUNITY blanket.

For the keynote of the event, Marvin DeFoe and Hereditary Chief Robert Buffalo, elders of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, will tell the story of the Sandy Lake Tragedy and how it led to the 1854 Treaty of LaPointe. That treaty ceded the land that Duluth stands on today.

SLCHS will also unveil its newest traveling exhibit, entitled Sovereign Nations: Discovering the Treaty Story of Minnesota's Indigenous Peoples, featuring the work of Ojibwe artist, Sam Zimmerman. The Society’s curator, Terry Johnson, will share plans for renovating and moving to the main floor of the Depot, SLCHS’s Lake Superior Ojibwe Gallery.

For more information, contact history@thehistorypeople.org.

This year’s Native American Heritage Day is sponsored by Enbridge, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, and individual donors.

St. Louis County Historical Society American Indian Advisory Committee - Photo Courtesy of Michele Beeksma, SLCHS Board Member and American Indian Advisory Committee Member

The mission of the American Indian Advisory Committee is to advise the Society on matters relating to the research, collection, preservation and interpretation of Minnesota Indian people's history; to assist in the planning, development and evaluation of such activities and initiatives as exhibitions, publications, public programs, curatorial policy, and access to data and information that pertain to Indian history and culture; and to serve as a resource and liaison between the Society and Indian people of the region.