Open Forum

I recently posted re a local issue here in North Central, lower peninsula Michigan along shoreline of Lake Michigan involving a memorial to the Jesuit priest and explorer, Pere Jacques Marquette. A cross was erected at the time of his death at the site in our community in 1675 m, and it has been in place there almost continuously for nearly 350 years. Anecdotal, second-source records from other Jesuits visiting the site from the 18th c, fur traders in the early 19th c, and locals recalling the cross there in the last score of years in the 19th c all speak of the cross as a marker of Marquette’s death site. A memorial with a cross, marking the site, has been in place since the 1930s and was revitalized and rededicated in 1955. It is a memorial designated as a state historical site since the 1960s. The memorial is on public property, maintained by the local township. Two civil rights organizations are calling for the cross to be removed and the community is rallying to maintain the cross. However, I have recently received a letter from an elder in the local Native American community calling for First Nation People’s perspective to be placed prominently at the memorial. This seems to me to be a long-overdue, historically legitimate, important request, and as exec dir of the historical society I’d like to work with local Native Americans to champion that request. Has any other community or organization experienced this issue and how was it resolved/accomplished?

Sent from my iPhone

Hi Rick --

Couple people I highly recommend (I know them through the Council for
the Interpretation of Native Peoples, a special interest group within
the National Association for Interpretation):

Gail Barels, Linn County Conservation Dept, Toddville, IA,
gail.barels@linncounty.org, 319-892-6488
and
Nancy Stimson, Devils Tower National Monument, Devils Tower, WY,
nancy_stimson@nps.gov,
307-467-5283, x224

They both have extensive experience in this -- tell 'em Judy from
Greenfire sent you :)

Judy

------Original Message------

I recently posted re a local issue here in North Central, lower peninsula Michigan along shoreline of Lake Michigan involving a memorial to the Jesuit priest and explorer, Pere Jacques Marquette. A cross was erected at the time of his death at the site in our community in 1675 m, and it has been in place there almost continuously for nearly 350 years. Anecdotal, second-source records from other Jesuits visiting the site from the 18th c, fur traders in the early 19th c, and locals recalling the cross there in the last score of years in the 19th c all speak of the cross as a marker of Marquette’s death site. A memorial with a cross, marking the site, has been in place since the 1930s and was revitalized and rededicated in 1955. It is a memorial designated as a state historical site since the 1960s. The memorial is on public property, maintained by the local township. Two civil rights organizations are calling for the cross to be removed and the community is rallying to maintain the cross. However, I have recently received a letter from an elder in the local Native American community calling for First Nation People’s perspective to be placed prominently at the memorial. This seems to me to be a long-overdue, historically legitimate, important request, and as exec dir of the historical society I’d like to work with local Native Americans to champion that request. Has any other community or organization experienced this issue and how was it resolved/accomplished?

Sent from my iPhone

Thanks so much, Judy!

------------------------------
Rick Plummer
Executive Director
Mason County Historical Society
Ludington MI
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-09-2018 10:21 AM
From: Judy Brenneman
Subject: Memorial Controversy

Hi Rick --

Couple people I highly recommend (I know them through the Council for
the Interpretation of Native Peoples, a special interest group within
the National Association for Interpretation):

Gail Barels, Linn County Conservation Dept, Toddville, IA,
gail.barels@linncounty.org, 319-892-6488
and
Nancy Stimson, Devils Tower National Monument, Devils Tower, WY,
nancy_stimson@nps.gov,
307-467-5283, x224

They both have extensive experience in this -- tell 'em Judy from
Greenfire sent you :)

Judy


Original Message------

I recently posted re a local issue here in North Central, lower peninsula Michigan along shoreline of Lake Michigan involving a memorial to the Jesuit priest and explorer, Pere Jacques Marquette. A cross was erected at the time of his death at the site in our community in 1675 m, and it has been in place there almost continuously for nearly 350 years. Anecdotal, second-source records from other Jesuits visiting the site from the 18th c, fur traders in the early 19th c, and locals recalling the cross there in the last score of years in the 19th c all speak of the cross as a marker of Marquette's death site. A memorial with a cross, marking the site, has been in place since the 1930s and was revitalized and rededicated in 1955. It is a memorial designated as a state historical site since the 1960s. The memorial is on public property, maintained by the local township. Two civil rights organizations are calling for the cross to be removed and the community is rallying to maintain the cross. However, I have recently received a letter from an elder in the local Native American community calling for First Nation People's perspective to be placed prominently at the memorial. This seems to me to be a long-overdue, historically legitimate, important request, and as exec dir of the historical society I'd like to work with local Native Americans to champion that request. Has any other community or organization experienced this issue and how was it resolved/accomplished?

Sent from my iPhone

Hi Rick,

The city of Riverside, California, has a prominent landmark cross at the top of Mt. Rubidoux. It was placed there in 1907 and deeded to the city. It became a controversy/lawsuit about 5 years ago with a group demanding it be removed, and general "community" opinion in favoring of keeping it. I'm fairly new to the area, so rather than giving you my "outsider" interpretation of events, I'll offer you a couple of articles from the time. The first is by Susan Smartt, a well respected writer and astute local observer: https://www.kcet.org/socal-focus/mt-rubidoux-the-cross-and-the-fight-over-religion-and-landmark

The second describes the resolution: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/04/19/mount-rubidoux-cross-controversy-finally-settled-after-private-christian-group-buys-land-at-auction/

Hope this helps,

Melissa Russo

------------------------------
Melissa Russo
Director
San Bernardino County Museum
Redlands CA
------------------------------

Rick, et al.,

This is an interesting thread, one that is related to, but still different from, the discussions about Civil War memorials.  While I am a FIRM believer in the separation of Church and State, the Marquette cross in Michigan raises a different set of issues than the Mt. Rubidoux cross in California.  Without knowing the details, the California cross seems to be a more general celebration of Christianity, which should not be occurring on public land.  In the case of the Michigan cross, unless I am mistaken, it represents a burial site (or, in the lack of an actual interred body, the presumed/mythologized site of death).  Good or bad, since we have crosses--and other symbols of religious affiliation and personal identity--marking graves on public land across the nation (Arlington Cemetery comes to mind), the issue in Michigan (as you justifiably describe it) seems to be less about the cross itself (albeit, complicated by scale), but whether or not the perspective of the First Nation People also is documented on similar public lands in that region (including, of course, the impact of whites like Marquette). I know that there is another cross marking a "landing" of Marquette on Beaver Island (in the middle of northern Lake Michigan).  This is more problematic, because it is not a grave site (but it is on private land).

------------------------------
Gregory Wittkopp
Director
Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research
Bloomfield Hills MI
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 01-09-2018 12:09 PM
From: Melissa Russo
Subject: Memorial Controversy

Hi Rick,

The city of Riverside, California, has a prominent landmark cross at the top of Mt. Rubidoux. It was placed there in 1907 and deeded to the city. It became a controversy/lawsuit about 5 years ago with a group demanding it be removed, and general "community" opinion in favoring of keeping it. I'm fairly new to the area, so rather than giving you my "outsider" interpretation of events, I'll offer you a couple of articles from the time. The first is by Susan Smartt, a well respected writer and astute local observer: https://www.kcet.org/socal-focus/mt-rubidoux-the-cross-and-the-fight-over-religion-and-landmark

The second describes the resolution: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/04/19/mount-rubidoux-cross-controversy-finally-settled-after-private-christian-group-buys-land-at-auction/

Hope this helps,

Melissa Russo

------------------------------
Melissa Russo
Director
San Bernardino County Museum
Redlands CA
------------------------------

Thanks so much, Gregory—I agree that the cross represents a death site and is not intended to evangelize—clearly Marquette was a devout Jesuit, and apart from his explorations of the Great Lakes and The Mississippi, he wanted to convert First Nation Peoples to Christianity.

Sent from my iPhone

------Original Message------

Rick, et al.,

This is an interesting thread, one that is related to, but still different from, the discussions about Civil War memorials.  While I am a FIRM believer in the separation of Church and State, the Marquette cross in Michigan raises a different set of issues than the Mt. Rubidoux cross in California.  Without knowing the details, the California cross seems to be a more general celebration of Christianity, which should not be occurring on public land.  In the case of the Michigan cross, unless I am mistaken, it represents a burial site (or, in the lack of an actual interred body, the presumed/mythologized site of death).  Good or bad, since we have crosses--and other symbols of religious affiliation and personal identity--marking graves on public land across the nation (Arlington Cemetery comes to mind), the issue in Michigan (as you justifiably describe it) seems to be less about the cross itself (albeit, complicated by scale), but whether or not the perspective of the First Nation People also is documented on similar public lands in that region (including, of course, the impact of whites like Marquette). I know that there is another cross marking a "landing" of Marquette on Beaver Island (in the middle of northern Lake Michigan).  This is more problematic, because it is not a grave site (but it is on private land).

------------------------------
Gregory Wittkopp
Director
Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research
Bloomfield Hills MI
------------------------------

​Introduction |

Uoregon		remove preview
Introduction | Honoring Tribal Legacies is a digital collection of teaching resources for use in classrooms everywhere. On this website you will find an array of at different grade bands that honor a diverse and inclusive approach to social studies, STEM, language, and other subjects. View this on Uoregon >

Consider contacting this organization. I sat in on a webinar by them put on by the National Archives. They helped put together a traveling program accompanying the anniversary programs of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to do just what you are talking about: bring the voice of the native peoples to the table when discussing history.

------------------------------
Sean Mobley
Docent Services Specialist
Museum of Flight
Seattle WA
------------------------------

I grew up in northwest Michigan and know quite a bit of the history of our state, so I'm interested in seeing how this situation goes. Have you contacted anyone from the Grand Traverse Ottawa-Chippewa Band? I'm not sure if Ludington is in their district, but they will probably have some resources for you.

------------------------------
Julian Lepke
Seattle Art Museum
Seattle WA
------------------------------