Biidaanakwad: Bebaanaajimod

16/08/2025

My wife Barbara walked the Paul Bunyan trail almost daily no matter the weather. She often shared knowledge and stories old and new while walking with her friend Judy. Judy sent this photo from the trail. Ojibwe signage to thank the forest and grieving for her loss. The sign says "Thank you tree."

These two travelers had names for areas along the trail, Basswood, Fox Den, Avenue of Larches, Judy says this they called Shelter Tree.

Judy wrote.
“The storm broke off the top, just at the top of this photo at about 15’. It's located about halfway between parking lot and bridge. “Barb and I called it Shelter Tree...from rain, snow or just life in general.

“An 80-yr old fellow bikes here with his smiling wife. He's very talkative so I learned he'd studied the Ojibway language. I saw this wood burned sign two days ago. I stuck a note behind it which read: Miigwech, Pete. I'm not positive it's his, but that's ok
“I love that a few of us can share our respect...and sadness.”

07/08/2025

From Smithsonian Magazine

Colorado Is Building the ‘World’s Largest’ Wildlife Overpass, Giving Elk and Other Big Creatures a Safe Path to Cross a Busy Freeway
The completed overpass will be 200 feet wide by 209 feet long, forming a bridge across six lanes of traffic that see more than 100,000 vehicles each day
Twice a year, thousands of elk, mule deer and pronghorn migrate between their seasonal ranges in Colorado. They spend their winters grazing at lower elevations and their summers in the mountains.
As they make these semiannual journeys, however, the ungulates must often traverse busy, high-speed roadways—and these crossings can have disastrous consequences for both the animals and human motorists.
Now, Colorado is building a massive new bridge to help make one bustling freeway safer for all species. Construction is underway for a $15 million overpass that, once it’s finished as soon as December, is expected to be the largest wildlife crossing in the world, according to a statement from the Colorado Department of Transportation.

The completed overpass will be 200 feet wide by 209 feet long, forming a bridge across six lanes of traffic that see more than 100,000 vehicles each day

31/07/2025

From Smithsonian Magazine

Can A.I. Help Revitalize Indigenous Languages?
Indigenous researchers and roboticists are crafting innovative tools to help save endangered dialects

Key takeaways: Keeping Indigenous languages alive
• More than a third of the world’s over 6,000 languages are at risk of extinction, and many of them are spoken by Indigenous people
• New artificial intelligence tools are being developed with oversight from traditional speakers to help educate people on how to speak Indigenous languages.

Indigenous researchers and roboticists are crafting innovative tools to help save endangered dialects

28/07/2025

From Smithsonian Magazine

Reintroduced Wolves Are Helping Baby Aspen Trees Flourish in Northern Yellowstone for the First Time in 80 Years, Study Suggests
The apex predators, restored to the park in 1995, appear to be keeping the local population of plant-eating elk in check, which allows aspen saplings to grow tall and healthy

Without the wolves, the park’s elk population ballooned, reaching around 17,000 individualsin winter 1995. The huge numbers of elk wreaked havoc on Yellowstone’s quaking aspen trees (Populus tremuloides) by chowing down on saplings before they had a chance to get established. When ecologists conducted surveys in the 1990s, they couldn’t find a single aspen sapling in the park.

The apex predators, restored to the park in 1995, appear to be keeping the local population of plant-eating elk in check, which allows aspen saplings to grow tall and healthy

21/07/2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEH7sF6pA4s

Why is Trump so hell-bent on defunding PBS?It’s part of a larger plan — one where he can control not just what we do, but what we think. Watch:

20/07/2025

From USA Today

Trump threatens Washington Commanders' stadium plans if franchise doesn't change name

President Trump posted on Truth Social that he may restrict the team from building on the old RFK Stadium site if it doesn't change its name.

"I may put a restriction on them that if they don't change the name back to the original 'Washington (name),' and get rid of the ridiculous moniker, 'Washington Commanders,' I won't make a deal for them to build a Stadium in Washington," Trump posted.

He went on to state that the Cleveland Guardians should do the same and change the franchise name back to its former name.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2025/07/20/trump-threatens-washington-commanders-stadium-deal/85301344007/?fbclid=IwY2xjawLqV7VleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHmqYbTmiQXZuN0s12UxIHQqL2d-v9vhQKQEi0ft5hY5MXH86K4nzG3d5vHs4_aem_azA7NWKhtbuNEyx6PuZbDQ

The president took to Truth Social today to state that he may block the team from moving forward on a new stadium plan.

03/07/2025

From MPR. Bemidji’s Ojibwe Language/Signage Project reaches St. Cloud. 😊

St. Cloud cannabis dispensary opens to eager customers

The state’s second adult-use cannabis dispensary outside tribal lands opened today in St. Cloud. It’s operated by the White Earth Nation’s cannabis company Waabigwan Mashkiki. The name means medicine flower in Ojibwe. The company opened its first off-reservation in Moorhead in May.

The White Earth nation opened the state’s second adult-use cannabis dispensary outside tribal lands today in St. Cloud. Lines snaked around the building.

01/07/2025

And in Sarnia, Ontario, the Wheel keeps on turning.

10/06/2025

From Smithsonian Magazine

Massive Fields Where Native American Farmers Grew Corn, Beans and Squash 1,000 Years Ago Discovered in Michigan
The ancestors of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin built earthen mounds to grow crops. The site could be the largest preserved archaeological field system in the eastern United States

Hundreds of years before the arrival of the first Europeans, Indigenous farmers were growing crops like squash, corn and beans in earthen mounds they built on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

The mounds—created by the ancestors of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin—likely represent the largest preserved archaeological field system in the eastern United States, according to a study published this month in the journal Science.

The ancestors of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin built earthen mounds to grow crops. The site could be the largest preserved archaeological field system in the eastern United States