In her new book The Land of Everlasting Sky: A Memoir of Loss and Legacy on Lake of the Woods, author Jill Swenson explores childhood memories while also investigating some unexpected changes to an important part of her past.
"My fondest memories of my childhood and my mother are of being up north," says Swenson about the Lake of the Woods. "These are just such vivid memories from my childhood about a very beautiful place." One of the memories at the beginning of the memoir is an introduction to Kakaygeesick, a 124-year-old Ojibwe spiritual leader who died in 1968.
Later in life, Swenson returned to the area to learn more about her mother, but changes to the land spurred her into research. The recent history of Kakaygeesick's land yielded information about a forgotten and erased past. "Not understanding our own history comes back again and again and again to keep recreating the structures that systematically deny some people their rights and dignity," says Swenson.
More information can be found on Jill Swenson's website, and the book can be purchased locally at Zenith Bookstore, the Bookstore at Fitger's, and in Grand Marais at Drury Lane. Swenson will be paying a visit to the North Shore with an event at the Grand Marais Library on November 4th and at a box lunch event at Fitger's on November 5th.
Minnesota Reads is produced at The North 103.3 with funding provided in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
