Management

Fur trade exploration contributed to establishing the Pigeon River as the border between the US and Canada.

NPS Photo / B. Clayton

 

Purpose and Significance

Grand Portage National Monument was established for the purpose of preserving an area containing unique historical values. Co-management between the National Park Service and the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe, Anishinaabe) ensures preservation and interpretation of the heritage and lifeways of the Anishinaabe people. It commemorates and preserves the route of the 18th century fur trade that led to pioneering international commerce and exploration in North America. This was an important time of cultural contact between the Anishinaabe and other native societies and the North West Company partners, clerks, and canoe-men.

This location is of international and regional significance because it was the central hub of a once flourishing fur trade and bold economic strategy. The North West Company voyageurs and traders traveled a transcontinental trade route that led to exploration and European settlement of the continent. Grand Portage was and remains a meeting ground of diverse cultures.

 

Co-Management at Grand Portage National Monument

Did you know that Grand Portage National Monument is the first National Park Service unit to be co-managed with a Tribal Nation? First designated as a National Historic Site by the Secretary of the Interior in 1951, federal, state, and local investigations documented the region’s contributions to international history. In 1958, Congress authorized the establishment of Grand Portage National Monument which lies entirely within Grand Portage Anishinaabe Nation traditional homelands, on a portion of land donated by the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. Today, co-management at Grand Portage National Monument serves as a model of successful partnership between a federal agency and a Tribal Nation.

 

 

NPS and GOCC graphic

Gichi Onigaming Conservation Crew (GOCC)

GOCC was founded primarily to engage and employ youth, to build skills and knowledge, and to provide mentorship to the next generation of land stewards. The work expands beyond Grand Portage National Monument to the Grand Portage community, and Minong (Isle Royale National Park, designated a Traditional Cultural Property in 2019), and other federal and state lands. Skills gained include trails maintenance, archeological and historic preservation, vegetation management, wildland fire management, and subsistence agriculture. These experiences pave the way for a variety of careers in Public Lands and resource management.