“The Walking Together: Finding Common Ground Traveling Exhibit” Project concludes a near month-long run at the library on Saturday, said children’s librarian Heather Lander. Sponsored and developed by the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan in conjunction with the Great Lakes Peace Center and the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center at Northern Michigan University, it uncovers, acknowledges and documents hard truths about Indigenous experiences in Native American boarding schools in

“We’ve had a lot of interest in it,” Lander said. “The goal is to educate people.”

To do that, the exhibit employs a combination of storyboards and historical photography. Research has found that Michigan hosted five of these schools at one time or another, including three in the Upper Peninsula: the St. Joseph’s Orphanage and School at Assinins; Holy Name Chippewa Boarding and Day School in Schoolcraft County; and Holy Family Orphanage in Marquette.

As Indian children were stripped of their language, culture and heritage, the goal often was, according to one exhibit storyboard, “Kill the Indian, save the man.”

This storyboard is part of an exhibit at the Carnegie Library in Ishpeming that examines the experiences of Native Americans in boarding schools in Michigan. (Photo courtesy of the Carnegie Library in Ishpeming)

According to NMU, a key part of the project is the exhibition, “The Seventh Fire.” The title, “The Seventh Fire,” comes from the Seven Fires Prophecies which were given to the Anishinaabe people over 1,500 years ago, which foretold of the catastrophic events that would befall their people over the next several centuries.