Anna Deschampe
Grand Portage National Monument Superintendent Craig Hansen recently announced Anna Deschampe as the new Chief of Interpretation. Anna currently works for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Interpretive Services Program as a Park Naturalist at Grand Portage State Park. She will assume her new role in late April.
“I am pleased to welcome Anna Deschampe as the new Chief of Interpretation at Grand Portage National Monument,” said Hansen. “Anna will bring strong community connections and tribal relationships with Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. She also brings depth knowledge of Grand Portage’s history and multi-dimensional story. She has proven herself as a leader in the education community and as a skilled interpreter. Anna is sure to continue to take our nationally recognized Interpretive and Visitor Services program to new heights.”
“I look forward to building upon the excellent work being done at this special park” said Anna “My goals are to work with a great team to broaden partnerships and respectfully gather the knowledge of current staff members, community, and band members to tell the story of Grand Portage. I will focus on building community connections, ensuring equitable access to park visitors of all abilities and backgrounds, and serve both the public and Grand Portage Community in offering varied and welcoming Interpretive Services.”
Anna is a proud member of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, a lifelong resident of the Grand Portage Community with profound connections to Grand Portage National Monument. From childhood she recalls both grandfathers, Norman Deschampe Sr. and James Corcoran, worked maintenance at the National Monument. As a family, around 1986, they peeled logs to replace poles at the Historic Depots stockade.
Later, while attending St. Olaf College, where she would receive a BA in Sociology and Anthropology in 2004, she worked at the monument herself. Working as a seasonal Park Ranger and as an Anthropology Intern under then Park Superintendent Timothy Cochrane, she conducted a survey of Cultural Demonstration Programs at National Parks throughout the country. Prior to that, she worked in education for the Grand Portage Band and Oshki Ogimaag Community School.
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