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When asked about her new job, Heather Boyd was happy to talk about it.
On June 2, 2022, Bert Frost, the National Park Service Regional Director, announced that the “acting” superintendent tag was removed from her title, and she is now the new superintendent of the Grand Portage National Monument in Grand Portage.
“I am excited to welcome Heather to Grand Portage as the new superintendent,” said Frost. “Her management and administrative skills related to park operations, in addition to her ability to navigate complex cultural resource issues make her an outstanding selection for this park.”
Following that announcement Heather said, “Everyone has been so supportive and welcoming.”
Boyd has been the acting superintendent of the Monument since March of this year, taking over for Craig Hansen. The latter moved to be the superintendent of St. Croix National Scenic Riverway.
In addition to her recent duties at the Monument, Heather has worked as the Administrative Officer at Isle Royale National Park and Keweenaw National Historical Park in Michigan. Boyd has spent the last 14 years working in various positions at the Isle Royale National Park.
As an enrolled member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Heather is the first Anishinaabe to head Grand Portage National Monument, which is run collaboratively with the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the United States National Park Service. That unique collaboration began in 1999 when the Reservation Tribal Council agreed to hire the maintenance staff for the Monument. Since then, the co-management of the Monument has grown to include Band members employed in interpretation and resource management positions. Boyd said that collaboration between the Band and NPS would only increase, with plans to incorporate future cultural and natural resource positions held by Band members.
“I am truly honored to become the first Anishinaabe to serve as the Superintendent at Grand Portage National Monument,” Boyd said of her new assignment. “I look forward to joining the community and working collaboratively to co-manage the site with the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.”
Growing up in the Northland, Heather went to high school in Bayfield, Wisconsin. After high school, she attended Northwood Technical College where she received an Associate degree in hospitality and tourism management. Over the next few years, Heather worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in realty and tribal operations, then joined the NPS. Wanting to advance in her career, Heather decided to further her education, returning to school online to finish her undergraduate degree in Community Development and Public Administration at Central Michigan University.
In addition to her duties at the Monument, Heather serves as the Special Emphasis Program Coordinator for other parks and is involved in the NPS employee source group CIRCLE (Council for Indigenous, Relevancy, Communications, Leadership, and Excellence).
One of her first big tasks is filling openings at the Monument. Like many other places in Cook County, it has been tough to find employees. “Now that school is over, we are starting to get some applicants to fill positions for the Grand Portage Conservation Crew.”
Started in 2018 between the NPS and Grand Portage Band, the conservation crew is a youth organization that helps with resource management at the Monument, on the Reservation, and Isle Royale National Park. The work is extensive, ranging from preservation of historic sites, working wildland fire, moose browse surveys, and archeological surveys of the Reservation. Then too, there is ethnobotanical restoration, which reestablishes significant plant communities along with “traditional and contemporary indigenous practices to sustain them.”
Heather points out that the George Morrison exhibit will be displayed at the Heritage Center through the end of October for folks wondering what’s to see and do at the Monument. In addition, the U.S. Post office recently released a series of stamps showing Morrison’s artwork. A big event she is excited about is the Rendezvous Days and Pow Wow that will be held August 12-14. “I have never had the chance to attend this celebration and I am really looking forward to it,” she exclaimed.
Other Park features include the reconstructed fur trade depot, Ojibwe Village exhibit, and the 8.5- mile Grand Portage trail used by indigenous people and French fur traders.
In 1951 the Grand Portage Historic Site was reopened, and in 1958 it was designated as a National Monument with nearly 710 acres of land, donated by the Grand Portage Band. The Monument includes the 8.5-mile overland trail that goes around obstacles posed by the Pigeon River rapids and a 70-foot waterfall. In Ojibwa, the Grand Portage is called Kitchi Onigaming, which means “Great Carrying Place.”
Heather will move fulltime to the county in July. However, for now, she’s thrilled to be in her new role, working hard, meeting the public, getting to know the community, and preparing for a very busy summer.
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