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Longtime Grand Portage Tribal Councilman John Morrin presented the Morning Star Blanket to Ty in front of a crowd of about twenty people. Staff photos by Brian Larsen
Elated but tired and practically as skinny as the cross country skis that rode atop the yellow sled he pulled, Ty Olson stood on the dock of the Grand Portage National Monument Heritage Center and proclaimed his long journey on skis through the wilderness was more than just a chance to raise firewood money for the Lakota Indians who live on the Pine Ridge Reservation, it was also about calling to attention that the vast wilderness he had skied across was ancestral lands that had been stolen from the Ojibwe and it was time to acknowledge that fact and work on solutions with the tribes to rectify that wrong.
Grand Portage Tribal Chair Robert (Bobby) Deschampe was there to greet Ty, as was long-time Tribal Council member John Morrin, who gave Ty a Morning Star Blanket, a gift from the Pine Ridge Reservation Lakota.
Beside Morin and Deschampe, there were about twenty people waiting for Ty to finish his 27-day, 255-mile ski across an ancient water route used for eons by indigenous people.
Ty Olson is warmed by the gift of a Morning Star Blanket from the Lakota people living on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Before embarking on his trip Ty asked for permission, which was granted, to ski through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) from the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, noting it was their land he would be passing through.
Pine Ridge Reservation
Lakota families living on the Pine Ridge Reservation are among the poorest, if not the very poorest people living in the United States. Unemployment hovers around 80 percent.
Many homes on the reservation are poorly insulated and rely on wood burning stoves to cook and to heat their homes. When the cold winter winds blow across the prairie and the thermometer drops below zero, Lakota families will scramble to find a way to stay warm.
But firewood isn’t cheap. A typical stack of winter wood cost $500 for a Lakota family.
When Olson learned about the plight of the Lakota, he wanted to do something to help, so he came up with the idea to ski from Rainy Lake to Grand Portage to raise funds and awareness about the problems he had been learning about that affect Native American people.
Ty fist bumps with Grand Portage Reservation Tribal Council Chairman Robert (Bobby) Deschampe. Staff photos by Brian Larsen
Grand Marais business Stone Harbor Wilderness Supply, Camp Chow, and Oware, an outdoor gear maker, sponsored Ty’s expedition.
Ty joined the One Spirit Partners Wood Program and he set a goal of raising $20,000, a figure that donors more than doubled by the end of his trip. The firewood program also keeps people employed through One Spirit. The organization hires Lakota people, gives them saws, log-splitters, warm clothing, safety equipment, and then pays these workers to deliver firewood for free to Elders and families in need.
The long ski
Olson prepared for his journey by training at a family cabin near Walker, Minnesota. He pulled tires and heavy sleds to get physically prepared. In the summer he canoed along BWCA water ways he would ski across to get familiar with his route.
Joe Porter gave this handmade birchbark gift to Ty during the welcoming gathering.
During his journey, Ty pulled two sleds that weighed a combined 150 pounds and skied for about eight hours each day through the coldest part of the winter. Sub-zero temperatures hit -40F, and at times he said his journey was grueling, but he would think of how cold Lakota families were that were living without heat, and he would push on.
The remote east to west route chosen by Ty covered 255 miles. When asked if he had any hard days, Ty, standing on the dock at the Grand Portage Trading Post, replied, “Every day was the same; I just took it hour by hour.”
To begin with, he consumed 3,800 calories per day but increased his food intake to 5,500 calories as the trip wore on, adding butter to his meals to gain those extra calories. The more he ate, the lighter his sled was, and he moved from eight miles per day to over ten miles per day, finishing four days earlier than planned.
He often camped on lakes, feeling the ice crack under him and hearing the wolves howl as he tried to sleep for ten hours per night. He crossed 35 lakes and nine rivers plowing through snow on his wide Norwegian cross country skis.
As he got closer to Lake Superior, the snow started to disappear. So, Ty hiked the last half-mile or so with several young people joining him.
Who is Ty Olson?
Olson, 32, is an independent filmmaker who lives in Walker, Minnesota.
As he stood on the dock in front of a small crowd which included his girlfriend, parents, Grand Portage Ojibway Tribal Council members and young people on hand to greet him, he said his ancestors left Norway five generations ago in search of land. They were impoverished but proud peasant farmers in search of land to farm.
Ty said in 1877 his great, great grandfather Samuel Olson found rich farmland in the Red River Valley to homestead. The family has done well on that property, building a prosperous life. But once they learned about the Treaty of Old Crossing, which was signed in 1863 that forced the Ojibwe and Dakota from their ancestral lands, Ty said it was time to admit they were living on stolen property.
Sarah Hamilton and Ty discuss the long journey. Sarah has worked with the Pine Ridge Reservation and is currently helping to bring workers from Pine Ridge to Cook County.
“The Natives that signed that treaty never intended to give up that land,” he said to the crowd.
These kinds of treaties weren’t unusual, he said, noting indigenous people throughout the U.S. often lost land to ill-gotten treaties. Under the Treaty of the Old Crossing, the indigenous tribes were paid about two cents per acre for the land lost in the treaty.
“We can’t separate the poverty of the Native people today from the lands that were stolen from them. With their ancestral economies destroyed, Native people were forced to either assimilate into a strange new social world built on top of their very own lands by a foreign occupying power— America—or retreat to small, remote reservations cut off from any economic development,” he said.
Telling the small crowd that he didn’t have all of the answers, he pleaded justice will only come when indigenous led efforts to reclaim power over their own lives and land takes place with the people who now inhabit their lands.
“This is their land, until we come as relatives and not as settlers, we will always be uninvited guests,” he said.
John Morrin presented Ty with a Morning Star blanket. The blanket is a Symbol of Honor and Generosity. According to a document presented to Ty that came with the blanket, “The star quilt’s tradition of honor grew as the quilts were draped around the shoulders of Lakota warriors and hunters when they returned from battle, a successful hunt, or at the start of Hanjbleceya— Vision Quests. It was also presented at funerals to honor loved ones on their final journey.”
“Today, star quilts are one of the most valued gifts of the Lakota (Sioux) people and are still draped over the shoulder of the recipient to symbolize protection on their journey through life.”
The Morning Star is the last brightest star on the eastern horizon before dawn. It was believed the Morning Star represented the way the spirits came to earth and served as a link between the living and those that have passed away.
The Morning Star blanket said Ty, was a gift he would forever treasure. Despite his fatigue, he said he doubted this would be his last attempt to bring awareness and consideration to Native people. Just when, where, or what that will entail he didn’t know. Ty plans to move to Stockholm, Sweden, home of his girlfriend, and establish a career as an independent filmmaker.
For now, on this day, he snuggled under his blanket, warming up from his cold sweat, as he answered questions. The gift from the Lakota was warming him, just as his gift to them, would warm them.
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