02/08/2007

The work of a teacher

Michigan Humanities Council awards grant to Holy Hill Trust

In January, the Michigan Humanities Council honored Keewaydinoquay by awarding a $15,000 grant to Holy Hill Trust of Leland, an organization she founded. The grant is one of four awarded as part of the "We The People program,” an initiative focusing on work and labor issues in Michigan history and culture. Other projects funded include Plymouth Community Arts Council, the Center for Automotive Heritage at the University of Michigan, and University of Detroit Mercy Theatre Company.

The Humanities Council's grant to Holy Hill Trust will help the organization create a book, "The Work of Keewaydinoquay,” by supporting the cost of researching and compiling stories, lectures and teachings of Keewaydinoquay, along with doing public presentations.

"Keewaydinoquay, a teacher, touched so many lives,” said Jan Fedewa, executive director of the Humanities Council. "This project will share her stories that express her culture, her identity, and her life as a Michigan worker.”

Keewaydinoquay's life was dedicated to connecting cultures, communities and the environment.

"She is the only woman of her time we know of who studied Western and traditional Anishnaabeg medicine,” said Lee Boisvert, Holy Hill trustee.

Boisvert has already edited one book in collaboration with other writers/researchers titled, "Keewaydinoquay, Stories From My Youth,”

"We looked at transcribed materials,” Boisvert said. "People had recorded her talking about her life in journals she wrote, and papers she wrote at the University of Michigan.”

"Keewaydinoquay, Stories of My Youth” has been named a 2007 Notable Book of Michigan by the Library of Michigan Foundation.

The upcoming and second book will focus on the teacher's adult life. With two master's degrees in science-related areas and Ph.D. course work in Ethnobotany at the University of Michigan, Keewaydinoquay was a powerful teacher and lecturer. She taught in the Detroit school system and in Australia, eventually returning to northern Lower Michigan to teach science at Leland High School. In 1975, she was named "Michigan Science Teacher of the Year.”

In the 1970s, Keewaydinoquay knew she wanted a center to preserve and share the history, traditions and teachings of native people of the Great Lakes Region. She founded Holy Hill Trust, with its mission based on education, science and charity.

"We continue Keewaydinoquay's work and messages,” Boisvert said. "She taught that it is all about love — not just love of family or community, but love of all life.”

While living in Leland, Keewaydinoquay had an old Victorian home overlooking Fishtown and Lake Michigan. Since her death in 1999 at age 81, volunteers have been slowly working on renovating the house, which as Holy Hill Center will carry on her legacy.

The public presentations being planned by Holy Hill Trust will be sponsored and promoted by the Leelanau Historical Society and Elk Rapids Historical Society. In conjunction with Keewaydinoquay's knowledge in ethnobotany, herbal workshops are being considered.

"Keewaydinoquay always used experiential learning,” Boisvert said. "That's how the Native peoples learned. We are carrying the best of the past into the future.”

Anyone who has stories they were told by Keewaydinoquay or would like to share experiences and memories relating to her is encouraged to contact Holy Hill Trust at 322-2320.

The book signing for the newly released "Keewaydinoquay, Stories From My Youth,” will be at Horizon Books in downtown Traverse City on Saturday, Feb. 17, from 1 to 3 p.m.