Kinnamon Director Asks TGB to Make Museum Tribe's Official Archive

By Joe Morey

News Editor

Faith Smith, the director of the Kinnamon School Museum & Visitors Center, gave a report to the LCO Tribal Governing Board at their weekly meeting on Monday, Oct. 31. She said the old Kinnamon School building now has over 300 books and serves as an archive of photographs and artifacts.

Smith asked the TGB to consider making the museum the official archive of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribe. She said currently all the archive photos and books are mostly donated items but that she also collects as much as possible.

As far as the facility itself, Smith said many groups hold their meetings there.

“Kinnamon should be used by our people in the broadest sense,” Smith stated. She also said that a group meets at the museum on a regular basis to do genealogy. The group tells about family histories.

“Every family has a story to tell,” Smith said. “Kinnamon is about preserving our history, an important role.”

Smith also shared with the TGB that many documents have been saved from the Chippewa Flowage flooding and New Post flooding.

“We have two exhibits planned to be in the New Post Community Center,” Smith said. “One of the exhibits is a map of the area and the other Sara Balvin will do a sculpture to commemorate the flooding. People in New Post want the sculpture to be in front of the old brick building.”

Smith also discussed meeting with the new owners of Wilderness Walk. She said the owner told her as a child he would come to Hayward and there was always a tribal presence in town, but now he doesn’t see that presence like it once was. She said he wants to have a presence at Wilderness Walk.

She said he gave a building to put in tribal displays, and he also wants the animal displays to have the name in Ojibwe.