Traditional Territory of the Grand Portage Band

In 2023, the Grand Portage Band passed a resolution to request the National Park Service to change the name of the Windigo Ranger Station on Isle Royale to the Ozaagaateng Ranger Station. Ozaagaateng is the Ojibwe language name of Washington Harbor as documented in Ojibwe oral traditional and numerous archival sources and means “the place where it shines outward.” Windigo is an Ojibwe name and storytelling tradition that was misapplied to this location by a nineteenth century mining company.

Here is how to say “Ozaagaateng”: Ozaagaateng

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