Isle Royale to change Windigo Ranger Station name after receiving request from the Grand Portage Ojibwe this past year
Oct 10, 2023 11:14AM ● By Content Editor
Photo: Isle Royale is known as Minong in the Ojibwe language, which means "the good place"
From Boreal Community Media - October 10, 2023
On October 9, 2023, Isle Royale National Park released a statement on their Facebook page stating that the Windigo Ranger Station will be renamed to Ozaagaateng Ranger Station, after receiving a request from the Grand Portage Ojibwe this past year (Ozaagaateng means "the place where it shines outward" in the Ojibwe language.)
According to the Isle Royale National Park Facebook post, the name 'Windigo' is an "Ojibwe storytelling tradition of an evil spirit that was misappropriated to the area by a nineteenth-century mining company. The storytelling traditions tied to the word “windigo” have negative connotations."
No word on when the name change will officially take place.
From Boreal Community Media - October 10, 2023
On October 9, 2023, Isle Royale National Park released a statement on their Facebook page stating that the Windigo Ranger Station will be renamed to Ozaagaateng Ranger Station, after receiving a request from the Grand Portage Ojibwe this past year (Ozaagaateng means "the place where it shines outward" in the Ojibwe language.)
According to the Isle Royale National Park Facebook post, the name 'Windigo' is an "Ojibwe storytelling tradition of an evil spirit that was misappropriated to the area by a nineteenth-century mining company. The storytelling traditions tied to the word “windigo” have negative connotations."
No word on when the name change will officially take place.
