Assinins - Michigan's Upper Peninsula

<html> <head> <title>Assinins - Michigan's Upper Peninsula</title> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1"> <META Pragma: No-Cache> <META name="Pragma" No-Cache> <META Cache-control: No-Cache> <META HTTP-EQUIV="expires" CONTENT="Wed, 26 Feb 1997 08:21:57 GMT"> <META name="description" content="Our profile and history for visitors to Assinins on the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. "> <base href="http://hunts-upguide.com/"> <link href="/style.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <center> <table width="100%" bgcolor="#F5F5D5" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 border=0> <tr> <td width="18%" colspan=2 height=82 bgcolor="#306799" valign="top"> <table width="100%" cellpadding=22 cellspacing=0 border=0> <tr> <td align="left"> <b><font size="-2" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"> <font color="#FEE384">We welcome<br> your comments<br> experiences &<br> corrections.<br></font> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width=10 height=8 alt="---"><br> <a class="whitelinkunderlined" target="_top" href="http://hunts-upguide.com/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/dehunt/feedback.pl">E-mail us</a> </font> </b> </td> </tr> </table> </td> <td width="63%" height=82 bgcolor="#306799" align="center" valign="top"> <table cellpadding=22 cellspacing=0 border=0> <tr> <td align="center"> <img src="/images/online_words.gif" width=386 height=13 alt="The online version of the popular regional 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height=9> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width=790 height=9 alt="---"></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="17%">  <table width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0> <tr> <td width="100%" valign="top">  <table width="100%" cellpadding=10 cellspacing=0 border=0 bgcolor="#306799"> <tr> <td valign="top" bgcolor="#306799"> <font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="-2"> <b> <a class="sidebar" href="/" target="_top">Home</a><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="5"><br> <a class="sidebar" href="keweenaw_peninsula.html" target="_top">Back to Keweenaw Peninsula</a> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="85" height="20"><br> </b> </font> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="100%"> <table width="100%" border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=10 bgcolor="#FFE09B"> <tr> <td align="left"> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width=100 height=10 alt="-"><br> <font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="-1"> <center><font color="#C82F2C"><b>ASSININS<br>POINTS<BR>OF INTEREST</b></font><br> </center> <font color="#263692" size="-2"> <p> <a name="e1110"><b>Assinins Baraga Center/Father Baraga's school.</b></a> At the Snowshoe Priest's reconstructed school/museum, volunteers help track ancestors and kin of Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa and orphanage descendants, and research burials at adjacent cemetery. ... <a href="http://hunts-upguide.com/assinins_assinins_baraga_center_father_baraga_s_school.html"><font color="#C82F2C">more</font></a> <p> <a name="e1111"><b>Most Holy Name of Jesus Church.</b></a> Simple log church combines nature, Ojibwa motifs (medicine wheel, cedar incense), community history, and Catholic ritual at Mass. ... <a href="http://hunts-upguide.com/assinins_most_holy_name_of_jesus_church.html"><font color="#C82F2C">more</font></a> <p> <p>   </font> </td> </tr> </table>  </td> </tr> <tr> <td>   </td> </tr>  <tr> <td align="center"> <script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> </td> </tr> </table>  </td> <td valign=top width="1%" bgcolor="#F5F5D5">  <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="9" height=500 alt="|"> </td> <td valign=top width="63%">  <table width="100%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 border=0> <tr> <td valign=top align=center bgcolor="#018650" colspan=2> <center> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="30" height=8 alt="-"><br> <b><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="-1"><a class="whitelink" href="keweenaw_peninsula.html" target="_top">Region: Keweenaw Peninsula</a></font></b><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="100%" height=3 alt="-"><br> <h1>ASSININS</h1> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width="30" height=8 alt="-"></center></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="63%">  <table width="100%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=8 border=0> <tr> <td align="left">  <font face="Georgia"> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width=15 height=6 alt="-"><br> <center> <table cellpadding=3 cellspacing=0 border=0 width=399> <tr> <td> <img src="http://hunts-upguide.com/photos/405.gif" width=399 height=188 alt="Assinins orphanage" border=0> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="-2"> <b>This 1881 orphanage complex, now in ruins, once housed 900 orphans and other children whose parents could not support them. Only about half were Indians. </b> </font> </td> </tr> </table> </center><p> Assinins was the last mission Father Frederic Baraga, the "snowshoe priest" from Slovenia, established before becoming bishop of the Upper Peninsula. He came here in 1843 and used the mission he buit as a base for missionary work elsewhere on the Keweenaw Peninsula, often reached by snowshoeing. Father Baraga came to the area at the request of Chief Assinins, who was the first to be baptized here. The little school here was built under Father Baraga's direction; the nails used seem to be the ones he arranged to get from Europe. The partly rebuilt school was one element of what was once an extensive mission center. <br><br>Today Assinins consists of some homes and the cemetery along the high road that parallels U.S. 41, the mission school, the <a href="http://hunts-upguide.com/assinins_most_holy_name_of_jesus_church.html" target="_top">Most Holy Name of Jesus Church</a>, and a former convent that serves as its parish hall. A <B>crucifix </B>and white statues of Father Baraga and an Ojibwa man and girl can be seen from the highway. <br><br><center> <table cellpadding=3 cellspacing=0 border=0 width=450> <tr> <td> <img src="http://hunts-upguide.com/photos/557.gif" width=450 height=287 alt="Assinins-old" border=0> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="right"> <font face="Gill Sans Light,Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="-3"> <a target="_top" href="http://www.highway41north.com/">Highway 41 North</a> </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" size="-2"> <b>A 1910's postcard of children playing near the mission.</b> </font> </td> </tr> </table> </center><p> The large <B>sandstone orphanage</B> building, erected in 1881, is now <B>a ruin</B>. It was Assinins' principal landmark. During lumbering and mining days most of the orphanage's children were children of European immigrants whose parents could not support them during hard times, or because of one parent's death. By 1920 or so it housed mainly Indian children. The mother of one man in the parish lived there and liked it a lot. It was warm, and children could have all they wanted to eat. It's believed that this orphanage was much more benign than notorious Indian schools like the ones at Harbor Springs and Mount Pleasant, which aimed to strip young people of their native culture and remove them from family influences deemed injurious. <br><br>In recent times the impressive stone building was the property of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and housed various tribal services. That was before the Fight for Justice, an unsuccessful reform movement aimed at replacing tribal chairman Fred Dakota. Its leaders were given sanctuary in the church by its priest, a Native American himself. The fight divided the parish and the tribe. Tribal leaders let the roof of the historic building go. Some Indian sensibilities detest things like the statue of the white father flanked by adoring kneeling natives, while others want to pay homage to the memory of the man who did much to keep the Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa community together in their natural environment. The greatest accomplishment local native people feel Father Baraga did for them was to prevent their removal and relocation from their homeland to reservations out west, says the pamphlet of the Assinins Baraga Center. He did this by establishing self-government and purchasing deeded land in their own names. <br><br><I>Assinins is 2 1/2 miles north of Baraga off U.S. 41. It's the first place north of Baraga where Keweenaw Bay is in view. Turn west (up) here to find the church, school, and hall.</I> <br clear="all"> <hr> <center> <script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> </center> <hr> <p align="right"><a href="keweenaw_peninsula.html" target="_top">Back to Keweenaw Peninsula</a></p> </font> </td> </tr> </table> </td> <td width="37%" valign="top"> <table width="100%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=8 border=0> <tr> <td height="4" width="37%">  <img src="images/1x1.gif" width=15 height=1 alt="-"></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" align="center" bgcolor="#C7302D" width="37%">  <font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica" color="#FFFFFF"> <b> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width=15 height=8 alt="-"><br> <font size="-1"> ASSININS<br> RESTAURANTS,<br> LODGINGS<br> & CAMPGROUNDS </font> <br><img src="images/1x1.gif" width=15 height=6 alt="-"><br> <font size="-2">These are our choices, not ads.</font><br> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width=15 height=8 alt="-"><br> </b> </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign=top bgcolor="#FFE09B" width="37%">  <img src="images/1x1.gif" width=15 height=9 alt="-"><br> <font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"> <center><font size="-1" color="#C82F2C"><b>ASSININS<br>RESTAURANTS</b></font></center> <br> <font size="-2"> </font> </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#CDCCAD" valign="top"> <font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width=15 height=9 alt="-"><br> <center><font size="-1" color="#C82F2C"><b>ASSININS<br>LODGINGS</b></font></center> <br> <font size="-2"> </font> </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#B6DBA4" valign="top"> <font face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"> <img src="images/1x1.gif" width=15 height=9 alt="-"><br> <center><font size="-1" color="#C82F2C"><b>ASSININS<br>CAMPGROUNDS</b></font></center> <br> <font size="-2"> </font> </font> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table>  </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan=5 align="center">  <br> <center> <font size="+1" color="#454545" face="Verdana,Arial,Helvetica">Copyright © 1997-2007 Midwestern Guides</font> </center> </td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>