09.16.2023 Point Iroquois Lighthouse … an Ojibwe victory

Posted bytwosheepstothewindPosted inUncategorized

Built: 1855 … Height: 65 feet … Lens: 4th order Fresnel

On the way to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, Vicki and I took a scenic route up through the Hiawatha National Forest along the shoreline of Lake Superior, with a stop at the Point Iroquois Lighthouse.

I’m not saying Vicki is short, but the Point Iroquois Light is quite tall. It’s on Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

The keeper’s quarters now house an Ojibwe tribal museum, but unfortunately, the schedule for being open is just a couple of days a week. Still, the grounds are well-kept and open to the public.

The Point Iroquois Light stands at the point where Whitefish Bay turns south into the St. Mary’s River, which leads to Lake Huron. It dates to about the time that the Soo Locks were built, opening easier traffic from Lake Superior to the sea.
The bigger rocks become smaller rocks from the wave action, and eventually they get turned into sand.

The history of the site and the name is interesting. To quote the text from Lighthouse Friends group’s website, “In 1662, Ojibwa Indians discovered a group of invading Iroquois camped at the point and managed to wipe them out after a day of fierce fighting, halting the westward advance of the Iroquois. The point was subsequently known by Native Americans as Nadouenigoning, or place of Iroquois bones, which carries more meaning than the English name Point Iroquois.”

It doesn’t seem fair that the Ojibwe people won the battle but not the naming rights.

There is a nice boardwalk leading to the shore of Lake Superior, and an interesting set of information panels, with details on the battle and on the history of the lighthouse.

The educational panels are exceptionally good at Point Iroquois. Here is an overview of the Anishinabeg peoples.
It was the Ojibwe’s Waterloo, when they stopped the advances of the Iroquois. Even so, it seems to me that it should be called Ojibwe Point.
The retreating glaciers left a big mark on the Great Lakes area.

And the food … We stopped in Paradise for lunch, and it was indeed paradise. Fish tacos, which I have heretofore avoided, made with local whitefish. Also featuring pickled onions (purple onion slices, red wine vinegar, sugar and salt … wonderful!).

Sadly, it will likely be my last fish tacos. How can some other shop manage to repeat how wonderful these were?

At The Inn Gastropub in Paradise, Michigan, I had what was my first serving of fish tacos, using locally caught whitefish. I fear it will be my last fish tacos, since nothing else can ever compare with how wonderful these were! (Oh, and that’s a serving of Youper Poutine up above. “Youper” for Upper Peninsula.

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