Fond du Lac Band Members Stick Together During Tough Times

The Fond du Lac community host a dinner and discussion following the death of one of their own.

CLOQUET, Minn.- Fond du Lac tribal members met at the reservation community center in Cloquet to mourn the loss of one their own.

The Anishinaabe community shared their grief for the loss of Pennie Robertson, whose body was found hanging on the reservation earlier in the week.

Friday’s dinner and discussion was a way to encourage the community to stick together during these tough times

After an opening prayer, a cultural song was performed by band members and members from the community spoke to the group.

The Gitchigumi Scouts, who search for missing and murdered indigenous women and relatives, say they organized the dinner and discussion with the hope that everyone can move forward.

“I want to bring back the sense of community, the sense of it takes a village and just remind people that Anishinaabe people that we’re more than just one singular family, we’re all one big family,” Taysha Martineau said.

A community elder, Millie Richard, said she remembers doing more strong cultural gatherings on the reservation in the 80’s and 90’s and thinks that’s why she saw less violence and missing people during that time.

She wants to encourage young people to get back to that sense of community within the tribe.

“If we go that route we will find our inner strength with a power greater than ourselves to restore ourselves and our community and our loved ones,” Richard said.

Officers with the Fond du Lac police department also talked to the group about how they can work better with the community to prevent outcomes like Pennie’s.

Fond du Lac members wanted to remind everyone that Pennie Robertson is huge loss, but there are still hundreds of missing indigenous peoples families are hoping to bring home.