In a Native American community in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, COVID-19
has been felt in unexpected ways
Published: Aug. 22, 2020 at 4:39 a.m. ET
By David Rompf
Temporary tents will be put up in the parking lot of Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College to accommodate some classes, until cold weather sets in
L’Anse, Mich. — On the shore of Lake Superior, in the far reaches of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, it’s possible — for one still moment — to forget the deserted office buildings and muted street life of Midtown Manhattan. Not far from where I swim in the clearest water I’ve ever seen, bald eagles glide overhead, swooping to pluck their choice of trout and salmon. Earlier in the day, road signs warned of bear and moose crossings.
I came to the U.P. from New York City during the pandemic because I wanted to visit a familiar place that left an imprint on me long ago. I was born here, as most of my family members were. Forests of birch, pine and sugar maple stretch across the peninsula, with inland lakes dotting the lush terrain. The short summers bring wild blueberries and raspberries; the winters are fierce but ravishing. After months of working from home, I craved a different kind of remoteness, one wrapped in the startling blue masses of water and sky.
Lake Superior is Earth’s largest freshwater lake by surface area. The people who first thrived along its southern coastline — the Chippewa, also known as the Ojibwa — referred to the lake as “Gichi-gami,” The Great Sea. The name seems apt. At some spots along the coast in summer, surfers skim across modest waves. But the currents can be perilous and unpredictable. During my stay, a snorkeler drowned after a riptide suddenly pulled her under. Up here, in the land my grandparents called “God’s country,” I am reminded of nature’s undeniable and often unrelenting power over humankind — a power that has put us at the mercy of a virus.
As of mid-August, about 100,000 COVID-19 cases had been reported in Michigan, with 6,567 deaths. Wayne County, which includes Detroit, has had the most incidents among all the state’s counties: 29,000 cases and 2,837 deaths. The U.P., the state’s least densely populated region, has logged 715 lab-confirmed cases and 18 deaths.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/in-a-quiet-part-of-michigans-upper-peninsula-the-pandemic-has-been-felt-in-unexpected-ways-2020-08-20?mod=home-page
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