| The Setting
 Visitors trek to Michigan’s Upper Great Lakes
region for excellent canoeing, hiking,
camping, and other rugged outdoor
activities in a scenic setting. But what
about the culture of the region, the history of
the human experience in the Michigan wilderness? Together, nature
and heritage would make a
complete northwoods adventure. With limited
budgets, however, most public campgrounds can
ill afford cultural entertainment. An innovative
plan spearheaded by the Michigan Humanities
Council brings performers and interpreters to
campers for an enriching experience.
Campers, come settle down. Come close your eyes and listen to
the early night sounds. Hear water lapping gently at the shore,
owls’ awakening hoots high in the trees, wolves singing
plaintively, and the crackling of seasoned tree limbs feeding
the campfire’s flames. Now listen more closely. There!
It’s the soft sloshing of a canoe gliding through the water.
Now hear the faint echo of a foghorn
riding on the mist that creeps quietly toward shore. Music wafts
across the air. It’s a fiddle, a banjo, a squeezebox. It’s
a brass band.
It’s Native American flute music and French waltzes. A
voice emerges through the distant music to tell the story of
a lumberjack’s
life in 1870. Another rises to tell of the native traditions
of living in unity with the land. Then comes the story of early
northwoods trappers and fur-traders.
It was this kind of interactive, evocative, interpretive program
that the rural campgrounds, parks, and forests in Michigan’s
Great Lakes region were seeking in the 1990s to fulfill directives
from their governing agencies to make the tourist experience
more complete.
But, thanks to a decade of deep budget and personnel cuts at
local, state, and federal levels, the reality was that campsite
evening entertainment was mostly of the bring-your-own variety.
 Most arts-related agencies also felt the pinch in those days—agencies
like the Michigan Humanities Council and the Michigan Council
for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA), whose mandates include
the tasks of reclaiming and perpetuating that spirited
northwoods heritage. These organizations were supposed to be
delivering cultural programs to remote sections of the state
for
residents and visitors, but repeatedly encountered the problems
of limited funds, few personnel, and scanty audiences.
According to Nancy Mathews of the Humanities Council, “Most
of the rural places in the north don’t have the economy
to
support many cultural efforts, but it doesn’t mean there
isn’t the desire for or interest in them. The trick was
figuring out how to
most effectively get the programs to the people.”
These were the dilemmas: Should the natural resource agencies
just give up on
providing cultural interpretation? Should the humanities and
arts councils produce
the usual kind of programs in outlying places that so often attract
mere trickles of
visitors? Or should these agencies with similar missions consider
a collaborative
effort that would fulfill everyone’s goals?
“We have watched with admiration
as Mrs. Nathiri and her dedicated colleagues
have built that first small local festival into an internationally
recognized celebration of ...the arts and humanities. And
we have frequently partnered with the association by awarding
grants to bring renowned international scholars of African
American history, literature, and culture to Eatonville.”
— Francine Curro Cary, executive director, Florida Humanities Council |
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