On the northern shore of Lake Superior near Grand Portage MN, where the 18th century fur traders came out of the woods and set off for Montreal in their large lake canoes, is a most amazing Cedar tree. It’s known as Little Spirit Cedar by the local Ojibwe and has been an important part of their culture for 300 to 400 years. The famous French explorer Sieur de Verendrye recorded the tree in his 1731 journals. The Ojibwe guides would leave offerings of tobacco to the tree and the Great Spirit to safe guard their journeys on the big lake.
