GUEST PRESENTERS

RON HOBART ~ STORYTELLER, MUSICIAN, PADDLE-MAKER

RON will conduct several programs at the symposium. On Friday evening, he will present the LaSalle Expedition,a unique and inspiring program that portrays the 17th cen-tury voyageur, Louis Baron, garbed in authentic clothing-muslin shirt, canvas pants, wool socks, moosehide moccasins. Ron will sing and tell lively stories of his fellow voyageurs as they travel the woods and waterways of North America, while co-existing peace-fully with the Indians. Students will enjoy story-telling, music and audience participation.

On Saturday evening, Ron will conduct a rendezvous with all 400 symposium participants at McLain State Park. Rendezvous revel-ers will wrestle, sing, and tell stories around the campfire, much like the early Europeans did 300 years ago. All day Friday and Sat-urday, Ron will take students for hour-long paddling excursions on the Portage Waterway in his 36-foot-long voyageur canoe, that holds 25 paddlers. Students will find out why the French voyageurs sang as they traversed the rivers and lakes of North America!
Ron Hobart has been presenting programs on the lifestyle of the voyageur to schools, camps, elderhostels, and corporate groups since 1980. He paddled from Montreal, Canada through the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico on an 8-month, 3300 mile expedition, re-enacting LaSalle's 1682 claiming of the Mississippi River Valley for France. He traveled with 24 men over the same portages and waterways as their 17th century counterparts. This experience provides depth and zest to his performances.

LOIS BEARDSLEE ~ NATIVE STORYTELLER, AUTHOR, ARTIST

LOIS will present her program titled, The Last Indian at Indian Harbor: Native Arts, Stories, and Spirit that includes story-telling, demonstration and teaching of traditional Ojibwe arts. Participants will listen to stories about Lake Superior passed down by the Woodland Indians of the Great Lakes. Lois will use a variety of natural materials to demonstrate several endangered art forms, including porcupine quillwork, sweetgrass basketry, birch bark cut-outs of animals, birch bark bitings, and cedar fiber weaving. No one will leave empty-handed or empty-hearted.

Lois Beardslee is an Ojibway artist, author, and storyteller who has presented at schools and state/national parks throughout Michigan. Her presentation is designed to give students a modern view of Native Americans and an opportunity to learn about their relationship to the Earth and its resources. Lois will present 4 times each day, on Friday and Saturday of the symposium.