It is with great sorrow and sadness to announce the passing of Ellen B. Olson on May 15, 2023. Ellen was an enrolled member of the Grand Portage Band. She is survived by numerous relatives residing in Grand Portage and other parts of the country. She is also survived by daughters, Shelley and Marcie. Ellen was the daughter of Peter and Sophia Bushman. Since the age of two years, Ellen was nurtured and educated by the kind and benevolent couple,Maymashquash and Songwewence, whose English names were Alex and Mary Posey. Consequently, Ellen spoke the Native language as a first language, and she was surrounded by all aspects of Indigenous learning. Ellen loved to read. She read Shakespeare and the Bible as a youth. She often quoted these source materials throughout her life. The histories of the Plantagenets, the Tudors and Napoleon were subjects Ellen read voraciously as an adult. She loved fiction, both historical and contemporary. Lastly, she was interested in reading about women’s history and contemporary feminist thought. She read about the fur trade and American Indian history and culture, even though many of the texts were basically flawed and laden with assumptions. Ellen loved music. She particularly loved the songs of her own Ojibwe people because her world as a child was filled with such music. She learned to love all music including classical, country, folk, pop, flamenco and ranchera. Ellen spent her lifetime as a vocal feminist. She learned her feminism from her Ojibwe tradition, whereby women are considered equal to men. She championed women’s rights and served as a good role model to other women, young and old. She defended the rights of LGBTQ persons also. Ellen often expressed the idea that women artists and crafts people are much happier and have greater self-esteem. Ellen practiced and perfected her skills as an Ojibwe craft specialist for the majority of her life. The renowned Ojibwe artist, Wendy Savage recently expressed that Ellen was a “na
Read More 
