Studying Family and World History – The North Star Reports – by Jimmy Lovrien. Sponsored by The College of St. Scholastica and The Middle Ground Journal

Studying Family and World History – The North Star Reports – by Jimmy Lovrien. Sponsored by The College of St. Scholastica and The Middle Ground Journal

[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Minnesota_in_United_States.svg]

“Wow, the story of my family is really the story of Minnesota,” I proudly thought to myself. With a collection of family stories regarding farming in southern Minnesota, logging in northeastern Minnesota, and some of the first women to graduate from the University of Minnesota, the Lovrien family history portrayed Minnesota’s past in a storybook style.

As an individual studying history and journalism, I quickly saw a large flaw in presenting history this way: I did not include my ancestors’ role in oppressing Native Americans.
The loss of land and subsequent warfare aimed at Native Americans completely corresponds with the westward migration by my ancestors. When farming during the summer wasn’t enough, agriculturalists moved north to log during the winters. I was told…