More Indigenous youth are learning to spearfish, a connection to ancestors and the land

 The Associated Press  10/07/2024 09:33 HAYWARD, Wis. (AP) — Ganebik Johnson started learning traditional Ojibwe songs when he was about 2 years old. He’d hang around listening to his uncle sing, or observe elders, or even pull up music on YouTube. Spearfishing came shortly after, at around age 7, when his grandfather took him out on a northern Wisconsin lake for the first time. Now 13, he’s already teaching others. Johnson kept a steady beat on his drum as he joined other youth playing and singing the welcoming song at this year’s annual spearfishing event for kids put on by the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. He and 40 or so other young people spread tobacco into the water along the shoreline, an offering of respect…

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