Starr Point

From my dock on the lake when I look north the first point of land that I see is called Starr Point. This is one of the Hardwood Points that I can see from my vista. Starr Point is named after the Starr Family that owns this property. They are Native and have owned this property for many, many years. The gentleman who currently is in charge is Gilbert Starr who lives in Cass Lake now, but grew up on the property.

I recently had a chance to speak to Gilbert who told me about the property and his family and how it was to grow up out there. Gilbert's father was Albert Starr, also called Oh-Gee-Che-Dah, which means the brave one. Albert lived and died his entire life on the property. The old timers in the neighborhood said he lived a traditional native lifestyle in an old frame house with his sisters Susan and Katherine and brother Dan Starr. They fished, hunted, raised a garden, harvested wild rice, maple sugar and heated with wood. They had to hitchhiked to town because they didn't drive. Jan Price, the Fire Warden told me that when Albert died his dog came laid down and cried on their property, but they didn't figure out what happened until later when they heard heard that he had passed away. This happened approximately 30 years ago. The old timers had stories about these great people that are probably now lost in history. Gilbert said that when he was growing up their were a number of different families that lived up and down our shoreline. Some of these families were the Clouds, Fairbanks, Goose, Whites, Winds, Whipple and Rocks. Very few of these families or peoples live out here now.

Gilbert said he had a brother and sister that he grew up with, they are Anna and Jimmy Starr. Gilbert is 70 years old and married to Marilyn Littlewolf from the White Earth Reservation. Together they have 4 kids and 11 grandkids. Gilbert currently works at the Veterans Memorial Building on the Palace Grounds in Cass Lake. His duties include taking care of the ball fields that get a lot of use in the summer. He said that when they grew up they didn't have much money but they never had to ask for help and that they had plenty to eat. Over the years he has worked in construction as an equipment operator as an logger and at the wood plant in Bena. He hunts deer and bear, traps and fishes for his family. Over this past weekend he invited me to watch him net fish which is his treaty rights. I was honored to watch them perform this ancient function. I didn't participate.

Addendum: On Thursday March 4th Gilbert invited me to watch them put out the nets which I did observe. One item that impressed me the most was who he had helping him. Gilbert had an adult daughter and son, plus two grandchildren. This is the families way to insuring that the traditions continue for another generation.

All of the Hardwood Points in my neighborhood are great fishing spots. The Hardwood Points that I refer to are Big Hardwood, also called Maple Point, Little Hardwood that use to have a resort on it and Starr Point. Click on enclosed map to enlarge. I believe the best fishing spot in Starr Point. I and many of my neighbors have caught many walleyes in the spring and fall off this and the other points. There is a drop off from about 8' to 13 ft that holds fish off to the southeast. With a south wind their is a great drift here. Minnows and jogs usually work best.