I was driving to Duluth the other day and noticed a road sign I had never seen before:

When I got to a computer I looked it up. Sure enough, the sign is new. It is one of 12 signs erected by the Minnesota Department of Transportation to mark the boundaries of land taken from three Ojibwe bands by the territorial government. The sign I saw is one of 12 signs scattered around northeastern Minnesota.

Grand Portage Chairman Robert Deschampe told Minnesota Public Radio, “It is something that was long overdue. When people enter the 1854 Treaty area, they will know where they are and, hopefully, educate themselves about treaties.”

Thousands of people drive past these signs every day. The sign gave me pause and I reflected on this aspect of our troubled history. I am glad to see these signs as acknowledgment.