‘Alley Gallery of Loss’ Archives
Gallery of Loss Part III
Continued from December… By HARVEY WINJE Marti Maltby’s January ‘26 Peace House Community Column on page 4 is about “community as a form of spirituality.” This Gallery of Loss series of articles is about loss of trust, buildings, residential neighborhoods, and places of memories. All of those are vessels of community and losing them threatens community as spirituality. Thank you Marti for passing on the words and wisdom from Dr. Kelly Sherman-Conroy. Review of Parts I & II Gallery of Loss Part I October 2025 was reprinted from April 2010 as an example for others to write a personal loss, too, that has broader meaning. That article prompted more details and analysis. I asked myself, “So what? Why is this of interest beyond my own nostalgia and some laments?” The article grew into Parts:Part I set the scene using a 1951 photo in the side yard of my boyhood home at 2512-14 Chicago Ave. where a brand new specialty hospital would be built north and [...]
DanDan- Still Teaching
Remembrance submitted by MARY ELLEN KALUZAI did not know DanDan. I became aware of his existence at the community meeting on September 12th with the Nenookaasi Camp. Residents and supporters of Nenookaasi Camp spoke about DanDan with great affection, clearly grieving his passing. Their sadness filled the room, and opened my eyes to their humanity.DanDan had lived in the Hiawatha camp that was torn down by the State and led to the establishment of Nenookaasi Camp on the 2300 block of 13th Ave. I learned that DanDan had received other housing while living in the Hiawatha camp, but he returned to the camp because he missed his community. He was lonely. The camp residents were his family and friends. He died suddenly on the sweltering day the camp was demolished.While I never met DanDan, I gained vital lessons thanks to his walking this earth. The first is that humans are very good at dehumanizing other humans. It is what allows us to enslave people, conquer people, steal from them, kill [...]
Giga-Waabamin Nee-Gon-We-Way-We-Dun
Neegonwewaywedun “Thunder Before the Storm” A.K.A Clyde Bellecourt, Co-Founder of the American Indian Movement Prominent Indigenous elder to local and nation-wide communities Nee-Gon-We-Way-We-Dun (Thunder Before the Storm in Ojibwe), also known as Clyde Bellecourt (White Earth Nation), passed to the spirit world January 11th, 2022. His dedication and steadfast work for the lives and heritage of Indigenous people worldwide -- fighting against police brutality; establishing and keeping Little Earth of United Tribes; initiating programs for health, education, safety, language, legal rights, cultural heritage, and education; advocating against racist sports names, icons, and mascots; and co-founding the American Indian Movement (AIM) -- was obvious locally and has been chronicled, in part, by the alley newspaper since the paper’s beginning in 1975. The alley newspaper is honored to memorialize him with this excerpt from a New Years reflection by Laura Waterman [...]
