Michael “Laughing Fox” Charette performs at Sawmill Saloon

HAYWARD, Wis. (WBZH) – On Tuesday, Michael “Laughing Fox” Charette performed at the Sawmill Saloon in Seeley. Charette is a member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and a self-taught Native American musician and storyteller.

Charette dedicates his talents of music and storytelling to teaching Native American history, culture, and spirituality.  He has an educational program and works within the public schools system throughout Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin, teaching students about Ojibwe culture and language.

Charette incorporates traditional teachings of the Anishinaabe people into his performance and says that some of the stories he shares he has learned from his grandmother.

“She would say our stories go back so far and so many generations that we don’t even know how far back they go. I only know she would start her stories off like that, a long time ago, back when the earth was forever cold. She would tell us that people all over mother earth have creation stories and that we the Anishinaabe were no different,” said Charrette.

The historical event was organized by the Cable Natural History Museum. Education Director Emily Stone says that she first invited Charette to give a program at the museum 15 years ago and the museum has been working over the years to honor Ojibwe culture and the Ojibwe people.

Stone announced that they will be partnering with the Wisconsin Wetlands Association to build   a new wetlands exhibit at the Cable Natural History Museum which will open on May 1, 2026. The museum’s current exhibit is about the Northwoods and how it came to be, which Charette is also a part of.