The City of Sault Ste. Marie is proud to proclaim July 1, 2023 as Angeline Boulley Day. The proclamation honors author and advocate Angeline Boulley’s deep ties to the Sault Ste. Marie area, her dedication to Native American education, and the success of her debut novel Fire Keeper’s Daughter and sophomore novel Warrior Girl Unearthed.

A special proclamation ceremony taking place where the City of Sault Ste. Marie will honor Angeline Boulley at 3 p.m. on July 1 at Rotary Park near the Kids Fishing Pond will highlight the day.

Boulley has dedicated her career to serving tribal nations in the field of Indian Education. She has served as Director of the Office of Indian Education for the United States Department of Education in addition to being an author. She is a proud member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and has family ties in the Soo and on Sugar Island dating back generations.

Fire Keeper’s Daughter is one of the most honored young adult books of the past decade. The fictional novel depicts the area of Bahweting (Sault Ste. Marie) and the local tribal culture in a respectful, real, and welcoming manner. The book has been a New York Times Young Adult #1 Best Seller, a Reese Witherspoon Sunshine Book Club YA Pick, and named one of the 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Times by Time Magazine. Its television rights were purchased by Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground production company and will be one day released on Netflix.

Boulley owns property on Sugar Island and in Sault Ste. Marie. The areas serve as the backdrop for Firekeeper’s Daughter and its sequel Warrior Girl Unearthed. Boulley is a descendent of the Joseph Netaump extended family, the Leasks, and Boulleys from Sugar Island. Her father, Henry Boulley Sr serves as a traditional Fire Keeper and as a teacher of Anishinaabe Biimaadziwin for several tribal nations located across Turtle Island (also known as the State of Michigan.)

As a part of the proclamation, the City of Sault Ste. Marie is calling on public officials, educators at the K12 and collegiate level, librarians, people throughout the region and state to celebrate the cultural riches of the Bahweting (Sault Ste. Marie) community. Angeline Boulley Day is meant to showcase the important literature motivating tribal youth everywhere that helps them aspire to achieve whatever they choose to pursue in life.