The tradition of selecting grand marshals for parades is a way for communities to recognize and honor respected individuals. The City of Gladstone bestows the honor upon people who have had positive impacts on the area and give selflessly.

Kinnart has proven to be a good neighbor as well as a dedicated volunteer who has contributed much of his time towards teaching Gladstone students about Native American history and traditions. Additionally, Kinnart was partially responsible for securing a grant from the Native American Heritage Foundation (NAHF) to raise a covered pavilion over the group of statues in Van Cleve Park.

Kinnart said that he’s spent all but two years of his life living in Gladstone.

“It’s a nice little community, just like most of the U.P.,” he said of the town on the water. “It’s nice to be a part of it.”

Duane Kinnart smiles ewhile standing under the pavilion he helped erect in Van Cleve Park to protect the statues there. Kinnart said that he usually doesn't wear graphic tees, but purchased this one special for his interview with the City of Gladstone and the Daily Press after the municipality honored him with the title of grand marshal. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)

For approximately the last 30 years, Kinnart — a member of the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians — has been involved with the Indian Education Program at Gladstone Area Public Schools.

His participation in assisting with the education around tribal culture began when his children were young and in school.

“It’s a parent committee that runs it, and then as time went on, I just volunteered,” he explained.

Relatively recently, a set of statues that were created downstate by artist E. H. Levely and once stood sentinel on Garth Point before coming to Gladstone got a makeover.

The collection, built around 1910 and portraying a group of Native Americans, was donated to the City of Gladstone in 1988. They were quite weathered by the 2020s.

The Gladstone Parks and Recreation Department, then temporarily headed by Robert Brown, reached out to the Hannahville Indian Community, who arranged to have a group from Nah Tah Wahsh Public School Academy repair and repaint the statues in 2023.

In 2024, Kinnart along with Indian Ed Coordinator Megan Lukezich wrote a grant application that secured money from the state to erect a structure to protect the statues.

Since its founding in 2016 through an amendment to the Tribal-State Gaming Compact between the State of Michigan and the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, the NAHF has distributed funds to help provide educational resources as well as rebrand schools and government bodies using offensive imagery or mascots.

The NAHF announced in autumn 2024 that Gladstone, which already works to honor indigenous culture, was being awarded funds “to maintain and protect Native American statues that have been in their park since 1988 and to implement educational and community engagement initiatives.”

The money provided for the construction of a pavilion around the statues, which was completed in 2025. Some additional elements, like a medicine wheel and some informational signs, were added to the area as well.

“It was nice working with the school and the city. All the people were so cooperative,” said Kinnart. “We got great help from everybody, electricians, park managers, City Hall, so it came together real nice.”

One new wooden post under the pavilion bears a message of peace. While much indigenous history was oral and can be difficult to rediscover, Kinnart believes that the shores of Little Bay de Noc were a peaceful gathering place for multiple tribes.

Though Kinnart’s efforts at the park installation contributed to city staff choosing him as this year’s grand marshal, he’s known to be an all-around good person and helpful neighbor. In years past, he’s snowblowed and edged sidewalks for others on his block, reported a resident.

Kinnart said that he usually watches the parade with his grandkids from a spot near the Dairy Flo, but this was his first time in the Fourth of July parade.