The Ross Beatty Jr./Sr. High history team will compete in the Michigan State History Day finals in Bay City April 29.

“We Will Not Give Up Our Land,” a play developed and performed by Ross Beatty Jr. High students, will be performed by students Kennedy Brooks, Anna Leach, Savannah McDougle, Keith Porter and Jadin Wolfe.

They began working on the project last October.

The group conducted research as to why the small band of Pokagon Potawatomi was able to stay on their land when almost all other Potawatomi Indians were sent west on the “Trail of Death” in the 1830s. Their questions led them to the Dowagiac Area History Museum the Language and Culture Department at the Pokagon Tribal headquarters, the Sacred Heart of Mary Chapel and the Notre Dame Historical Archives and Log Cabin.

The team is coached by volunteers Ruth Andrews, Marcia Gregg and Margie Yarger.