2022.49.01

Pigeon is a member of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, from northern Indiana and southern Michigan. He crafts baskets from black ash trees, pounding the wood until he can pull long strips from it, which he trims to the size he needs. He learned this art from his parents and grandparents. "The reason I do a lot of the traditional arts is to keep them alive," Pigeon said. "As Anishinabe people, we try to always think of seven generations. Those seven generations include my grandfather's grandfather all the way to my grandchildren's grandchildren. By making baskets or keeping rituals and ceremonies alive, we're able to give something to our grandchildren's grandchildren." Due in large part to their conversion to Catholicism, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi was exempted from the 1833 Treaty of Chicago that forced all other Potawatomi to move west. They lost federal recognition as a tribe in 1934. After their land was gone, the Potawatomi sold baskets to tourists and even traded them for food with such institutions as Notre Dame University. Congress restored tribal recognition to the Pokagon Band in 1994. Now, the people are re-establishing a tribal land base. Source: https://www.turtletrack.org/Issues02/Co06152002/CO_06152002_Mihtohseenionki.htm

Winthers, Sally

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06/29/2022

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07/12/2022