Identifier
CSUMC0006-CG (local)

Repository
Wisconsin Historical Society, Museum Division James P. Leary Janet C. Gilmore

Date
1992 - 1995 (Inclusive dates)

Summary
Supported by the Wisconsin Folk Museum and informed by the region's folklorists, the Woodland Indian Traditional Artist Project resulted in the ethnographic documentation of 16 Woodland Indian traditional artists from the Upper Midwest in 1994-1995, acquisition of c. 50 pieces of their art work, an exhibit that featured the artifacts, a traveling photo-text exhibit that toured four Woodland Indian nation centers, a summer-fall artist demonstration series, and a radio program. Folklorist James P. Leary recorded and transcribed the interviews with the artists, while photographer Lewis Koch photographed them and their work. The featured artists represented Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Meskwaki, Ojibwa, Oneida, and Potawatomi traditions including appliqué and dressmaking; black ash splint and birchbark basket-making; varied types of beadwork; rabbit fur blanket-making; birchbark canoe-making; cradleboard-making; cornhusk doll-making; flute-making; icefishing decoy making; moccasin-making; yarn sash fingerweaving; silver and German silver jewelry-making; and woodcarving.

Creator and/or Contributor
Wisconsin Folk Museum (creator)

Scope and Content Note

The Wisconsin Historical Society Museum Division possesses the artifacts purchased during the survey, most of which appeared in the “We Chose to Go That Way” exhibit at the Folk Museum, as well as the mounted photo enlargements and exhibit text from the exhibit.

Folklorist James P. Leary possesses some National Endowment for the Arts and Fund for Folk Culture grant files and the project's ethnographic documentation, which included transcribed audiotapes and some traveling exhibit text. The “Woodland Indian Project” materials held by Leary document the preparation and implementation stages of the project as well as the lives and work of the featured traditional artists. The “Grant: NEA Woodland Indian Project Year 1, 1992 October-1993 September” file contains the grant application, resumes, letters of support, NEA terms and conditions, grant award letter, request for extension of grant, 1995 final report, financial reports, and correspondence. The “Grant: Fund for Folk Culture Woodland Indian Project, 1994-1995” file consists of the grant application, resumes, FFC guidelines and application forms, grant award letter, expenses, a January 6, 1995 interim report, and a 1995 final report. The “Contacts” file includes an Indian Tribes of Wisconsin brochure; a contact list with artist name, skill, address, and phone number; a Folk Museum newsletter announcing the project; handwritten notes; and a tentative list of artists to be documented with name, skill, tribe, state, and gender, compiled in 1992. The “WFM (Wisconsin Folk Museum) Woodland Indians” file contains planning materials including a project description, a slide index of artist samples, and a proposal for a book project. The “Events/Publications” file consists of a Wisconsin Folk Museum newsletter, letters to Madison newspapers to advertise events, copies of articles, and press releases.

Files on each artist documented in the project are also available. Each of the artist files contains tape transcripts, correspondence with the artist and/or relatives of the artist, short biographies and quotes that were used in the exhibit, and consent forms. Some files contain newspaper articles and brochures. The “Ned and Josephine Daniels” file contains a floppy diskette and an autobiography of Josephine Johnson Daniels based on the interview with Leary. The “Myron Lowe” file contains no consent form. The “John Snow” file includes a photograph, instructions for carving a John Snow brown trout icefishing decoy, and articles about him. The “Louis Webster” file contains an autobiography based on the tape transcript, a photocopy of his promotional biography with photo, and a tape index from a 1989 interview conducted by Leary.

Also included are 17 digital audio tapes containing interviews with the artists. The interviews provide narratives of the lives and work of the artists, detailing how traditions have been passed on and altered over time. CD copies of the tapes were prepared in 2005.

Janet C. Gilmore and James P. Leary maintain at their home in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, the Lewis Koch photography of the artists--color slides and black-and-white negatives, contact sheets, and some prints--as well as their own photographs of the artists and their artistry during fieldwork, artist demonstrations, or in exhibits. Gilmore also has amassed a miscellany of unprocessed files, color slides, black-and-white negatives, and contact sheets regarding the two exhibits, the traveling exhibit tour, the summer 1995 artist demonstrations, grant administration, marketing, and publicity.

Administrative/Biographical History Element

Artists documented included Bertha Blackdeer (Ho-Chunk black ash baskets), Elena Greendeer (Ho-Chunk beadwork and appliqué), Josephine Daniels (Potawatomi moccasins), Ned Daniels (Potawatomi cradleboard), Ken Funmaker Sr. (Ho-Chunk German silver jewelry), Margaret Hart (St. Croix Ojibwa moccasins and beadwork), Gerald Hawpetoss (Menominee moccasins and regalia), Myron Lowe (Ho-Chunk woodcarvings), Edwin Martin (Stockbridge-Munsee silver jewelry), Kim Cornelius Nishimoto (Oneida cornhusk dolls), Earl Nyholm (Ojibwa birchbark canoe), Julia Nyholm (Ojibwa rabbit fur blanket), Batiste Sam (Mille Lacs Ojibwa birchbark baskets), John Snow (Ojibwa icefishing decoys), Adeline Wanatee (Meskwaki fingerwoven yarn sashes), and Louis Webster (Menominee courting flute).

A half-hour Down Home Dairyland radio program on Woodland Indian courting flute music featured Louis Webster and aired in Fall 1994. The in-house exhibit, “We Chose to Go That Way: Works and Words by Master Traditional Woodland Indian Artists of the Upper Midwest,” opened at the Wisconsin Folk Museum in May 1995 and ran until the Museum closed in 1996. It represented each of the 16 artists by one or more artifacts, a biography, a lengthy quote, and two to five photographs showing the artist at work, materials and construction techniques, and the context in which the artist works. Gilmore and Leary worked with folklorist educator Anne Pryor to develop an in-house exhibit tour for 4th, 5th, and 8th grade students. Pryor created a curriculum guide and conducted the tours with area teachers and students during Spring and Fall 1995, while Gilmore provided a behind-the-scenes exhibit installation component.

The traveling photo-text exhibit, “The Only Way to Get It, Is to Make It: The Experiences of Woodland Indian Traditional Artists,” combined 36 historical and contemporary photographs with quotations from the artists. Arranged to convey significant experiences shared by the artists, the 12 photo-text panels explored such themes as the grounding of traditional arts in an old way of life, the importance of ancestors, spirituality, the dynamic between tradition and innovation, and the various influences of white contact and the pan-Indian powwow scene on traditional arts. Folklorist Trudy Balcom toured the exhibit during Summer 1995 to the Lac du Flambeau Chippewa Museum, the Mille Lacs Indian Museum, the Oneida Nation Museum, and the Stockbridge-Munsee Arvid E. Miller Memorial Public Library. In 1996 the Oneida Nation Museum purchased the exhibit from the Wisconsin Folk Museum.

The summer-fall artist demonstration series at the Folk Museum in 1995 featured traditions related to both Woodland Indian and Norwegian-American exhibits at the Museum. Demonstrators included Menominee Gerald Hawpetoss, Ojibwas John Snow and Earl and Julia Nyholm, Ho-Chunks Bertha Blackdeer, Elena Greendeer, Ruth Cloud (baskets), and Lila Blackdeer (regalia), and Norwegian-American musician Bruce Bollerud, woodcarver Ed Barsness, fiddlemaker Ron Poast, and rosemaler Lois Mueller.

Conditions Governing Access

Contact records custodians for access information.

Wisconsin Historical Society
Museum Division
816 State St.
Madison, WI 53706
Email: paul.bourcier@wisconsinhistory.org
Phone: (608) 264-6573
Web site: http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum/collections/

 

James P. Leary and Janet C. Gilmore, Folklorists
209 S. 4th St.
Mount Horeb, WI 53572
Email: jpleary@wisc.edu or jgilmore@facstaff.wisc.edu
Phone: (608) 437-4816

Conditions Governing Reproduction

Consult repositories for information on use restrictions. For items held by James P. Leary and Janet C. Gilmore, access to the materials for nonprofit personal, educational, and research purposes may be arranged. Duplication of materials for public presentation, publication, and production requires negotiation with Leary, Gilmore, photographer Lewis Koch, and the people documented.

Custodial History

The Wisconsin Historical Society acquired the artifacts from the Wisconsin Folk Museum upon its closure in 1996. James P. Leary and Janet C. Gilmore are temporarily housing remaining portions of this collection, along with other documentation regarding the project, in their home or at UW-Madison, as they continue to work with the materials.

Related Archival Materials

Hocak Wazijaci Artistic Traditions Project Collection (CSUMC0007-CG)

In Tune with Tradition: Wisconsin Folk Musical Instruments Collection (CSUMC0035-CG)

Wisconsin Folk Museum Records, M98-044, Artist Files, at the Wisconsin Historical Society Library-Archives Division contains 11 Woodland Indian artist files--for Joe Ackley, Ben Chosa, Ruth Cloud, Corine De Cora, Josephine Doud, Kenneth Funmaker Sr., Margaret Hart, Alex Maulson, Connie Rivard, Josie Ryan, and Louis Webster--that relate to prior ethnographic documentation, public programming, and/or artifact acquisitions. Several of these files reflect additional Woodland Indian artifacts from the former Wisconsin Folk Museum Collections, beyond the artifacts acquired for the Woodland Indian Traditional Artist Project; these artifacts now reside at the Wisconsin Historical Society Museum Division.

Bibliography

C. Kurt Dewhurst. “Hooked on Carving: Ice Fishing Decoy Carving in Michigan.” New York Folklore 19: 3-4 (1993): 1-18.

James P. Leary. “Alex Maulson, Winter Spearer.” New York Folklore 19: 3-4 (1993): 43-58. Also in Wisconsin Folklore (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1998): 396-406.

Philip Nusbaum. “Spear Fishing and Spear Fishing Decoy Collecting: Connected Yet Separate Existential Worlds.” New York Folklore 19: 3-4 (1993): 19-42.

General Note

Productions resulting from the described fieldwork were:

Janet C. Gilmore, curator. “We Chose to Go That Way: Works and Words by Master Traditional Woodland Indian Artists of the Upper Midwest” exhibit and summer-fall artist demonstration series at the Wisconsin Folk Museum. Mt. Horeb: Wisconsin Folk Museum. 1995.

James P. Leary and Lewis Koch, curators. “The Only Way to Get It, Is to Make It: The Experiences of Woodland Indian Traditional Artists” traveling photo-text exhibit. Mt. Horeb: Wisconsin Folk Museum. 1995.

James P. Leary and Richard March. Chapter/Program 2, “Woodland Indian Fiddles and Jigs,” and Chapter/Program 32, “In Tune with Tradition: Wisconsin Instrument Builders,” in Down Home Dairyland: A Listener's Guide. Madison: Wisconsin Arts Board and University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents. 1996. Reprint: Madison: Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures, University of Wisconsin-Madison. 2004.

Extent
50 (artifacts)
18 (folders)
17 (digital audio tapes)
27 (CD audio copies)
1500 (color slides (approximately))
823 (black-and-white negatives (approximately))
23 (contact sheets (approximately))

Language
English (Languages)
Ojibwa (Languages)
Ho-Chunk (Languages)

Other Subject Headings
Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin (Local)
Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin (Local)
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Michigan (Local)
Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin (Local)
Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians (Local)
Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa (Local)
St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin (Local)
Fox Indians (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Menominee Indians (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Meskwaki Indians (Local)
Mesquaki Indians (Local)
Ojibwa Indians (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Oneida Indians (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Potawatomi Indians (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Winnebago Indians (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Bowler (Wis.) (Local)
Crandon (Wis.) (Local)
Crystal Falls (Mich.) (Local)
Cumberland (Wis.) (Local)
DePere (Wis.) (Local)
Friendship (Wis.) (Local)
Grand Forks (N.D.) (Local)
Lac du Flambeau (Wis.) (Local)
Menominee County (Wis.) (Local)
Middle West (Local)
Onamia (Minn.) (Local)
Oneida (Wis.) (Local)
St. Paul (Minn.) (Local)
Tama (Iowa) (Local)
Waunakee (Wis.) (Local)
Wisconsin (Local)
Wisconsin Dells (Wis.) (Local)
Appliqué (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Birchbark baskets (makuks) (Local)
Black ash splint basketry (Local)
Canoes and canoeing (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Cornhusk craft (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Cradleboards (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Fingerweaving (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Fingerwoven beadwork (or pahx-keh) (Local)
Fingerwoven yarn sashes (Local)
Fish decoys (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
German silver (Local)
Ice fishing (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Indian baskets (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Indian beadwork (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Indian blankets (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Indian regalia (Local)
Moccasins (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Native American flute (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Nickel silver (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Paax ge (Local)
Pah-keh (Local)
Pahx-keh (Local)
Sashes (Clothing) (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Silver jewelry (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))
Wood-carving (Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH))

Geographic Coverage
Wisconsin (state) (Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names)
Menominee (county) (Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names)
Minnesota (state) (Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names)
Iowa (state) (Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names)
Michigan (state) (Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names)
North Dakota (state) (Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names)

URL

Preferred Citation
Please consult repositories for guidelines. We suggest the following citation form when using direct quotes from a person documented: [Name of person documented]. [Date]. [Tape/video/other]-recorded interview by [Fieldworker name]. [Place interviewed]. [Name of collection/project]. [Repository, city, state]. When using a specific image: [Identify subject matter/people in caption]. Photo/image by [Photographer/fieldworker name]. [Date]. Courtesy of [repository]. To quote fieldworker, follow bibliographical style

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