Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures

432 East Campus Mall, Room 332
Madison, WI 53706
608-262-8180
Web site: http://csumc.wisc.edu

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

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 approximately 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 Down Home Dairyland 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.