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Surrounded
by Lake Superior, the Keweenaw Peninsula is an area rich
in history that dates back thousands of years. The Great
Lakes Basin is home to many, including my people who have
been a part of the region for many, many years.
 Footprints of the Ancestors
My studio is found in the historic Vertin Building in
downtown Calumet. My ancestors are still very much a
presence in the region. My grandmother, Big Wing, told
me the history of my great grandfather, Golden Hawk,
who worked the miskwabik,
or copper, many years ago.
As we follow the paths of our ancestors, we walk in
their steps. My workshop “Footprints of the Ancestors” honors
those whose paths have long lain on the earth and entwines
them with those paths we make.
Miskwabik
Much of the copper found on the earth’s surface
in the Keweenaw is float copper – material carried
from the place where it was formed and deposited elsewhere.
Geologists and miners can trace much of this copper back
to its source – Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Keweenaw.
For thousands of years before European settlers arrived,
the Anishinabe, the first people of the Great Lakes Basin,
mined the native copper in the cliffs cut by Lake Superior.
Evidence of the ancestors is found in tools, producing
pits and burial sites and preserved by their descendants.
 The
Sacred Elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water
Using fire and water, the ancient Anishinabe worked
copper ore from the rock. With stone tools they extracted
the metal copper to make tools.
In 1842, the Ojibway ceded claims on much of the Upper
Peninsula to the United States government. Thousands
of miners rushed to the area to extract the copper abundant
in the peninsula. Mines were purchased by large companies
and yielded poor results until the Cliff Mine’s
massive quantities of native copper were discovered.
The Cliff Mine first opened in 1860, and by 1900 its
shafts were the deepest in the world. The Cliff Mine
proved to be a valuable resource for many years until
the cost of transportation and mining became too
great and companies and their workers left the area.
The influence of the ancient Anishinabe and the miners
is apparent in Keweenaw. All comes full-circle
in the teaching, history and love of this place called
the Keweenaw.
View
my pictures of the fibers and textures of Calumet.
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109 5th Street