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RITA ASPINWALL (VOICEOVER): On this edition of Native Report,
we meet artist Wendy Savage.
But there were different beads at the time that
had different colors, and you can't get those colors today.
ERNIE STEVENS (VOICEOVER): We attend
the Mash-ka-wisen pow-wow.
RITA ASPINWALL (VOICEOVER): And we
meet a trio of documentary filmmakers
from Finland who are chronicling the connections between Ojibwe
and Finnish cultures.
We also learn something new about what
it takes to be a leader in Indian country,
and hear from our elders on this Native Report.
NARRATOR: Production of Native Report
is made possible by grants from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux
Community, The Blandin Foundation, and the Duluth
Superior Area Community Foundation
[FLUTE AND GUITAR PLAYING]
Welcome to Native Report, I'm Rita Aspinwall
And I'm Ernie Stevens.
Artist Wendy Savage has an extensive exhibition
background, and her works of art have
been displayed in the Institute of American Indian
Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and as far away
as the city of [INAUDIBLE] in the former Soviet Union.
She draws upon our Ojibwe heritage
to create canvases of natural, and sometimes personal, beauty.
ROCKY MAKES ROOM FOR THEM (VOICEOVER):
Home to two art galleries, the Gimaajii building in downtown
Duluth is the spot for the region's
Native American artists to exhibit their works of art.
Today we'll interview Wendy Savage
and view some of her paintings.
WENDY SAVAGE: My art evolves with what I
want to do at different times.
I don't stick with one media, although I keep going back
to traditional Ojibwe bead work, and lately now I'm
paintings, and then also working on a cradle board.
I think Native American art is taking a resurgence,
and with what we have going here at Gimaajii here,
we've taken over this room and turned it into an art studio.
We've had many, many exhibitions with Trepanier Hall.
For years I was a curator for the Ojibwe art expo,
and then I was also a curator for a few other shows.
And it's become the hot spot in Duluth.
We had a young group of students that
were in here from Cromwell, and was the first gallery
experience they had, and they were interviewing me
for their yearbook.
And one young man said, what was your favorite piece of art?
And I said, you know what, I just found it,
it was hidden in the closet for the last 10 years.
And it's the first oil pastel I did of a ribbon applique
design.
So then I found these fabulous oil pastels
from Switzerland I think, and started
playing with those because I like to be
very tactile with my hands.
So I started rubbing and moving that,
and it's the most exciting piece that I've done,
and I'll never sell it, and I'll never give it away.
And it's kept me going for the last 30 years,
and now I'm going back again doing those patterns.
Wendy, tell us about this piece, Gold Bud.
This was the first piece that I did in this series,
and it was based on a moccasin bead-work pattern
that I did for two family members that
were coming up for a wedding.
And I fell in love so much with the design
that I did that I decided to recreate it
on this birch board, which led to the whole series.
This is a new media for me, these are birch boards.
And this is just basic acrylic paint,
but I also like dots because I like the bead work.
And the way that I kind of get the interpretation of dots
is with this very special paint pen, that you go in
and you dot one single thing at a time.
And I like the hearts because it's just something
that I always bead, but it has this double curve motif.
And when you study the double curve motif,
it goes way back to the Hopewell culture,
and you can find a lot of that done in the Hopewell culture.
And the colors that I've selected,
these are old bead work patterns that come from the early 1900s
to the late 1800s, but there were different
beats at the time that had different colors,
and you can't get those colors today.
So they're a little more muted, they're a little more rich,
they look more like jewels, and I have some of them.
And so that's what I've based these color designs on,
is the old-time beads that you used to be able to get.
And they're not being done anymore.
On the outside, since it's this great birch board,
I have this old-time design that's a triangle,
and usually it's based off of the otter pattern.
And it's like, three triangles and then a longer triangle,
and it's based on the way that the otter walks
when he's in the snow, as he does three jumps
and then he slides.
And I also find that really wonderful
because if you're going to have this nice birch board,
why wouldn't you use all the surfaces?
It gives it another dimension and people can come up
and say, oh that's great.
But then if they're really looking they can go,
look she's got something on the sides,
or, she's got something on the top,
or, something on the bottom.
I always like to do a little bit of intrigue,
and make artists and the general public,
just look a little closer.
ROCKY MAKES ROOM FOR THEM (VOICEOVER): Wendy
comes from a family of artists, and one
can see how important family is in her mixed media
piece titled, Four Generations.
She and her siblings have exhibited their works
nationally and internationally.
When you come from a family of six of us
that have all done artwork, it's rather an exciting lifestyle.
And we travel all over, we go to museums,
we talk a lot to each other's art,
and we all travel in a pack.
It's like our own tribe.
Wherever someone's working, if they're working on site,
we're all going to go there.
So it's rather exciting.
And we feed off of each other, and there's
a lot of encouragement.
I just think it's something that we
do because it's part of our community,
and part of what we want to do.
I'm very comfortable with being a Native American artist,
I think that's what makes us unique.
If you want to look at the state of what a culture's in,
look at their art.
Art has always been around.
That's the one thing we do as humans.
We are the only people-- we are the only creature that
creates art.
When you look into, and you do a lot of study in, museums
and go to the history, and you start
looking at Native American art, how
could you not want to do that?
It's just so gorgeous and just so beautiful.
It just speaks to your soul.
I was always taught to respect another individual.
Don't try to put yourself above other people.
And treat people how you want to be treated.
And I was taught by my grandmother
that there's only one road in life.
Don't hold a grudge or don't hate anybody.
Talk good to people, respect people,
because on this one road of life, you might need their help
or they might need your help.
And always treat people with respect,
so that's what I've tried to live by, day in, day out.
And so that's one of the decisions, when people
come here, they're not here just to be here,
they're here for help.
And I try to help as much as I can.
There's some areas we can't help,
but just supporting them is the biggest thing.
Not really enabling them, but more supporting and helping
them.
Summertime is pow-wow time across Indian country.
The annual Mash-ka-wisen sobriety pow-wow
on the Fond du Lac reservation celebrates the importance
of sobriety and healthy living.
The pow-wow aims to help those in recovery reconnect
to their cultural roots, and to bond with other people
who've been through similar life challenges.
[DRUMS AND SINGING]
MICHAEL LEGARDE (VOICEOVER): The beat of the drum
and singers' voices echo across the pow-wow grounds as dancers
make their way into the arena at the Mash-ka-wisen sobriety
pow-wow.
This gathering is special for many who are in attendance.
JAMES MALLERY: This is our 37th annual celebration
of sobriety pow-wow.
Our first year was 1979.
We had two drums and no vendors.
Now the numbers change, we tend to have about 20 drums,
and last year we had about 500 dancers total.
And we get a lot of people that show up to camp here and will
for the weekend.
We try to make it a full adventure for everybody.
We have AA meetings ongoing, we have an AA meeting on Friday,
two on Saturday, and one on Sunday, which we've been doing
for many years, where for alumni and stuff,
and it's a constant alumni gathering,
and for us, it's a chance for us to thank the people that
have come through our program.
For us as an organization, it gives us
an opportunity to see those that are doing good.
One thing that we do is trying to get the former clients,
and people in this community and other communities,
and getting the families involved,
by coming to the pow-wow and doing a cultural event,
and finding out how much fun someone can have in sobriety.
We try to get families involved in the treatment of their loved
one when they're here, but this is a great event for them
to come to and celebrate as a family.
And being able to sit and watch a mom
and dad, a little three-year-old boy, a four-year-old girl,
a 74-year-old man, dancing their hearts out because they're
really enjoying sobriety.
And it's so much fun watching the true smiles come
from people, and happiness because they're sober.
And it's the first time they've been sober
in two years, six months, and they've
got two years, five years, under their belt,
and that's a joy for us.
Watching the families get together
and enjoy each other's company in a good setting.
MICHAEL LAGARDE (VOICEOVER): The treatment center
is credited with saving many people's lives.
And the pow-wow celebrates both healthy living, and pride
in being Native American.
I've been coming to the pow-wow for oh, maybe be 20 some years.
I worked as a technician at Mash-ka-wisen for a while,
and I was working also down that the Thunderbird renthouse
for about five years.
I've been sober now about 40 years.
I've always lived a good life, I always enjoyed living,
no matter where I've been.
When I was growing up all we had was,
probably the hardest at that point in time, was alcohol.
Then it went into marijuana, and now they
got stuff that can kill you first time out.
And the evolution of that chemical
stuff, it's hard to tell anybody not to try it,
to listen to their teachings.
And it's hard, I think, for them young people to really do that.
There's very few people around that
will-- other than in treatment centers, that will tell them
to stay sober, or stay clean.
And I think it's hard for them to do at this point in time
because addiction is-- the first time you
get addicted to that stuff.
And It's not very pleasant to see.
I mean when you see these young people start dying on you
and killing themselves, that's not a good thing.
My only advice is, you've got to work your program,
you've got to be aware of what these chemicals can do to you,
because they're not going to do anything for you.
When I first came out here to Mash-ka-wisen,
the guy said-- one of these counselors
out here said, if you're sitting here listening to me,
and you say you're Christian, you're Catholic, or Protestant,
or a Jew, or you follow the native ways, he said,
that's not true because you already offended your body.
You're sticking stuff into your body
that any religion, whether it's Indian or white,
tells you how to-- what to do with your body.
And it's not abusing it.
MICHAEL LAGARDE (VOICEOVER): The Mash-ka-wisen pow-wow
is described as a family reunion, one where community
takes on a deeper meaning.
JAMES MALLERY (VOICEOVER): You see a lot of the same people
all over and they become your family.
So when you go to the pow-wow it's
like a family reunion for many people
when they're going to the pow-wow.
The drum is the heartbeat of the next generation.
It's what gives us the power to move forward every day
and it's telling our clients when they walk out the door,
they've experience some more culture and spiritually
by going to the pow-wow.
And in Minnesota we know that the summer season
is pow-wow, and getting them involved in the pow-wow,
and hoping that they're going to come back, join us next year.
We get many former people that call,
and they're coming here to look for that counselor,
for that cook, for that housekeeper,
for that counselor aide who made a difference in their life, who
said that one thing that made them stay sober.
That's one of the big things and joyful things
that we look forward to at our pow-wow.
One thing that we really try to stress
as an organization, because for so many people that suffering
from chemical dependency and alcoholism, is they've
lost hope.
Your family's already given up on you.
What am I going to do now?
One of things that we stress to all of our clients
is get that year of sobriety under your belt and call us.
We'll find a job.
I have six current employees right now
that were former clients, and that
are proud to state that they were a former client.
One of my board of directors members
will point at the building and say,
that's where my sobriety started.
That carries strength for us.
MICHAEL LAGARDE: Why is it important
that we celebrate a good way of life?
Because we're losing the good way of life,
because we have too many people--
every day and every year we're reading the paper
and finding out about a friend, a neighbor,
a loved one whom we've lost to drugs and alcohol.
Now we're not as heartbroken because it happens too much.
We need to do as much as we can to stop this from happening.
The drugs are ravaging our communities.
They're destroying our reservations.
We need to do what we can to stop that from happening.
That's what Mash-ka-wisen does.
And Mash-ka-wisen is an Ojibwe word which
means, be strong, accept help.
We're opening the door, hoping that they're
going to grasp that and stay sober when they walk out
the door, and live a good life.
[GUITAR AND FLUTE PLAY]
I believe we have to, like I said,
try to keep ourselves at a higher standard.
And one of the reasons that we-- that our tribe, I believe,
is very successful in maintaining our culture
is through our clan system.
Like I said, I myself belong to the pagan clan.
It's matrilineal, you belong to the clan of your mother.
And you're a child of your father's clan.
Those are the people I would go to for prayer, and for advice,
for council.
They would be the Big Lodges.
And, I believe, at one time there
were approximately about 13 clans at one time.
But coming through the turns of each century,
it's been reduced to, I believe seven now, six or seven.
Some have joined together, like the Newly Made Lodge
and the Big Lodge combined together now to one clan.
[GUITAR AND FLUTE PLAYING]
Documentary filmmaker Maria Seppala and her two colleagues
traveled from their home in Finland
to native communities in Michigan and Minnesota
to learn about Finndians.
Or more precisely the connections
between Finnish in Ojibwe cultures.
CHRISTINA WOODS (VOICEOVER): It is
a Friday evening at the Mash-ka-wisen pow-wow grounds.
And for this trio of women, it's an opportunity
for one final visit with friends they
have made while making a documentary
about the connections between the Ojibwe
and Finnish cultures.
It all began with a book about the subject.
The book is about, and the film is going to be about,
the Finndians, because we have found out
that they are people with a Finn heritage,
and Native American heritage.
So some of them actually call themselves Finndian,
not all obviously, but many are familiar with the term,
and they sort of-- I mean, to get them to themselves,
they sort of felt that this is like a good term, to use it.
I mean some feel that it's a bad word,
some feel that it's a funny word,
but many of these people we met really
feel that it's a nice word.
So that's how we got interested and that's
how we decided to write this book about Finndians,
since it's not that-- I guess in Finland people are not
that familiar with these connections.
And also many people we met he here, the natives, both natives
and both Finns, that there are lots of common practices,
hunting, fishing, the berries, [INAUDIBLE]
sweat lodge, lots of these kinds of things.
So that's why we are interested in exploring this more.
We wanted to tell a story about how Finnish immigrants came
to America in the end of the 19th century
and during the 20th century, and how they settled down
in Minnesota, and Wisconsin and Michigan.
And we want to tell the story of how these people met.
Was it good?
Was it bad?
Of course Finnish people were also like intruders
and they took the land.
But in the same way-- in one way they in the same social
level in many times with the native people.
And there was actually, in 1908 there was a case in Duluth
that 20 Finnish immigrants were denied citizenship in America
because they were considered to be some kind of sub-humans.
Which is kind of funny now because, of course,
Finland is a country of the highest education
level in the world.
But in those days it was kind of different.
CHRISTINA WOODS (VOICEOVER): During in their time
in the native communities they visited
the trio learned about the similarities
between the cultures, and their research
has given them a deeper understanding
of native and Finnish community.
Most of the Finnish people don't have very actual accurate
information about the Finnish immigrants coming to US.
Many of them lost track of their relatives,
and also including me, myself, my relatives
came to the United States more than 100 years ago.
And my parents have done a lot of work trying to find them,
and they have found them, and we have
a good relationship nowadays.
But for many of the Finns, it's not that beautiful story.
They lost their connections, their ties,
and it's quite a sad story.
And many of the Finnish people that I know
would want to know more about the Finnish side in the United
States.
I have always been interested in native culture in the US
and I was really curious to see how
if the mixture of Finnish origin and Native origin
would combine together.
And we learned during this process
that they are very similar to each other.
They have both exceptional respect for nature.
Both of them, people are hunters, they are gatherers.
And the people that we have met have impressed us
three so deeply.
All of them have been extremely warm and welcoming.
They have been sharing their stories
in such an open hearted way.
I have it always been interested in minorities
and the race of native people, and the languages,
and how they can survive if you don't teach them in the school.
And for Ojibwes I have seen the struggle,
and how people are learning their language again,
and how you teach language to your children,
and how important that is for your own traditions
and culture.
And I want to talk about that in the documentary.
MARIA SEPPALA: And for us, because we are Fins,
it's been really welcoming for us, this place, and all
these reservations and places we've been.
So I guess we learned that if you are yourself,
like really open minded, then you can meet these people
and actually do a project that benefits both sides,
not only us.
I mean it could benefit them as well so--
And they also collaborating.
It's not it's something that we don't just go to communities
and start interviewing.
I mean, we are collaborating in a project.
CHRISTINA WOODS (VOICEOVER): It is fitting
that on their last night in the United States,
Maria, Katya, and Mary are at the Mash-ka-wisen pow-wow
grounds.
Their project has brought them full circle.
MARIA SEPPALA: We are like observers,
and we are outsiders, but still you
don't feel that you are an outsider.
You can just walk around and talk to people and people
were really sort of a positive mood.
And I guess that is also something that people come
together with, that you, sort of, meet so many different
people from different communities,
that you wouldn't-- I mean maybe just by driving around
in the area that would have happened.
So that was like really, also for us
it was like really a good place to be.
MEERI KOUTANIEMI:It's not only a story about Finndians,
it's also, we are at least are trying to do a deep research
about the topic.
Because there have been not so much
information collected on these.
I have been very impressed by the new generations attitudes
towards their traditions and culture.
We have seen in pow-wow how 17-year-old boys are
so happy and excited about the weekend and their regalia
and their dancing and drumming and and they said to us,
it's really the best weekend of the year.
We can just drum and see friends and people.
And that for me, it means hope.
We have a chance to keep these traditions alive.
RITA ASPINWALL: For more information
about Native Report or the stories
we've covered, look for us at www.nativereport.org,
on Facebook and on Twitter.
Thank you for spending this time with your friends and neighbors
in Indian country.
I'm Rita Aspinwall.
And I'm Ernie Stevens.
We'll see you next time on Native Report.
NARRATOR: Rita Apsinwall is an enrolled member of the Fond du
Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
and has a bachelor's degree in social work.
Ernie Stevens is a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin
and serves on the board of directors
for the American Indian Alaskan Native Tourism Association.
Production of Native Report is made possible by grants
from the Shakoppe Mdewakanton Sioux
Community, the Blandin foundation, and the Duluth
Superior Area Community Foundation.