Blue Moon Rizing/Northern Bear

Blue Moon Rizing/Northern bear started as a youth drum group back in June 2003 in Lowell, Michigan.  Gage is the drummer, he is 11 years old and a member of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi.   They come from Southwestern Michigan and Northern Indiana.

Midnight Express, unfortunately Blue Moon has not yet been recorded.  I will have to record them and get photographs.




To join Gage and meet the others link 
 

Agnes Rapp

Agnes Rapp is a member of the Grand Traverse Chippewa and Odawa Tribe of indians.  She is married to Michael Rapp who is a member of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi

Agnes Rapp is a master basket maker and her work can be seen in many museums and she has appeared in many documentaries to read more Click this link.  Photographs are by Al Kamuda.

Ribbon Town Singers

Ribbon Town Singers has many members of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi in it's band, they are very very good.

(Click on the title of this story to reach them)

John Pigeon Pokagon Culture

Steve Pigeon

John Pigeon is a member of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, his family lives from northern Indiana to Southern Michigan. John currently resides in Dorr, Michigan. John makes baskets from the black ash tree, pounding wood until he can pull long strips from the tree to make baskets. A skill that he learned from his parents and grandparents and has passed his learning down to many others.

Johns work has been seen around the world and even in the Smithsonian. John says "The reason I do a lot of the traditional arts is to keep them alive, as Anishinabe people, we try to think of the seven generations. Those seven generations include my grandfather's grandfather all the way to my grandfathers grandchildren. By making baskets or keeping rituals and ceremonies alive, we're able to give something to our grand-childrens grandchildren."
(Click on the title of this story for the source) Pigeon 


  John Pigeon podcast link

Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Artist

Jennie Brown, Black Ash Baskets.

A member of The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, comes from a long family line of professional basket makers representing the Potawatomi Nation. In the 1830's large amounts of Potawaotmi were forcibly removed to Kansas where they lived . Many of the Potawatomi returned to Michigan and relied on basket making for revenue. Now the traditional art of basket making is considered a very important part of The Pokagon culture.

At the age of seventeen, Jennies uncle, Edward Pigeon, began teaching Jennie how to make baskets. Since the age of seventeen Jennie has perfected basket making and teaches the tradition at Potawatomi gatherings.

Jennie has passed her family tradition of basket making on to her daughter, Jamie who also is a very well known basket maker among the Potawatomi nation.

Black Ash Tree facts link

The black ash tree has a very soft bark and can be easily reduced to powder by rubbing it.  It likes growing in cold wet areas so it lives in a Northern climate.  The black ash tree can grow to 60 feet and is being threatened by the emerald ash bore, a wood boring beetle accidentlly introduced to North America by logging back around 1998 and has since killed millions of trees.  It currently threatens 7 billion ash trees.

*John Fox Controversy

John Fox, a well known artist that is a member of The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi painted the Saugatuck Indian mascot in the high school's gym way back in 1970, said he would not recreate his artwork today and has asked the high school to please change the mascot.

Fox now 52 years old, said "I did not know my culture well back then and did not know how offensive it was." The community said, it was honoring his culture, but Mr. Fox's response was, "We wouldn't go and name a sports team the Fighting Jews to honor them, there would be a firestorm over that."

Mr. Fox is currently having a art show called 7 Artists, 7 Teachings: Contemporary Great Lakes Native Art show from September 20th to December 30th, at the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, at 3001 Central Street, Evanston, Ill.

The Mitchell Museum can be visited online and on this site, the museum has many significant Pokagon art and artifacts. Admission is $5 for adults, $2.50 for children, students, teachers and seniors. $10 maximum per family group. The phone number is (847) 475-1030 or the web site is www.mitchellmuseum.org.
NY Times new logos link
(Click on the title of this story for the entire story)