Floral beaded gauntlets with beaver fur trim. Mrs. Ellen Olson, Grand Portage Band of Minnesota Ojibwe, ca. 1980s - GRPO 17000
NPS Photo / Karen Stay
Ojibwe Art
Overview
Grand Portage National Monument's collection includes beautiful examples of 20th century Minnesota Anishinaabe artwork. These pieces use traditional designs in birchbark, leather, and sweetgrass, decorated with floral-patterned beading, embroidery, and delicate porcupine quillwork. The gallery features numerous examples of items produced for the craft trade by Grand Portage community members during the Works Progress Administration Era in the 1930s. In addition, several of the objects featured in the gallery are from the monument's Karen Daniels Petersen Collection, which contains items from nearly every band of Anishinaabe in Minnesota. Mrs. Petersen and her husband, Sidney, collected items between the 1940s and 1960s and donated over 130 objects to the monument in 2004. Detailed descriptions under each image.
