Indigenous Wisconsin

Lac du Flambeau / Ricing Sticks / Indigenous Wisconsin / Agriculture / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / Curators' Favorites / Region 2 - North East / Vilas County / 1987-2011

OBJECT HISTORY: Wild Rice Threshing Machine

Harvested in the early autumn, wild rice has long been an important commodity to Native Americans, including the Ojibwe, who lived in areas where it grew abundantly. This improvised wild rice threshing machine was made and used by Duane Poupart, Sr., a…

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November 17, 2024

Agriculture / Indigenous Wisconsin / Lac du Flambeau / Odanah / Broad History / Ricing Sticks / Ashland County / Food & Cooking / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / Region 1 - North West / Nature & Environment / Region 2 - North East / Vilas County

Wild Rice and Wetland Conservation

Wild rice grows only in the Great Lakes Region in shallow and calm waters.  It requires specific conditions, nutrient-rich muddy soil and stable water levels, in order to properly grow to maturity, to produce the seeds able to be harvested. Damaging the…

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November 17, 2024

Lac du Flambeau / Odanah / Ricing Sticks / Broad History / Indigenous Wisconsin / Agriculture / Ashland County / Food & Cooking / Ethnicity & Identity / Related Stories / Region 1 - North West / Nature & Environment / Region 2 - North East / Vilas County

Ricing (Manoominikewin)

Wild rice was depicted in an Ojibwe prophecy before there was even a name for the grain. When the Ojibwe people began to migrate west, they were prophesied to settle where food grows on water. The westward migration was in part because…

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November 16, 2024

Odanah / Agriculture / Indigenous Wisconsin / Broad History / Ricing Sticks / Lac du Flambeau / New Object Histories / Ashland County / Object Histories / Food & Cooking / Ethnicity & Identity / Region 1 - North West / Region 2 - North East / Vilas County

OBJECT HISTORY: Ricing Sticks (Bawa’iganaakoog)

Bawa’iganaakoog, threshers, or knockers, are all words used to refer to the sticks used for the harvesting of wild rice. Wild rice holds extreme cultural importance to Ojibwe culture for several reasons beyond basic sustenance; not only can it be dried and…

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November 16, 2024

Portrait of Chief Buffalo. Photo Credit: Wisconsin Historical Society Photographic Collection PH4553, Image 3957

Indigenous Wisconsin / Madeline Island / Ethnicity & Identity / Bayfield County / Related Stories / 1787-1848 / Region 1 - North West / Politics & Government / Ojibwe Presentation Pipe

Kechewaishke

Kechewaishke (1759 – 1855), also known as Chief Buffalo, Peezhickee, and Le Boeuf, led the Lake Superior Ojibwe people of La Pointe, the location of Madeline Island today. Kechewaishke was instrumental to signing treaty agreements between the Wisconsin Ojibwe people and the…

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February 16, 2021

Aztalan Copper Maskettes, 1000-1200 AD. Courtesy: Milwaukee Public Museum

Indigenous Wisconsin / Aztalan / Pre-1787 / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Everyday Life / Jefferson County / Region 7 - South Center

OBJECT HISTORY: Aztalan Copper Maskettes

Found at the Aztalan archaeological site in southeastern Wisconsin, these small copper artifacts were most likely used as ornate jewelry.[1] Specifically, Mississipian people likely wore the mask-shaped copper designs as earrings. Although Native Americans seldom used metal, they sometimes used metals from…

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December 18, 2020