“Our society needs to move from this idea of one endless linear timeline. Our life cycle is a circle where we live in the present with knowledge of the past and an eye to the future.” This perspective and way of life is central of the work of Jason Wesaw, a talented artist of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, and a contributing artist to Native Truths: Our Voices, Our Stories, a new permanent exhibition at the Field Museum in Chicago. I had the privilege of connecting with Jason there recently, on opening day. “It is encouraging,” reflects Jason, “that Indigenous peoples and communities are finally being allowed to take ownership and share the narrative of our culture.”
Native Truths is a space for Native people from across the United States and Canada to share their experiences in their own voices. of history, the exhibit is a series of circular pods where you can experience important elements of Native American culture Not a timeline, past and present, and learn from Indigenous peoples themselves as they tell their own stories of self-determination, resilience, continuity, and the future—through words, music, dance, and art. This is a far cry from the exhibit’s predecessor, “Indians before Columbus,” created in the 1950s without the input of Native people and later refurbished and renamed the Native North America Hall using essentially the same artifacts.
Native Truths: Our Voices, Our Stories was created with the guidance of 11 Native American scholars and museum professionals, and in partnership with 130 collaborators representing more than 105 Tribes. One of those voices is Jason Wesaw, a cultural advisor for the Pokagon Band and an artist commissioned to create a piece specifically for this exhibit. “I am the fourth generation in my family to have that old wooden stool,” begins Jason. “It’s from the catholic mission built in southwest Michigan in the 1800s to bring religion to our people.” The piece, titled Ge’go ibe jibdebeke’n!!, ornaments the seat of the stool with sharp spikes made of clay with silver luster, and examines “the pain of my ancestors who were forced to extinguish our sacred fires for another culture’s form of prayer. Spirit was involved in what needed to be said.”
Harvesting clay from riverbeds running through Pokagon land, Jason’s work includes many hand-formed vessels, with some made to store food or hold sage for ceremony, and others made with sensuous form and reference to human and animal spirit. Jason also expresses and shares his gifts through striking graphic paintings and textiles that speak to our relationship with each other and with the earth.
“When we work with something in a nurturing context, its spirit will come alive; a union of physical being and spiritual being. Creativity with spirituality is a way for us to let go of animosity and burdens.” — Jason Wesaw
Throughout the Native Truths exhibit, you can see the themes Jason speaks of reflected. You can follow the process of Meskwaki efforts to revitalize heirloom and ancestral plants and also get a close look at the amazingly beautiful California basketry traditions passed on across generations. You can experience music-making through the eyes of a young Lakota hip hop artist, delve into the history and importance of Chaco Canyon and the environment today and in the future, and hear stories of resilience from the Chicago Native community.
I was inspired by these stories of creative connections – human relationships with earth and spirit, and across generations before and to come. Being around this kind of creative process is what brought me to Seven Generations A+E (7GAE) and now to Bodwé Group, a process that emanates from our ownership and roots with the Pokagon Band. This intentionality is central to our vision. In the work we do for our many Native and non-Native clients, we seek to understand and build trust with these partners, as well as the people they serve and the land they’re entrusted with.
We’re asking questions, including: What might it look like to go beyond being stewards of this land and to collaborate with it? How might this physical space help heal wounds of the past and build cultural sustainability for the future?
Recently, we’ve been exploring the potential to transform a client’s healthcare campus into the tribe’s health, wellness, community, and cultural center, with programming for nutrition, the arts, nature, exercise, and ceremony bringing people together alongside and with allopathic and traditional medicine and healing. “Community level health and wellness benefits and involves everyone,” explains Steve VandenBussche, VP of Practice at 7GAE, “and when you integrate connection to others, earth, history, and future, now you’re helping to form community, build culture, and support holistic health.”
Bodwé means he/she builds a fire – and as a family of professional services firms, our name is intentionally a verb, reminding us to stay focused on how we move in the world, what actions we take, and who we serve. Sitting in a circle around a fire and sharing stories is a time-honored way to build relationships and culture. Indigenous peoples have been doing this for thousands of years.
“Most people think that we are just survivors,” says Jason. “We are thrivers.” There is truth in this, and there is much for me to learn from these stories.
