January 18, 2024 • 11 mins
Embark on an auditory journey through the vibrant heart of indigenous art as 2023 Cultural Capital Fellow and Ojibwe artist Adam Avery shares his profound connection with ancestral craftsmanship. From the delicate intricacies of beadwork to the sturdy elegance of birch bark canoes, Adam unveils the rich heritage woven into each creation, illuminating the significance of these traditions within his community. He passionately recounts the evolution of his skills, initially honed to craft his own regalia, and now, as a beacon of generational knowledge, he alongside his wife, teaches these skills to ensure their survival. The resilience required to master these crafts, the challenges faced in seeking mentors, and the deep-seated desire to sustain cultural practices form the crux of our discussion.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
I think there's a big reason why now teaching here to
become so important to my wifeand I, because it doesn't do
anybody any good to keep theseskills to yourself, and the
whole purpose of knowledge is toshare it.
And if we want to keep all ofthese things alive and going,
(00:23):
you have to teach as many peopleas possible.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
First People's Fund presents the Collective Spirit
Podcast.
The Collective Spirit moveseach of us to stand up and make
a difference, to pass onancestral knowledge and simply
extend a hand of generosity.
The Collective Spirit Podcastfeatures Native artists and
culture bearers who discuss thepower of indigenous art and
(00:58):
culture.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Bonjour, nauakwa'i'i'zik indigenous cars.
I'm Isiké Endodom, mountPleasant in Dondjibah.
My name is Adam Avery.
My Ojibwe name, nauakwa'i'i'zik, means Noonday Sun.
I am a descendant of theSaginaw Chippewa Indian tribe
and I live on the IsabellaIndian Reservation in Mount
(01:22):
Pleasant, michigan.
My primary artistic medium isbeads, although I also make
black ash baskets, I make birchbark canoes, I do porcupine
quill work and a lot of otherthings, but beadwork is the
thing that cones me, gives me mycenter, so that's my favorite
(01:45):
thing to do.
I was raised making black ashbaskets with my grandparents and
my family.
Like when we were young,growing up, that's how we
supported ourselves.
We also had a family dancegroup that traveled around.
We traveled all over the UnitedStates and Canada and performed
at various events schools,museums, town festivals, as well
(02:10):
as dancing at powwows andceremonies and different things.
But at a young age I got intothe regalia side of it and
wanted to be able to make my ownregalia.
So I started at first teachingmyself how to do beadwork and
then, once my grandmother sawthat I had an aptitude for it,
(02:32):
then she started teaching melittle things and then
throughout the years I'vementored with natural fiber
artists.
Renee Dillard was on, alsomentored under Ron Pawkin.
Through with him I learned tomake porcupine coil boxes, birch
bark containers and also birchbark canoes and I've been making
(02:55):
canoes with him for the past 12years.
And so it started basically outof necessity for me, because I
wanted to have nice regalia.
But once I started doing itthen other family members were
like could you help me, couldyou do this for me?
And it just kept growing.
And then other people in thecommunity started to ask me and
it's just kept growing.
(03:16):
I started off just basically bymyself trying to figure things
out, but my family because wewere raised making black ash
baskets.
We also did a lot of otherthings, like my grandfather car
totem poles, we made drums,hickory bark rattles and the
list just goes on and on.
But you acquire the skills todo those things and then you
(03:42):
want to do something else andthen you realize a lot of those
skills are transferable.
And then even my neighbortaught me how to knit crochet,
how to do needle point and a lotof those things helped me with
my beadwork.
Figure out how to get mybeadwork flat and to make it so
that it would last for a longperiod of time If I'm going to
(04:06):
do it, I want the pieces to last, and a lot of them like.
I've got pieces that are almost30 years old, that have been
passed through my family andhave maybe been worn by seven or
eight different peoplethroughout their lifetimes
dancing, and they still looklike they did when I made them,
when they're still being used byfamily members.
And all the different mentorsI've had throughout my life have
(04:31):
given me those skills, nativeand non-native, because my
neighbor lady was a native.
My grandfather, all my auntsand uncles wasan Ron Paakhan
those are just a few.
I also learned to do quillwrapping from a Lakota lady
named Janita, so all of thosepeople have helped me on my
(04:54):
journey and given me theknowledge that I need to be able
to do what I would like to doNow.
Alisa and I have, over the lastfive or six years, we've
dedicated ourselves to startingto teach these skills to other
(05:17):
people so that we can helppeople in the community, and
we've even started working withthree other communities in
Michigan to try to keep theseskills going and, instead of it
just being one or two peoplethat do it, spread that out so
that every community has theirown group of people that are
doing these things.
(05:37):
I'm inspired by my family, butmy family is really like the
community and I just I want tobe able to leave something
behind and I want people toremember me for what I did.
If Lisa and I go to a powwownow here almost any powwow in
Michigan I can usually pick outat least 30 or 40 people who are
(05:58):
wearing something that I'vemade or Lisa's made or both of
us together, and that's anawesome feeling and that's how I
want my kids to remember me andI'm hoping my kids will come
back to this.
They've dabbled in things andsome of the skills, but they've
(06:20):
stepped away from it to go tocollege and to earn degrees.
But I'm hoping at some point intheir life they'll come back to
this stuff and then they'llkeep it going too.
When I was younger, one of thebig challenges were one, finding
somebody that knew how to dothe things that I was looking to
learn, and then two, them alsobeing willing to teach, and when
(06:46):
I was especially when I wasyounger there were a lot of
people who maybe had theseskills but they kept them close
to the chest or they didn't wantto share, and so some of these
things I started figuring out onmy own and just sitting down
with the materials and saying,okay, how do I get from here to
(07:06):
where I want to go?
And I tried several differenttechniques, failed at a lot of
my first things, but kept trying.
When I started figuring out,then some of these people who
(07:27):
maybe didn't open up to mebefore started to open up and
discuss like how I was doing itand maybe give me a tip on how
they do it, and then my base ofknowledge started to expand.
But I think there's a bigreason why now teaching has
become so important to my wifeand I because it doesn't do
(07:48):
anybody any good to keep theseskills to yourself and the whole
purpose of knowledge is toshare it.
And if we want to keep all ofthese things alive and going,
you have to teach as many peopleas possible.
The way First People's Fund cameon my radar was really Ron
Pawkamp, and in the past 12years that I've been working
(08:11):
with him, him and his wife havebeen mentoring us as far as the
things we're making, but alsoother things that we can do to
help subsidize and grow whatwe're doing so that we can do it
on a larger scale, and theywere the first ones to talk to
us about First People's Fund andwhen they first mentioned it to
(08:32):
Lisa and I, we weren't evensure if it was something we
wanted to do or even felt likewe deserved.
So we thought about it for itwas probably like at least a
couple of years before weactually, you know, decided that
we were going to try to applyand we applied for it and we
(08:53):
were accepted.
And since that has happenedlike this past year has been
crazy.
I came home from the conveningand it's just been go.
We've done two community birchbark canoe builds Ron and I and
we have two more canoe buildsscheduled and then those things
(09:17):
are on top of all the beadworkand all the regalia pieces that
I produce.
I'm going to buy an enclosedtrailer so that we can keep all
that stuff separate and if Iwon't have to pack, unpack, move
things around, restack, soit'll just make things easier on
both of us.
(09:41):
I also purchased go pros so thatwe can start recording these
canoe builds and then my plan isto take the footage from that
and work with somebody who wasraised speaking Ojibwe and have
them do all of the videos inOjibwe and then have them
subtitled in English so thatthey could be used for
(10:04):
educational tools and schools ormuseums different things If
people come to me with questionsabout making regalia, anything
if I can help them, I try mybest to help them and I hope
that's what I'm remembered foris passing that information on
teaching as many people as Icould teach and being a good
(10:27):
mentor.
I guess that's what I wouldwant my legacy to be.
I've made a personal goalrecently to produce at least one
bandolier bag a year.
I started doing that during thepandemic and right now I'm on
bandolier bag number five.
So my goal I would like to haveat least 50 or more of these
(10:53):
floating around.
That's a personal goal for me.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
The Collective Spirit podcast is produced by First
Peoples Fund, whose mission isto honor and support Indigenous
artists and culture bearersthrough grant making initiatives
, culturally rooted programming,and training and mentorship.
Learn more atFirstPeoplesFundorg.
I think there's a big reason why now teaching here to
become so important to my wifeand I, because it doesn't do
anybody any good to keep theseskills to yourself, and the
whole purpose of knowledge is toshare it.
And if we want to keep all ofthese things alive and going,
(00:23):
you have to teach as many peopleas possible.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
First People's Fund presents the Collective Spirit
Podcast.
The Collective Spirit moveseach of us to stand up and make
a difference, to pass onancestral knowledge and simply
extend a hand of generosity.
The Collective Spirit Podcastfeatures Native artists and
culture bearers who discuss thepower of indigenous art and
(00:58):
culture.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Bonjour, nauakwa'i'i'zik indigenous cars.
I'm Isiké Endodom, mountPleasant in Dondjibah.
My name is Adam Avery.
My Ojibwe name, nauakwa'i'i'zik, means Noonday Sun.
I am a descendant of theSaginaw Chippewa Indian tribe
and I live on the IsabellaIndian Reservation in Mount
(01:22):
Pleasant, michigan.
My primary artistic medium isbeads, although I also make
black ash baskets, I make birchbark canoes, I do porcupine
quill work and a lot of otherthings, but beadwork is the
thing that cones me, gives me mycenter, so that's my favorite
(01:45):
thing to do.
I was raised making black ashbaskets with my grandparents and
my family.
Like when we were young,growing up, that's how we
supported ourselves.
We also had a family dancegroup that traveled around.
We traveled all over the UnitedStates and Canada and performed
at various events schools,museums, town festivals, as well
(02:10):
as dancing at powwows andceremonies and different things.
But at a young age I got intothe regalia side of it and
wanted to be able to make my ownregalia.
So I started at first teachingmyself how to do beadwork and
then, once my grandmother sawthat I had an aptitude for it,
(02:32):
then she started teaching melittle things and then
throughout the years I'vementored with natural fiber
artists.
Renee Dillard was on, alsomentored under Ron Pawkin.
Through with him I learned tomake porcupine coil boxes, birch
bark containers and also birchbark canoes and I've been making
(02:55):
canoes with him for the past 12years.
And so it started basically outof necessity for me, because I
wanted to have nice regalia.
But once I started doing itthen other family members were
like could you help me, couldyou do this for me?
And it just kept growing.
And then other people in thecommunity started to ask me and
it's just kept growing.
(03:16):
I started off just basically bymyself trying to figure things
out, but my family because wewere raised making black ash
baskets.
We also did a lot of otherthings, like my grandfather car
totem poles, we made drums,hickory bark rattles and the
list just goes on and on.
But you acquire the skills todo those things and then you
(03:42):
want to do something else andthen you realize a lot of those
skills are transferable.
And then even my neighbortaught me how to knit crochet,
how to do needle point and a lotof those things helped me with
my beadwork.
Figure out how to get mybeadwork flat and to make it so
that it would last for a longperiod of time If I'm going to
(04:06):
do it, I want the pieces to last, and a lot of them like.
I've got pieces that are almost30 years old, that have been
passed through my family andhave maybe been worn by seven or
eight different peoplethroughout their lifetimes
dancing, and they still looklike they did when I made them,
when they're still being used byfamily members.
And all the different mentorsI've had throughout my life have
(04:31):
given me those skills, nativeand non-native, because my
neighbor lady was a native.
My grandfather, all my auntsand uncles wasan Ron Paakhan
those are just a few.
I also learned to do quillwrapping from a Lakota lady
named Janita, so all of thosepeople have helped me on my
(04:54):
journey and given me theknowledge that I need to be able
to do what I would like to doNow.
Alisa and I have, over the lastfive or six years, we've
dedicated ourselves to startingto teach these skills to other
(05:17):
people so that we can helppeople in the community, and
we've even started working withthree other communities in
Michigan to try to keep theseskills going and, instead of it
just being one or two peoplethat do it, spread that out so
that every community has theirown group of people that are
doing these things.
(05:37):
I'm inspired by my family, butmy family is really like the
community and I just I want tobe able to leave something
behind and I want people toremember me for what I did.
If Lisa and I go to a powwownow here almost any powwow in
Michigan I can usually pick outat least 30 or 40 people who are
(05:58):
wearing something that I'vemade or Lisa's made or both of
us together, and that's anawesome feeling and that's how I
want my kids to remember me andI'm hoping my kids will come
back to this.
They've dabbled in things andsome of the skills, but they've
(06:20):
stepped away from it to go tocollege and to earn degrees.
But I'm hoping at some point intheir life they'll come back to
this stuff and then they'llkeep it going too.
When I was younger, one of thebig challenges were one, finding
somebody that knew how to dothe things that I was looking to
learn, and then two, them alsobeing willing to teach, and when
(06:46):
I was especially when I wasyounger there were a lot of
people who maybe had theseskills but they kept them close
to the chest or they didn't wantto share, and so some of these
things I started figuring out onmy own and just sitting down
with the materials and saying,okay, how do I get from here to
(07:06):
where I want to go?
And I tried several differenttechniques, failed at a lot of
my first things, but kept trying.
When I started figuring out,then some of these people who
(07:27):
maybe didn't open up to mebefore started to open up and
discuss like how I was doing itand maybe give me a tip on how
they do it, and then my base ofknowledge started to expand.
But I think there's a bigreason why now teaching has
become so important to my wifeand I because it doesn't do
(07:48):
anybody any good to keep theseskills to yourself and the whole
purpose of knowledge is toshare it.
And if we want to keep all ofthese things alive and going,
you have to teach as many peopleas possible.
The way First People's Fund cameon my radar was really Ron
Pawkamp, and in the past 12years that I've been working
(08:11):
with him, him and his wife havebeen mentoring us as far as the
things we're making, but alsoother things that we can do to
help subsidize and grow whatwe're doing so that we can do it
on a larger scale, and theywere the first ones to talk to
us about First People's Fund andwhen they first mentioned it to
(08:32):
Lisa and I, we weren't evensure if it was something we
wanted to do or even felt likewe deserved.
So we thought about it for itwas probably like at least a
couple of years before weactually, you know, decided that
we were going to try to applyand we applied for it and we
(08:53):
were accepted.
And since that has happenedlike this past year has been
crazy.
I came home from the conveningand it's just been go.
We've done two community birchbark canoe builds Ron and I and
we have two more canoe buildsscheduled and then those things
(09:17):
are on top of all the beadworkand all the regalia pieces that
I produce.
I'm going to buy an enclosedtrailer so that we can keep all
that stuff separate and if Iwon't have to pack, unpack, move
things around, restack, soit'll just make things easier on
both of us.
(09:41):
I also purchased go pros so thatwe can start recording these
canoe builds and then my plan isto take the footage from that
and work with somebody who wasraised speaking Ojibwe and have
them do all of the videos inOjibwe and then have them
subtitled in English so thatthey could be used for
(10:04):
educational tools and schools ormuseums different things If
people come to me with questionsabout making regalia, anything
if I can help them, I try mybest to help them and I hope
that's what I'm remembered foris passing that information on
teaching as many people as Icould teach and being a good
(10:27):
mentor.
I guess that's what I wouldwant my legacy to be.
I've made a personal goalrecently to produce at least one
bandolier bag a year.
I started doing that during thepandemic and right now I'm on
bandolier bag number five.
So my goal I would like to haveat least 50 or more of these
(10:53):
floating around.
That's a personal goal for me.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
The Collective Spirit podcast is produced by First
Peoples Fund, whose mission isto honor and support Indigenous
artists and culture bearersthrough grant making initiatives
, culturally rooted programming,and training and mentorship.
Learn more atFirstPeoplesFundorg.
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