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Fond du Lac Arts is a series exploring the stories, creative expression, and craftsmanship of Fond du Lac artists from a range of disciplines.
This project is produced by AMPERS, Diverse Radio for Minnesota’s Communities in partnership with WGZS, the Radio Voice of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, with support from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
INTRO: You are listening to Fond du Lac Arts: Community through the Creative Arts.
NARRATOR: Fond du Lac had a birchbark canoe making workshop for several years.
[sound element: workshop activity]
BIIDAASIGE THOMAS HOWES: And one day I happened to be going through there, and the leader of the canoe making was a guy from Red Cliff named Marvin Defoe, and he says, “Hey, you should make your baby a cradle board.” Because he saw that my wife was pregnant. I said, “Well, I'm having twins.” “Well, then make two.”
NARRATOR: They already had the steam bending equipment for the canoes. So Defoe helped with the wood bending. Then other Fond du Lac members pitched in with a form for the foot piece and old growth cedar for the backboard. Biidaasige based the headpiece off the cradleboard that was already in his family.
All these years later, he still makes cradleboards—with help from his wife and her gift for sewing and embroidery. And he makes lacrosse sticks.
BIIDAASIGE: I played my first time, probably in 2017, and that really was a pivotal moment where I decided that I would take what I knew of steam bending from making cradle boards and apply it to lacrosse sticks.
NARRATOR: He uses mostly black ash but some green ash that he sources locally. To Biidaasige Thomas Howes cradle boards and lacrosse sticks are part of the continuum of life.
[sound element: steam]
BIIDAASIGE: Cradleboards are for the beginning of life. And then, as we grow up, we need other tools to get through life. Lacrosse is strength training, mental sharpness training, community training, conflict resolution training. But also gives us the physical strength to live a longer, healthier life. And so that's kind of why I'm such a big proponent of it.
OUTRO: Fond du Lac Arts is produced by AMPERS and WGZS, the radio voice of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, with support from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.