"Spirit of the Ojibwe" is an intimate gathering of oral biographies and stunning color portraits of 32 Lac Courte Oreilles Indian elders painted by artist Sara Balbin.
Their tribal history, told in story and image, is a compelling tale of how one people courageously adapted and triumphed over cultural oppression, broken government treaties, and the deliberate flooding of their reservation by the Wisconsin-Minnesota Power and Light Company.
First settled in the Lac Courte Oreilles region of northwestern Wisconsin in the 1740s, the Lac Courte Oreilles tribe is today one of the most progressive native groups in the United States. This is a people who still live close to nature's rhythms, and these stories reveal their tribal history, traditions, migrations, spiritual practices, and clan structure. The tribal elders, such as James "Pipe" Mustache, are keepers of knowledge and never stop teaching. Mustache is one of many who were brought up in the original Indian way of the early 1900s, lived well into the modern age, and transmitted wisdom to today's elders or to anyone else who would listen patiently.
Cuban-born visual artist Sara Balbin has for the past 25 years painted portraits of Ojibwe elders from the Lac Courte Oreilles Chippewa tribe. She operates Dragonfly Studio near Drummond, Wisconsin.
Thelma Nayquonabe is currently the director of the Work-Based Learning Program at the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College.
James R. Bailey is currently a reporter for "News from Indian Country" and "Ojibwe Akiing." For seven years, he was the development director of WOJB, the Lac Courte Oreilles' 100,000-watt public radio station.
David Scott Bisonette teaches Ojibwelanguage and culture and is currently interim division chair of the Native American studies program at the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College.
