Very exciting news. Gareth Curtiss has been chosen to create the larger than life, full body bronze of Shaynowishkung for Bemidji's Library Park. The Park planners have designed new overlooks into the hillside, and one of these will be the home of the new statue. 

Thanks to everyone who has supported the project so far. We are halfway there.

Please go to our facebook page to get the latest on the progress of our commission!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chief-Bemidji-Statue-Project/168470713282379

First of Three Public Meetings

A public meeting to discuss the Chief Bemidji Statue Project will be held

Wednesday, May 19^th in Cass Lake at the Leech Lake Tribal College at 6:30-8:00pm in Room 100, Building A.

We will be discussing the the value of creating a new statue to honor Chief Bemidji, impressions of the current statue, desired location of the statue, and the history of Bemidji the city, Shaynowishkung the man, and the memorials that have honored him.

The Chief Bemidji Statue Project‘s mission is to commission a new statue of Shaynowishkung, known as Chief Bemidji, that would depict him in a dignified and respectful way, honoring the man and his legacy. A diverse committee of interested community members, including descendants of Shaynowishkung living in the Leech Lake area, are working together on this project.

Everyone is invited to attend, learn about the project, and have the opportunity to give comment. Future meeting sites include the city of Bemidji and the city of Red Lake. Please join us at one of these locations. Thank you.

NOTES from the committee's March 18, 2010 meeting:

We met at the new Seven Clans Casino at Red Lake last Thursday. Thank you to Jody and Mary for hosting the meeting, and thank you to the casino for providing such a warm, friendly place to meet.

The discussion was very productive this time. We discussed our desire to include more community members in the engagement and planning stages of this project. We highlighted the many ways in which we could invite and inform the larger community, including the city of Bemidji and the three local reservations. We shared a desire to collect more stories and images from the life of Shaynowishkung, the founding of the City, and the creation of the many statues and monuments to his name, including the monument in Bemidji's greenwood cemetery. We made plans to host public information meetings in four different locations this spring, to share what we have learned and to foster respectful debate. Finally, we discussed the importance of staying informed and involved in the planning and design of Bemidji's newest park spaces, in light of the Waterfront and South Shore development that is taking place, so that a future Chief Bemidji Statue, and more public art of all kinds, is given space and provided for. Our hope is that future generations will benefit from the work we are all doing now.

Below is a brief version of our meetings minutes:

1. Kevin reported on the outcome of the March 15, 2010 City Council meeting. Our committee was referred back to the Parks and Trails Commission, and the City will act as our fiscal agent. The City Council wants to make sure this project is what the native community wants, and feels that having adequate American Indian representation on the committee will ensure that.

2. Community Engagement
Questions to ask when we engage the public:
a. What is the value in creating a new statue to honor Chief Bemidji?
b. What are your impressions of the current statue?
c. Where should a new statue be located?
d. Do you have stories, photos, history to share related to Chief Bemidji and this time period?

3. Committee discussed the desire to host 4 public information meetings: Red Lake, Leech Lake, Bemidji, and White Earth. The meetings will be to a) give information on the project’s mission and goals, and possible locations, and b) get feedback from the communities on the new statue, existing statue, location, and stories/history. Meetings will be planned for early May, week night at 7-8:30 pm.

4. Committee reviewed maps of South Shore Development, Library Park, and Paul Bunyan Park. We would like to focus the next meeting solely on the topic of location, and take tours of these three park areas near the south shore of Lake Bemidji.

Four topics to discuss..

Please take a minute to review our 4 primary questions and if you would like to be a part of the conversation, click to comment on each question individually. This will help us gather and organize your opinions by their topics. All blog conversations are being archived and printed as a paper transcript, and is available to anyone who requests it.

a. What is the value in creating a new statue to honor Chief Bemidji?

..please contribute to this conversation here. Thank you, M

b. What are your impressions of the current statue?

..responses to this question can be discussed here.

c. Where should a new statue be located?

please discuss this question here.

d. Do you have stories, photos, history to share related to Chief Bemidji and this time period?

..please post comments related to this question here.

Please contribute to this important conversation.

At the bottom of every new post you will find a link to post a comment.

Click on it and you will see a form field that you can write in..

or you can copy and paste stuff.

Give it a try. Thanks.

Chief Bemidji Statue Project Information

Committee Members:

Mary Auger, Member, City of Bemidji Parks and Trails Commission

Kathryn Beaulieu, Secretary, Red Lake Tribal Council

Al Belleveau, Artist; Sculpture Walk Committee Chair

Mitch Blessing, Artist; Sculpture Walk Committee

Wanda Hoyum, Director, Beltrami County Historical Society

Carolyn Jacobs, Chair, Shared Vision

Sandy Kaul, Artist; Public Art Consultant

Marcia Larson, Director, City of Bemidji Parks and Recreation

Bernice Mitchell, Member, Anishinabe Arts Initiative Council

Paul Richards, Architect, Widseth Smith Nolting

Mary Ringhand, Administrative Asst., Red Lake Tribal Council

Kevin Waldhausen, Councilor, Bemidji City Council

Timeline of the Statues:

1901

Danish lumberjack Gustaf Hinche, a harness-maker, painter and naturalist, carved the first statue of Chief Bemidji out of boards nailed together. The statue was moved to various locations over the years.

1904

The town mourned Shaynowishkung’s death and erected a large monument in his name (which still stands) in Greenwood Cemetery.

1927

Bemidji’s Park Commission placed Hinche’s Chief Bemidji statue in Library Park to overlook the flowage of the Mississippi River through Lake Bemidji.

1952

The original statue, which had deteriorated, was replaced by a wood and fiberglass replica, carved by a retired lumberjack named Eric Boe. It was gifted to the Beltrami County Historical Society.

1983

A plaque was donated by Joyce Bedeson Skelton and placed near the existing statue.

2009

A coalition of diverse local groups form a committee to explore the preservation of the existing statue and the creation of a new one that better reflects our community’s values.

Project Mission:

The Chief Bemidji Statue Project committee is interested in commissioning a new statue of

Chief Bemidji. This new representation would depict him in a dignified and respectful way,

honoring the man and his legacy.

Project Goals:

1. Engage the commmunity in a disccussion about the value of creating a new statue, and about perceptions surrounding the existing statue in Librabry Park.

2. Commission a life-sized or larger realistic bronze sculpture. This will allow a detailed representation of Chief Bemidji, in a material traditionally chosen for its beauty, quality, and durability.

3. Select a location that is highly accessible and visible by the public, one that will allow for greater interaction with and understanding of Chief Bemidji and his role in our City’s founding.

4. Develop an educational exhibit at the Beltrami County Historical Society, or other venue, that tells the story of Chief Bemidji and the statues and memorials that have been created in his honor.

5. Consider relocating the current wood/fiberglass statue of Chief Bemidji to the Beltrami County Historical Society.

Members of this committee

I am attaching links to some of the members of this committee.

This list will grow, so check this post often, and please take a moment to find out and share who we all are. M

sharedvisionbemidji.com

Bemidji Sculpture Walk Committee

http://bemidjisculpts.blogspot.com/

more links to come here..

On the shores of Bemidjigamaag

Chief Bemidji is how most of us know him. In his life he was Shenowishkung a soft-spoken, friendly, and well-liked man. He was leader of (speaker for) about fifty people who had settled the land between the waters, well before white settlers arrived.

Born in 1833, he lived his whole life in the Leech Lake and Cass Lake area, playing and travelling the river as a boy, and speaking for his people when he was a man. He died at his home North of Cass Lake on April 20, 1904. There was a large public funeral for him. He is believed to buried in the Mission area near Cass Lake. A monument to him was erected in Greenwood cemetery.

A man named Gustave Hinsch built a wooden statue of Bemidji/Shenowishkung in 1893. It was moved to many places before being donated to and placed in Library Park. It was replaced by the soft-featured concrete version that stands there now, though its remains are still held by the historical society today.

There are many people who would like to see a third version take its place as an honoring memorial to this city's namesake.

The idea is to create a coalition of citizens; including the Bemidji Sculpture Walk Committee, the Shared Visions group, and the City of Bemidji, as well as all other interested groups or individuals.

We would seek out skilled artists both locally and nationally to apply for a commission to create a lifelike bronze statue of this beloved man.

I think it is important to remember that he really was a man, flesh and blood, with strengths and weaknesses, with a history to his life and a meaning in it beyond the application of his name to a Northern Minnesota town over 100 years ago.

That said, I would like to see an honorable and not a comical rendition of his living likeness on display in a place of honor. It will be seen and touched and talked about for years, and so it should be special.

I grew up here, born in 1974, and I have seen many changes in this town for good and bad. I am nostalgic about the loss of things that remind me of my life here that are gone now: the Markam Motel (for reasons I can't explain), the old Morell's (where I bought drums and ninja stars as a child), the St. Phillip's bell tower (I climbed up inside it once), the Swings at the old Paul Bunyan waterfront park.

I am not one to callously wipe out old architecture and build anew in the ashes. I mourn the loss of things I barely remember, but can clearly see have gone away. But I do embrace positive, well-thought out, community sanctioned growth.

That means some things need to be respectfully taken down and cared for, leaving room for new imaginings based upon what we believe to be important today.

We are always learning, always adjusting our world views based on new information and new relationships. I believe it is time to remove the "play-dough" Chief Bemidji Statue of my childhood, to give it to the care and curatorship of the Historical Society, and to collectively oversee the placement of a new and beautiful rendition of the body and face of the man we know so little about, but to whom we owe our very name. I am proud of the name. I want to be proud of the statue. What do you think?