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Artist honors ancestors through handwoven portraits

MARQUETTE– An exhibit of weavings about women from Wisconsin’s 12 tribes titled Ancestral Women from award-winning jacquard weaver Mary Burns opens today at The Beaumier Upper Peninsula Heritage Center in Marquette. There will be an opening ceremony at the gallery at 1 p.m. Followed by a workshop with the Oshkii Giizhik Singers at 2 p.m. ending with a presentation by Burns at 3 p.m.

“My goal in the exhibit was to honor elder women and these are women who are from all these different tribes who have held their families and communities together, who have kept their cultures and languages alive, and I wanted to bring them to the public,” Burns said.

Burns conceived this project to portray the strength of ancestral women around the world, both elders and their contemporaries, and to honor their journeys. The exhibit features women elders from each of Wisconsin’s 12 Native American tribes.

“Being that this is Native American history month, it’s a great opportunity for people to learn about tribal groups and some of the women in these groups who are seen as elders who inspire generations,” said Daniel Truckey, director of the Beaumier Heritage Center at Northern Michigan University. “Also, because they are amazing weavings. You look at them and you’d think that they were a photograph. The artwork itself is just fantastic.”

As part of this exhibition, Burns is leading a tapestry weaving workshop at the center to participants who preregistered. The three-part workshop introduces students to the art of weaving on a matrix loom.

Ancestral women will be on display from Nov. 3 to Jan. 31. For more information on the exhibit visit ancestralwomen.com. For information on The Beaumier Upper Peninsula Heritage Center call 906-227-1219 or visit nmu.edu/beaumierheritagecenter.

Corey Kelly can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 243. Her email address is ckelly@miningjournal.net.

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