Traditional Woodland Indian potter, Frank Ettawageshik, will provide a slide presentation and pottery making demonstration using pre-contact methods of his ancestors in the Northern Great Lakes.

Click here to register for this free in-person presentation.

Frank Ettawageshik lives in Harbor Springs, Michigan, with his wife Rochelle.  He served in tribal elected office for sixteen years, fourteen as the Tribal Chairman of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in Harbor Springs, Michigan. During his tenure as Tribal Chairman he was instrumental in the adoption of the Tribal and First Nations Great Lakes Water Accord in 2004 and the United League of Indigenous Nations Treaty in 2007.  Recently he was appointed Tribal Court Appellate Justice for his tribe.

As an artist, Frank has worked to revive the making of the traditional Indian pottery of the Great Lakes area. After years of research and experimentation his pots are virtually indistinguishable from the pots once made in Michigan. Not only was his goal to make the pots that his ancestors had made, but also to revive traditional pottery making as a contemporary art form in the Indian communities of Michigan.  His pottery is in public and private collections throughout the world.  In addition to making pottery, Frank is a traditional storyteller. His father, Fred, was a well known storyteller throughout Michigan.  Many of the stories told by Frank are ones that have been passed down from his father.

This program is sponsored by the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Library and Museum Services, and the St. Ignace Area Community Foundation.