Art Form: Anishinaabe beadwork, corn making, Ogitchidaa, and tradition bearer of Anshinaabe culture

Location(s): Hopkins (Allegan County)

George Martin

George Martin is an enrolled member of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Lynx Clan, and has lived on and with the lands of the Gun Lake Tribe/Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Potawatomi Indians since 1969. He began peyote stitching beadwork as a child taught by his mother, Susan Martin. Peyote stitch beadwork is time consuming, with each bead attached individually and intention and prayer. George adorns ceremonial and everyday objects with his beadwork, and has done so for over 70 years. This includes everything from keychains and spoons, to traditional shakers, dance sticks, and ceremonial eagle feathers. As nominator Lori Pourier noted, "George’s beadwork is both ceremonial and sacred. His creations are utilitarian and deeply cultural, reminding us that art is not separate from daily life but central to identity and community."

In the 1960s, his mother-in-law Gladys (Pigeon) Sands taught him the art of Anishinaabek cornmaking, which is the process of cultivating, harvesting, and processing mandaamin [corn] in the traditional way using hardwood ash to process the corn. George’s humble work in maintaining the tradition of caring for and preparing heritage corn varieties and their ceremonial and everyday uses is now part of the larger cultural food sovereignty movement, illustrating his impact nationally.

Raised with the Ansihnaabek teachings and traditions of his family and community, George is a second-generation Boarding School survivor. Carrying on his family and his people's Ogitchidaa (warrior) tradition, George served honorably in the Air Force in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars. He is active in the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band's Ogitch-E-Daa Society, and for nearly 50 years has served as head veteran at pow wows and events around the country, a role of high honor. He instructs others in the proper and respectful protocols at these events both as an ogitchidaa and as a traditional Woodlands style dancer.

George has been recognized by the First People's Fund, receiving their 2019 Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Award for his work across a wide range of mediums, from regalia making to culinary arts to storytelling. This is the First People's Fund's highest honor. In 2021, the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums commissioned him to make beaded teaching sticks for honored tribal museums.

Bob Peters, tribal chair of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band wrote in his support letter, "As a culture bearer with oral history and traditional beliefs to share, George has worked to bring his unique experiences to share with our Tribal community members. We are proud of his work with the Ogitch-E-Daa Veterans and Warriors Society, as he leads them in ceremony and powwows. We call upon George when we recommit to Mother Earth our Ancestors repatriated from museums under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. His knowledge of cultural teachings and our distinctive Anishinabek history is highly respected throughout Indian Country. The teachings he provides empowers the next generation of Culture Bearers." This showcases George's dedication to not just the art forms he practices, but the overall vitality of his cultural communities and to the traditions and lifeways of Anishinaabe people.

- Dr. Valorie Johnson, compiled by Micah Ling