Lila Greengrass Blackdeer

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lila Greengrass Blackdeer
Masuhijajawiga
A Native American woman with dark hair in a bouffant hairstyle, wearing cat-eye glasses
Lila Greengrass Blackdeer, from a 1965 newspaper
Born
Lila Greengrass

February 14, 1932
Black River Falls, Wisconsin
DiedOctober 30, 2021 (aged 89)
Occupation(s)Artist, basketmaker
SpouseWilliam P. Blackdeer (m. 1954)
Children4

Lila Greengrass Blackdeer (February 14, 1932 – October 30, 2021), also known as Masuhijajawiga, was an American maker of black ash baskets, in the Ho-Chunk tradition. She was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship in 1999.

Early life[edit]

Lila Greengrass was born in Black River Falls, Wisconsin, the daughter of Edwin Greengrass and Bessie Youngbear.[1] Her father attended Carlisle Indian Industrial School from 1913 to 1917.[2] She began making baskets as a child, instructed by her mother in the techniques of their Ho-Chunk (or Winnebago) tradition.[1]

Career[edit]

Blackdeer taught basketmaking and other crafts for much of her life, including 24 years at Western Wisconsin Technical College.[3] She was also manager of Winnebago Indian Mission Industries, a garment factory run by women in her community, on the site of an old mission school.[4][5] In addition to basketry, Blackdeer was skilled in sewing, dyeing, needlework, and beadwork. She was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in 1999.[6] She was one of the elder-artists included in an exhibition and documentation project by the Hocak Wazijaci Language and Culture Preservation Committee in 1994.[7][8][9] Works by Blackdeer are in the collections of the Milwaukee Public Museum, Marquette University, and the University of Wisconsin,[1] and many private collections. Her baskets were part of an exhibit at Edgewood College in 2017.[10]

Personal life[edit]

Lila Greengrass married William P. Blackdeer in 1954. They had four children. Her husband died in 2001.[11] She died in 2021, aged 89 years.[12]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Lila Greengrass Blackdeer". National Endowment for the Arts. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  2. ^ "Edwin Greengrass Student File". Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  3. ^ "Ho-Chunk woman wins folk art award". The La Crosse Tribune. 1999-05-28. p. 14. Retrieved 2022-08-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "School Becomes Factory, Indian Mission Excited by New Industry". The La Crosse Tribune. 1965-11-18. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-08-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Epstein, Betty (1965-11-20). "Indians Work Own Garment Firm, Thanks to First Congregational". Wisconsin State Journal. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-08-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Congdon, Kristin G.; Hallmark, Kara Kelley (2012-03-19). American Folk Art: A Regional Reference [2 volumes]: A Regional Reference. ABC-CLIO. p. 359. ISBN 978-0-313-34937-9.
  7. ^ "Hocak Wazijaci Artistic Traditions Project Collection, 1994". Archival Resources in Wisconsin: Descriptive Finding Aids. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  8. ^ Trescott, Jacqueline (1999-05-27). "The Good Old Ways". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  9. ^ Van Riper, Ardith. "Ho-Chunk Nation Digital Library project celebrates its third year of work". Hocak Worak. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  10. ^ Norton, Robyn (2017-02-05). "Art connects Native Americans". Wisconsin State Journal. pp. E4. Retrieved 2022-08-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Obituary for William Blackdeer (Aged 69)". The La Crosse Tribune. 2001-04-11. p. 25. Retrieved 2022-08-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Lila Greengrass Blackdeer Obituary". Buswell Funeral Home. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lila_Greengrass_Blackdeer&oldid=1211806394"