gidakiimanaaniwigamig students looked at local plants and compared them to Ojibwe beadwork floral designs. Woodlands Indians use wild flowers, leaves and fruits to create appliqued designs using the double needle technique. Manidoominens is the name for the seeds of the hawthrone tree. The Anishinaabe women used these seeds for beads.

The work of the Botanical Illustrator as visual recorder is a very important tool for the  Botanist.

Catalog of Botanical Illustrations, Smithsonian Botanical Museum       

http://botany.si.edu/botart/

http://botany.si.edu/botart/artistGallery.cfm?myArtist=Tangerini,%20A&inWindow=no

History of Native American Beads – The Hawthorne Tree

http://www.kstrom.net/isk/art/beads/hawthorn.html

Watercolor Botanical Illustration

http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/artist01.html

During the month of March gidakiimanaaniwigamig welcomed friends from the Flathead Reservation in Montana. Students participated in a variety of opportunities including attending AlBrook’s VEX Robotics Competition with gida students Onna Campbell, Joe Schwartz and Zak St. George participating (funded through CCEFP and ISD2142). Students also participated in gathering data for the Hobby Global Warming Study in the Cloquet Forestry.

In addition to coring Perch Lake, February camp began with a brief overview of the manoomin project from Tom Howse. Students then participated in a variety of studies including plate tectonics/earth quake study, Drawing with oil pastels in response to the work of Georg Morrison, the Math used in snow shoeing and sledding, GPS study using maps from Natural Resources/Fond du Lac Reservation staff , and as always, examining the core.

In addition to coring the lake January provided time for students to work on Science Fair projects – conducting experiments, writing research papers, and creating display boards.