An Exhibition by Bitsy Joy and Tasha Roozen

Starting in November 2023, dozens of community participants have learned about the clay practices of Mdewakanton Dakota ancestors in the Late Woodland period through a combination of presentations and hands-on activities. Monthly public workshops held on the first Thursday of the month and hosted by Bitsy Joy and Tasha Roozen have covered wild clay processing, shell tempering, handbuilding, and pit firing. These workshops have also included presentations of their ongoing research into Late Woodland clay practices, and discussions about the challenges of uncovering pre-European settlement clay practices due to the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Dakota people and culture.

As this seven-month project comes to an end all the work produced by project participants and facilitators will be on display for the month of May at the Red Wing Arts Clay and creative Center. Please join us for the opening on May 1 from 6-8pm. On May 2 from 5:30PM-8PM, Tasha and Bitsy will host the final workshop of this project. In preparation for the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women on May 5, our final workshop will highlight the relationship between the historical erasure of Dakota women’s clay craft and the contemporary issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.