Above left: The Grand Portage Tribal Council happily accepted a donation from the Wojtysiak and Lunke family on Friday, October 9. The 140-piece collection consists of many beautiful items created by Grand Portage community members through the years, such as the tikinagan that Iola Wojtysiak is holding. With Iola is (L-R) Grand Portage Tribal Chair Norman Deschampe, Grand Portage Museum Director MaryAnn Gagnon, Orvis Lunke, Donna Lunke.
Although official action was taken by the Grand Portage Tribal Council to accept a donation to the Grand Portage Museum by the Wojtysiak and Lunke family on Friday, October 9, the gathering was anything but formal. Memories were brought to life by the many pieces of beadwork, birch bark baskets, carvings and more that have been collected by the family over the years.
Donna Wojtysiak Lunke, speaking on behalf of her mother Iola Wojtysiak and her husband, Orvis Lunke, explained that her mother and her late father, Walt Wojtysiak, started the collection in the 1950s, when her dad started working in the Grand Portage community.
Lunke recalled that he plowed roads, logged and put in driveways and septic systems, working alongside— and making friends with—many Grand Portage Band members. Through the years, Walt and Iola were gifted with, or purchased, the many items handmade by Grand Portage community members.
Donna Lunke noted that she and Orvis didn’t have children and they weren’t sure what would happen to the collection once they were gone. She said they didn’t want to see the collection sold off in pieces, so after talking with Iola, the family decided the best place for the collection to go was the Grand Portage Museum.
Above: Making it official. Museum Director MaryAnn Gagnon watches as Iola Wojtysiak signs the paperwork to transfer ownership of the items to the museum.
Grand Portage Museum Director Mary Ann Gagnon said she was delighted to accept the donation and said she couldn’t wait to go through the approximately 140 pieces. She said she hopes to have some items on display at the beginning of November. Some items from the collection will be on display at the log museum at all times, she said.
Tribal Chair Norman Deschampe expressed appreciation for the donation, noting that in the 1970s he had visited a man in the Twin Cities with an extensive collection of Ojibwe artifacts— beadwork, baskets and leather clothing. Deschampe said he started thinking about the items later and tried contacting him, only to sadly learn that the man had died and the collection had been sold, scattered amongst collectors across the country.
Below: Everyone enjoyed looking through the catalog of items in the collection and sharing memories of the people who have made them.
“That’s why museums are important,” said Deschampe adding, “Beyond that, Walter [Wojtysiak] was a household name. A lot of people worked for him and with him. He never had a bad word to say.”
Iola Wojtysiak smiled at the other sweet memories shared of her late husband.
She said some of the “old-timers” might recognize the pieces being donated. And indeed, as a binder of photos of the collection was passed around, the folks at the gathering starting pointing out pieces that bear the distinct patterns or styles of their friends and families.
There was beadwork by Cecelia Hendrickson; carvings by Raymond Duhaime; a painted rock hatchet by John Flatt; bracelets by Margaret Koslowski and other pieces by Philomena Evans, George Plummer, Margie Bramer and others.
Most of the artisans are gone now, making the items even more precious.
Gagnon said a beading group meets once a week at the log museum. She said the beadwork and other items, like intricate woodcarvings of birds with removable wings, might inspire others.
Smiling, Iola Wojtysiak and the Lunkes said although they have enjoyed having the items in a place of honor in their home for all these years, it was the right decision. “It feels good to have these things ‘come home’ to Grand Portage,” said Lunke.
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