Chief Wawatam

(Mackinaw City, MI) Pictured on your left is a wood carving of Wawatam, an Ojibwa chief whose base was at Michilimackinac. Unlike many tourist attractions, this carving possessed a decided lack of campiness, and I think the artist managed to create a work of art devoid of the sort of kitsch I normally associate with Native American representations.

Still, the chief looks like he could have benefited from learning how to treat eczema, or at least the finished product makes Wawatam look a bit scaly. Maybe the constant exposure to sun, wind, and water have resulted in a skin tone on the carved figure, but Wawatam looks like a thousand miles of bad road here.