Martha Buche is one of nine winners of the 2024 Midwest Culture Bearers Award. This award celebrates artisans and folk arts practitioners whose work is rooted in cultural preservation and sharing knowledge with the next generation.
“I was raised outside Potawatomi culture, much of that cultural legacy lost due to survival through assimilation.
I went in search of my heritage in my twenties, seeking culture, crafts and traditions for myself. I became culture-bringer to own family and was given the name of ‘Spirit Keeper’ in recognition. Over decades, my siblings and I have rediscovered language, traditions, beliefs and crafts. I have long sought and now practice many traditional arts. I’ve shared these broadly in my roles as artist and educator, in my family, community and the Midwest.
As an artist, I have been drawn to and have practiced many traditional arts: ash splint, bark, sweetgrass, cattail, and pine needle basket making, drum, clothing, and moccasin making, quilling and various styles of beading, corn husk doll and other toy making, and copper work. I have been recognized for teaching hammered copper bowls. I learned and teach this technique using the ancient method, with stone tools, in the manner of Lake Superior’s native peoples. Copper vessels are used in ceremony and teaching this craft shares the culture and traditions of my Potawatomi heritage. I celebrate my hard sought and nearly lost Potawatomi heritage through this practice.”
