Great Ancestral Bear Wood Carving

The Great Ancestral Bear Wood Carving was done by James Frechette Jr., a Menominee Traditional artist.  James started carving the bear on March 5, 1992.  It took him 6 months working 6 days a week for 10 hours a day.  Finishing it September 1, 1992.  He used traditional hand carving techniques and did not use modern day power tools.  The Carving came from a Butternut Tree recorded as the largest Butternut in Wisconsin in 1978.  This tree grew for 119 years on the Menominee Indian Reservation.  In 1991 the tree became diseased and had to be harvested. Before it became damaged, the tree was cut down and Frechette was commissioned by the Menominee Legislature to carve the bear. The carving was done based on submitted drawings.

James Frechette working on the Great White Bear Carving James Frechette working on the Great White Bear Carving

 Log Measurements:
9 1/2 feet in circumference
49 inches in diameter at the butt end, and 36 inches in diameter at the top, & 16 feet long
Weight:  1 1/2 tons

The Great Ancestral Bear stands 11 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 1,700 pds. 

Finished Great Ancestral White Bear Carving Great White Ancestral Bear

Born and raised on the Menominee Reservation, James Frechette has been recognized as a significant artist, whose work has been purchased and commissioned by museums and collectors 
throughout the world.

Links to White Bear Carving:

The Menominee Clans Story: http://library.uwsp.edu/MenomineeClans

 

ã2003
 Photos of the Great Ancestral Bear printed and used by written permission of James F. Frechette Jr.
All rights reserved. No part of these images may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recordings or any information storage or retrieval system, without specific permission in writing of the author/artist.