Prairie Sportsman

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Host

30 years ago, Susan Foss saw a field and had a dream. She and her husband, Rodney, were retired from dairy farming. And Sue told him, she needed five acres. Well, he wanted to know what I wanted to do with the field. And I told him I wanted to make a giant goose. -

Host

Sue designed an 830 foot long goose that would become a garden to teach people about the Ojibwe culture. (background music playing) Artistically, a goose is a simple figure. And to do something this large you have to have a simple design. Also, we adopted an Ojibwe daughter when she was just a baby and her name was Anna Goose. And so it all fits together. I started my planning in 1989. And I started planting in about 1991. I planned the garden according to the mature height of the trees and shrubs that I planted in here. This is about three-fourths of the way it's grown now. In its maturity, it actually will become a 3D goose. I've got birch trees here. That's the white part of the goose. And on the flanks, I have more birch on both sides for the flanks of the goose, where it's white. -

Host

Wild roses formed the spine of the goose. And beside it, there's a nest with three mounds for eggs and a baby gosling planted with hue and hazelnuts. I thought that would be the kind of brushy look that a baby goose is. (rattling) (flute music playing) -

Host

Many of the 300 plant and shrub species in Goose Garden have medicinal properties used by Ojibwe tribes to treat ailments. Prickly ash for toothaches. Ironwood T for arthritis and rheumatism. And bittersweet to treat just about anything. They used the boiled route for ointment and the berries for stomach trouble, diarrhetic, cancer. Sores that wouldn't heal. The inner bark for thick soup. Stock for skin eruptions, acne. All the troubles that we've got now, they had them then and they had treatment for. Wild peas in here. And they would use the wild pea plants to feed the ponies because I would make them more lively. So this is the medicine wheel. The tobacco and sweet grass and cedar and sage were all used and very sacred. To focuses on three main tenants, balance, harmony and respect. Listening to one's inner spirit and learning from life experiences. And boy, we could all use some of that now, couldn't we? (background music playing) -

Host

After Sue identified all the plants she wanted in Goose Garden, a vision came to her. -

Sue

I was sound asleep in my bed and all of a sudden I thought I need animals. And I need the totems that the Ojibwe used, because this is all based on Ojibwe culture and history. -

Host

To make each totem, Rod welded together a metal stick figure. Susan rafted it in wire and covered it with cement. After it dried, she stained and sealed the sculpture. The first one I did was the rattlesnake. I just was trying out to see, "Can I do this?" And it worked out. He was the totem for the new music makers and that's why I have the drum here. -

Host

Animal totems represented Ojibwe clans responsibilities. Fish clans were teachers. Caribou deer and moose clans were the caregivers and comforters. -

Sue

The moose was a challenge to get his body right. And I even had our neighbor come over and take a look at him 'cause he's shot a few moose in his day. I really liked the moose. I talk to him when I go by. And sometimes I kiss him on the nose. The lynx clan where the warriors, the protectors, war strategists. They broke new ground as the tribe traveled west to the great lakes. The wolf clan would take care of the people who were injured in battle. And they would also be warriors. The Red-tail Hawk. That was another totem spiritual leaders. So they were like the priests and ministers of the clan. They help people with their emotional and problems of life. It was all there. Everything that we look at in psychology today. They had it all figured out already. And the loon clan, whereas some of the leaders and decision-makers. They had a really interesting government, whereas they didn't really have a chief. They had leaders whom the people respected. The highest quality of a leader was how he was generous to his people. If they decided that, "Oh, I think we'll go to war. We have to do this." If you didn't want to go, you didn't go. They didn't make you go. It was your decision. The bear clan is one that is still in progress today. And the bear clan was so big and it was so big. You could be a bear ear. You could be a bear paw. You could be a bear nose. And a lot of bear clan people today will not eat bear meat- meat, because that's a relatives. -

Host

Some of the more than 60 sculptures in Sue's garden commemorate people such as Francis Densmore who devoted her life to studying and recording native American music. A boy with a feather represents 30,000 children taken from their families and forced into boarding schools. The most personal structure is a spirit house, that Rod built over the buried ashes of their daughter, Laura also named Anna Goose. (gentle music playing) When Sue opened goose garden in 2013, she had no advertising money, but our children helped with print and online marketing and the word spread. -

Sue

Most people just really enjoy it. They come back again. They bring other people. The most touching one I had this year and it was written by a native person who said the great spirit spoke to me. That really touched me. It's, it's all on donation because I can't afford to have somebody at the gate to take admission. And it is a five-o-one C3 non-profit -

Host

Susan Foss hopes that someday someone with her passion for the Ojibwe culture will take over the Minnesota Goose Garden. Every tree that they- or shrub that they took to use. Every animal that they had to kill for their use was always offered tobacco as an offering. And it's a beautiful way to live. So this is my, this is my offering to them.