Judy
Robins
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"Che-ca-guo/Wild
Onion"©
Indiana Limestone, 10'x4'x3', weight 5 tons
“Che-ca-guo/Wild
Onion” grew wild along the banks of the Chicago River
and gave the area its Native American name.
A meditative
park be established on the 3 acres of land set aside for this purpose.
This park would be a symbolic park when Jean Baptiste DuSable and his
family had his trading post. Competitive commissions for collaboration
would be solicited in the following areas: visual arts, architecture,
landscape professionals/artists, archeologists, African American historians,
Native American historians, etc., to establish a meditative park that
symbolized the essence of the people living in Chicago at that time. The
landscape could be planted as it was, implementing wild flowers, grasses,
weeds, etc., that were prevalent at that time. Commissioned art pieces,
realistic/abstract, would symbolize trading post, smoke house, barn, horse
stables, cattle, hogs, sickles, canoes, pow wow drums, Native American
artifact, etc. The design of the park would allow visitors to walk through
and meditate how things may have been and educate them to our rich history
at the same time.
Artist's Statement:
In the early 1700's, explorers discovered that "Che-ca-guo,"
a Chippewa Native American word meant wild onion or wild garlic. The Kickapoo
tribe and the extinct Mascoutins tribe pronounced it "Chikagou,"
which meant powerful, great, mighty, or strong. The Ojibwa tribe called
it "Shegahg," which meant wild onion or skunk. Other tribes
said "She-gau-ga-winzhe" and "Keeche-she-gaug-vh-wunzh."
All of these
names were given to the territory now known as Chicago where Lake Michigan
and the Chicago River meet. Here the wild onion, wild garlic, or skunk
grass grew abundantly, and the strong stench was widely known throughout
the Native American tribes who came to that site for trading. Some say
you can still find the plant "Allium Canadense" growing in abandoned
lots throughout the city, especially near the water.
The media,
Indiana limestone, is from the Bloomington, Indiana, area and is approximately
15 million years old. Many of Chicago's famous landmark buildings are
made of this type of durable and beautiful stone.
My family and environment inspired me to create "Che-ca-guo."
My maternal great-grandmother was either from the Chippewa or Ojibwa tribe;
I am still trying to locate her tribe. My paternal grandfather, "Buck"
Plain, ran the dance hall at White City Amusement Park located in the
city's South Side during the early 1920's, and my maternal grandmother,
Pearl Peasley, owned three apartment buildings adjacent to Graceland Cemetery
when I was a child. Graceland Cemetery, where many of the statues are
made out of limestone, was my playground. Therefore, I dedicate this piece
to the memory of all of my relatives and ancestors who traveled here way
back when….
-Judy Robins
Judy Robins, sculptor, has been active in the Chicago art community since the early 1980's. Her studio is located in the River North area. Visitors are always welcome, please feel free to contact her at 773.878.0381