Today, we welcome Carl Gawboy to the Native Lights podcast. Carl, born to a Finnish mother and an Ojibwe father, was raised in Ely and is a member of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe. Carl is an artist, whose primary medium is watercolors. But he turned to pen and ink for his recent graphic book Fur Trade Nation: An Ojibwe’s Graphic History.

For a number of years, Carl taught in the Indian Studies departments at the College of St. Scholastica and the University of Minnesota – Duluth. He was given an opportunity to develop a course and that turned into a history of the fur trade.

His research revealed that every Ojibwe person, in one fashion or another, worked in the fur trade industry—as trappers, guides, interpreters, cooks, canoe makers, etc. 

He talks about the book that inspired him to turn his research into a series of black and white drawings. Those evolved into the 2024 book Fur Trade Nation and, more recently, Giclee prints and a calendar.

Carl and wife Cindy live in Two Harbors and enjoy spending time with their family and a special feline friend.

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Hosts / Producers: Leah Lemm, Cole Premo 

Editor: Britt Aamodt 

Editorial support: Emily Krumberger 

Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood

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