"Over the 4th of July I watched an Oneida boy dressed as a wedge of Swiss cheese march down the road, and I wondered, “What is art and how important is it for Indian communities?”

Seems like a bit of a stretch, I know, but hang with me.

The First Peoples Fund, a non-profit organization supporting and honoring Native artists, brought me to Oneida, Wisconsin, this place where walking cheese prompted such profound questions. Actually, it was more than cheese.

Loretta Webster, an Oneida artist who does Iroquois raised beadwork, the Oneida Nation Arts Program, the Woodland Art Show and Market, the Oneida Nation and its Annual 4th of July Powwow including a community parade (and walking cheese) all had contributed to my philosophical state of mind."

Get the Story:
Mary Annette Pember: Fortifying a Nation through Art and Cheese (The Daily Yonder 7/25)

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