Cultural Impact

When reading and listening to what Mary Wemigwase has done for the Odawa people it seems so far from such a simple object but the Knife and Sheath represents a movement and a group of incredible people who have survived colonialism and survived the politics of the current United States. The Odawa people are recognized partly due to Mary’s work and the knife symbolizes that people don’t forget traditional ways to do things. It was an art form to create something like Knife and Sheath and to have someone recreate it and reincorporate it into today’s society shows the strength and resilience and the hard work that was put into being able to remember things such as making a sheath.