Ekwabet, (sculpture).

Ekwabet, (sculpture).

Bellaver, Guy, sculptor.

Artworks Foundry (Lawrenceville, PA), founder.

Ekwabet, (sculpture).

Digital Reference:

Bronze on a concrete base.

Sculpture: approx. 16 x 5 x 7 ft.; Base: approx. 6 ft. x 6 3/4 in. x 9 ft. 2 in.

(Bronze plaque on base:) POTTAWATOMI INDIAN STATUE/DEDICATED 1988 WITH THE HELP OF CITIZENS OF THE FOX VALLEY/(List of committee members and contributors)

(Base front:) Guy Bellaver 86/88 (Bronze plaque, top, base front:) EKWABET/(WATCHING OVER)/NAMED BY THE POTTAWATOMI NATION JUNE 29, 1989 (Bronze plaque, base front:) "Listen, for I speak but once...."/As I gaze across the waters of the shimmering Fox River, I/see the smoke of thousands of teepees where I once saw only/gentle prairies and lush forests abundant with game./Many moons ago my people were among the first voices to be/heard in this land. We came to live in peace with nature. We/hunted and fished. We married, bore children and died at out/appointed time. The bones of my people mingle here with the/earth. We loved this Valley.

It was with great sadness that we had to leave our home./We were few, and the settlers were many. The spirits of my/ancestors have never left this great Valley, and occasionally, you/may glimpse our shadows or feel our presence as we tread silently/along the shores of our beloved Fox River./Our final prayer as we left our land was that you would love/this Valley as much as we loved it. We were one with the earth,/sky and water. We were the Neshnabek, the "People" of the/Valley.

A standing figure of a Pottawatomi Indian chief over looking the Fox River. He is holding a peace pipe in his proper left hand. He is looking into the wind which blows his hair back. He wears an animal skin cape and long pants.

Ethnic -- Indian -- Potawatomi

Object -- Other -- Pipe

Figure male -- Full length

Outdoor Sculpture -- Illinois -- St. Charles

Administered by City of St. Charles, Office of the Mayor, 2 East Main Street, Municipal Center, St. Charles, Illinois 60174

Located Overlooking Fox River, near Main Street Bridge, East side of River, St. Charles, Illinois

IAS files contain a copy of the program from the dedication ceremony, which indicates statue replaces one that was dedicated in honor to the Pottawatomi in 1915, subsequently vandalized in 1965. Funds for the replacement statuewhich cost 85,000 came from the Rotary Club and pennies contributed by school children. For further lengthy base incriptions, listing contributors to the statue, and a description of the Pottawatomi see IAS photographs.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Illinois survey, 1992.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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