Bandolier Bags at the Ho-Chunk Nation Museum

There are quaint towns and not-so-quaint towns in Wisconsin, often defined inversely by their proximity to one of the interstate highways. Tomah suffers from being close to the interchange of both I-94 and I-90, which means much of its business vitality has been drawn away from the historic downtown to the generica serving people driving past as quickly as possible, or at least to businesses built especially to cater to those people, over at the edge of town. 

There's one building in downtown that's worth a visit: the Ho-Chunk Nation Museum and Cultural Center. 

Only recently reopened after COVID and a devastating fire, the spare, brick-walled space is beautiful and soothing. Right now they have an excellent exhibit of bandolier bags made by 20th century Ho-Chunk, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi artists. 

Bandolier bags were worn over the shoulder. They carried important items, and played a decorative and ceremonial role. According to the interpretive material at the museum, the Indigenous artists who made them replicated and reinterpreted earlier versions over time, blending traditional designs with contemporary materials to create these utilitarian objects.

There were distinctive designs among the three Indigenous peoples represented in the museum:

The Ojibwe (left) used asymmetrical floral designs, derived from mission schools translated back to traditional concepts. The Ho-Chunk and Potawatomi generally used geometric designs, with Ho-Chunk designs (center) generally showing groupings of three and using offset straps and the Potawatomi (right) including a cloth band with beaded appliqué to separate the lower panel from the strap.

In the exhibit, the floral Ojibwe designs stand out because of their boldness:

It was hard not to photograph every one in the exhibit, given the intricacy and color of the bead work:

The Potawatomi patterns are reminiscent of quilting:

The Ho-Chunk works ranged more widely, including the one at right that seemed like a symmetrical version of an Ojibwe pattern:

Most of the bandoliers in the exhibit are from around 1900, though some date from as late as the 1940s/50s.

Currently, the museum is open Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Those may be summer hours; its phone number is 715-284-9343.