Lila Greengrass Blackdeer

Lila Greengrass Blackdeer
Masuhijajawiga
Lila Greengrass Blackdeer, from a 1965 newspaper
Born	Lila Greengrass February 14, 1932 Black River Falls, Wisconsin
Died	October 30, 2021 Wisconsin
Occupation(s)	Artist, basketmaker

Lila Greengrass Blackdeer (February 14, 1932 – October 30, 2021), also known as Masuhijajawiga, was an American maker of black ash baskets, in the Ho-Chunk tradition. She was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship in 1999.

Early life[edit]

Lila Greengrass was born in Black River Falls, Wisconsin, the daughter of Edwin Greengrass and Bessie Youngbear.^[1] Her father attended Carlisle Indian Industrial School from 1913 to 1917.^[2] She began making baskets as a child, instructed by her mother in the techniques of their Ho-Chunk (or Winnebago) tradition.^[1]

Career[edit]

Blackdeer taught basketmaking and other crafts for much of her life, including 24 years at Western Wisconsin Technical College.^[3] She was also manager of Winnebago Indian Mission Industries, a garment factory run by women in her community, on the site of an old mission school.^[4][5] In addition to basketry, Blackdeer was skilled in sewing, dyeing, needlework, and beadwork. She was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in 1999.^[6] She was one of the elder-artists included in an exhibition and documentation project by the Hocak Wazijaci Language and Culture Preservation Committee in 1994.^[7][8][9] Works by Blackdeer are in the collections of the Milwaukee Public Museum, Marquette University, and the University of Wisconsin,^[1] and many private collections. Her baskets were part of an exhibit at Edgewood College in 2017.^[10]

Personal life[edit]

Lila Greengrass married William P. Blackdeer in 1954. They had four children. Her husband died in 2001.^[11] She died in 2021, aged 89 years.^[12]

References[edit]