Art and history come together in ‘Fur Trade Nation: an Ojibwe’s Graphic History’

On the outskirts of Two Harbors just north of Duluth artist Carl Gawboy sits in an overstuffed leather chair inside his light-filled studio. He’s sharing his space with a rack of young plants his wife Cindy has started in anticipation of spring planting. Half a dozen of Gawboy’s watercolor paintings line the walls.

For the past two years, Gawboy has been creating hundreds of pen and ink drawings for “Fur Trade Nation: an Ojibwe’s Graphic History.”

Gawboy has used his thirty years of experience teaching the history of fur trade relations on Turtle Island, also known as North America, to create hundreds of illustrations depicting stories Ojibwe people and lifeways centered on entrepreneurship and freedom.

A citizen of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe and Finnish descent, Gawboy has been working as an artist even longer than he’s been teaching history.