Grand Portage Artist Donovan Dahmen Carves Cultural Connections
On a warm summer afternoon in June, Grand Portage artist Donovan Dahmen is shaping more than just wood. His hands move with practiced precision, coaxing movement from timber as he works on his latest piece—a representation of “biidaaban“, an Ojibwe word describing the time just before dawn, when night and day are equally balanced.
“I want the wood to have movement,” Dahmen explains, stepping back to examine his work. “I don’t want the wood to necessarily be stationary, if that’s possible.”
Dahmen is an artist deeply embedded in his Anishinaabe roots. He works in drawing, painting, and printmaking–but is perhaps best known for his large wood works.
“When I’m working with wood, I really seem to be in my element,” he says. “I just kind of let the wood speak to me.”
Donovan Dahmen works on “Biidaaban”
Dahmen’s artistic path began at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a place he recalls for both its inspiration and lessons. “It was incredible seeing the amount of talent that Native people actually have. It gave me confidence being around other artists,” he remembers. But the strict no-tolerance policy on substance use served as a stark reminder of broader challenges facing Native communities, including his own struggles.
“Culture became the foundation of my recovery. It always felt like something was missing,” he says. “I got some exposure to the culture, and that became a foundation of my art.”
Dahmen reconnected with his Anishinaabe culture at Four Winds Lodge, a culturally-based treatment center in Brainerd, Minnesota. He says his art “became an expression of respecting and honoring that what helped me to sober up, to celebrate and wanting to give thanks.”
Dahmen’s path to working with wood was revealed through an unexpected observation of his golden eagle drawing. “I began to see feathers, the feathers resembled the grains of wood,” he remembers. With basic tools—a coping saw and some files—he began translating that drawing into a wood sculpture.
Giinew the protector (2016)
The resulting eagle was stunning enough to catch the attention of the Grand Portage Tribal Council, who purchased it and commissioned him for a larger project: Little Spirit Tree, representing the sacred centuries-old white cedar on the shore of Grand Portage.
“The golden eagle is a protector,” Dahmen explains. “And so it coincides with the cedar as being a protector – protection medicine.”
His Little Spirit Tree project took a year and a half to complete and launched his career in wood sculpture. It can be seen inside the Grand Portage Lodge and Casino, along with a smaller version of Little Spirit Tree completed in 2024.
Little Spirit Tree (2024)
Dahmen’s current project, Biidaaban, is six years in the making and represents three decades of learning as a drum keeper, lodge keeper, and pipe carrier. “What I came up with was the idea of balance,” he says. “The idea of balance is really fundamental to Anishinaabe worldview.”
His Biidaaban piece expresses “that stillness before the sun comes up between the light and the dark,” says Dahmen. Elements in the work include a female figure, a loon, a sturgeon, a bear, the sun and moon, a drum, water, and wild rice – all honoring Anishinaabe teachings.
Dahmen’s work aspires to fine art status, driven by his perfectionist nature and deep respect for his community. “I want it to be really striking and beautiful, because I believe that we are striking and beautiful as a people. And that we have a lot of beauty about us, a lot of teachings.”
His art serves a purpose beyond aesthetics. “When I’m doing my art, I’m doing it for my people,” he says. “I hope people can see the artwork as being part of the community and what is important to us.”
Find additional photos and the full interview audio below.
Chuck Olsen July 23, 2025
