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Minnesota Local History: a Visual and Personal Narrative of Home

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ResearchOnline@JCU This file is part of the following reference: Peckels, Alesha Jeanette (2008) Minnesota local history: a visual and personal narrative of home. Masters (Research) thesis, James Cook University. Access to this file is available from: http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/31326/ The author has certified to JCU that they have made a reasonable effort to gain permission and acknowledge the owner of any third party copyright material included in this document. If you believe that this is not the case, please contact [email protected] and quote http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/31326/ Minnesota local history: A visual and personal narrative of home Masters of Creative Arts (Research) Thesis submitted by: Alesha Jeanette Peckels Post-Graduate Research Diploma (Visual Arts) Bachelor of Arts: Visual Arts and American Indian Studies James Cook University (Townsville), February 2008 statement of access I, Alesha Jeanette Peckels, author of this work, understand that James Cook University will make this thesis available for use within the University Ubrary and, via the Australian Digital Theses network, for use elsewhere. I understand that, as an unpublished work, a thesis has significant protection under the Copyright Act, and; I do not wish to place any further restriction on access to this work. Statement of sources I declare that this thesis is my own work and has not been submitted in any form for another degree or diploma at any university or other institution of tertiary education. Information derived for the published or unpublished .work of others has been acknowledged in the text and a list of references is given. All family participation: interview material, letters, emails, imagery and so on have been pre-approved for inclusion in this ii Declaration on Ethics The research presented and reported in this thesis was conducted within the guidelines for research ethics outlined in the National Statement on Ethics Conductin Research Involving Human (1999), the Joint NHMRC/AVCC Statement and Guidelines on Research Practice (1997), the James .Cook University Policy on Experimentation Ethics. Standard Practices and Guidelines (2001), and the James Cook University Statement and Guidelines on Research Practice (2001). The proposed research methodology received clearance from the James COok University Experimentation Ethics Review Committee. Approved Number Signature and Date iii Abstract This thesis explores a visual and personal narrative of home in the State of Minnesota. It introduces and analyses methods of recording an accurate historic remembrance of place on both personal and formal levels. As the aim of this thesis is to provide a special inside-view of Minnesota social history, private narratives and imagery have been incorporated to demonstrate how two extended families of settlers embrace objects and local art. The collection of folklore has been filtered throughout text in all chapters, and each section includes family introductions in order to establish place and the participant’s frame of mind during the recorded narrative sessions. To validate local historic facts provided in interview and personal printed matter (ancestral origins), background research on both place and family was carried out prior to the conduction of interview sessions. A brief overview of history in the State of Minnesota is described in Chapter One and provided the author with motives as to what driving force resulted in the interviewed families’ migration to Minnesota as new settlers during the late 1800s. Chapter Two and subsequent chapters explore Minnesota’s social history (various topics) through the eyes of one generation of family members during the 1950s – 1980s. Chapter Two provides the reader with a personal view of the Minneapolis metro- area community and family involvement in the Catholic Church and school. This chapter establishes home in a community and leads into Chapter Three and its theory; Chapter Three demonstrates how the Minnesotan families create an intimate space in the home. Photographs, art work and cooking recipes are samples of the creative approach utilised in retaining and sharing this family’s past with readers. Both families’ home and social life are similar but are in no way exactly the same (it must be said that these families are related through marriage). Chapters Four and Five explore a personal connection to place through activities and imagery. Chapter Four follows the family along the Mississippi River and connects fishing folklore to a series of photographs spanning fifty years. Chapter Five explores a portion the Wild Rice River which flows through the family farm in Northern Minnesota. And finally, Chapters Six and Seven iv take a step further from the previous (Chapters Four and Five) and relate family folklore to specific objects utilised during special family outings and activities (fishing and hunting and winter festivities). In conjunction with chapter narratives and theory, numerous personal photographs and art works were also incorporated. The images enrich this unique personal account of social history in Minnesota and break traditional research boundaries; the personal history in this thesis can be experienced without words as well as in a formal textual setting. A Masters of Creative Arts is at the core of this thesis, and its work, both by family and the author, are experienced in a large individual format alongside the body of text. Chapter Eight discusses the importance of art work throughout the thesis and delves into a particular interpretation of this thesis’s goal: to experience a personal and phenomenological Minnesota. v Acknowledgements I would like to thank my family: the Peckels, Miller, Zigan and Roy clans. You are my inspiration and the reason I make art; my work and I are alive because of you. Thank you to my parents and grandparents, and the countless family participants who contributed their time, personal imagery, art work, letters and emails, and hours of interview material. Thank you to Cohen and family for your patience and positive energy. You are all my family; this book was written about you, for you. Alesha Jeanette Peckels vi Table of contents- Page Statement of access i Statement of sources/Declaration on Ethics ii Abstract iv Acknowledgements vi Chapter One: Introduction 1 I. Gwiazda Polarna 3 II. Thesis research: Approach and interpretation 7 III. Outline 10 IV. Who am I? Locating the author and subject matter 16 V. Family reactions 20 VI. Who are they? Interviewing family members 22 VII. To the reader 24 VIII. Thesis summary 28 Chapter Two: Locating Minnesota: Presenting the Peckels and Zigan families 29 I. Who are they? Choosing Minnesota case study families 34 II. The Peckels/Miller clan 36 III. Establishing home within a community 40 IV. Our Lady of Victory, North Minneapolis 44 * Interview with Barbie Dahlheimer (August 2006) 44 V. Nowiny Minnesokie 51 VI. The Zigan/Roy clan 52 VII. Letter from Mary A. Zigan (ca. 1982) 56 VIII. Polish tiles 63 Chapter Three: Houses versus home: When personal identity constructs intimate space 64 I. A sound house 71 II. You remind me 73 III. The Peckels home 74 IV. Mother of eleven: Jeanette Peckels 78 i. Interview with Chris Goodin (August 2006) 78 ii. Interview with Chris Goodin (August 2006) 79 V. Building a home: Arganius Peckels 83 VI. The basement: Jimmy Peckels 86 i. Interview with Chris Goodin and Tootie Gephart (August 2006) 87 ii. Interview with Tootie Gephardt (August 2006) 87 iii. Interview with Chris Goodin (August 2006) 88 VII. The laundry room 90 * Interview with Chris Goodin (August 2006) 90 VIII. The garage: Eddie Peckels 90 * Interview with Eddie Peckels (August 2006) 91 IX. The Peckels kitchen 95 i. Ice windows 95 Interview with Bill Peckels (September 2006) 95 ii. Cooking with Jeanette Peckels 97 Interview with Chris Goodin (August 2006) 97 iii. Canning with Kenneth Peckels 100 Interview with Ken Peckels (August 2006) 100 X. Food with feeling 104 XI. Family recipes 105 XII. A closing note 113 Chapter Four: Mississippi River 115 I. Legends and lore 116 II. The mighty Mississippi and Minnesota waters 120 III. Logging in winter 124 * Interview with Bill Peckels (September 2006) 125 IV. Minnesota waters and the Peckels family 131 V. Little Falls and the Mississippi River 131 * Interview with Bill Peckels (September 2006) 132 VI. Little Falls imagery 136 VII. An intangible heritage in written format 143 VIII. Minnesota Wild Series 145 IX. Beyond imagery and folklore 150 Chapter Five: Local Farms and the Zigan Bridge 151 I. Zigan Bridge 154 II. Bonanza farms in Minnesota 156 * Note from Barb Peckels (September 7, 2006) 159 III. The Earl Brown field: Brooklyn Center of the past 159 * Interview with Barb Peckels (September 2006) 159 IV. A place that exists only in dreams 166 * Interview with Donald A. Zigan (September 2006) 167 V. Elk River, Minnesota 177 VI. The Zigan farm, McGregor Minnesota 179 * Interview with Barb Peckels (September 2006) 179 VII. Lead the way home: A passageway to private local history 180 * Interview with Donald A. Zigan (June 2007) 181 VIII. On the farm 187 * Email from Mallory Zigan to Alesha Peckels (March 18, 2007) 189 IX. Finding a home in the world 190 Chapter Six: Fishing/Hunting in Minnesota 192 I. Girl Ice-fishing 194 II. Fishing and hunting in Minnesota 199 III. Great Northern Pike Association (GNPA) 202 * Interview with Bill and Ken Peckels (September 2007) 202 IV. Fish bones 210 V. Peckels Bros. Hotsled 214 VI. Hunting with the Zigan boys 217 * Interview with Andy Zigan (September 2006) 218 VII. Wild game recipes prepared by Barb Peckels 223 VIII. Blade-smith: Mike Peckels 227 * Interview with Mike Peckels (August 2006) 229 IX. Summary 234 Chapter Seven: Snowflakes and winter, Minnesota blue 237 I. Halloween Snow Storm 239 II. Minnesota blue 240 III. Winter in Minnesota 244 IV. Ice-Palaces: A winter wonderland 244 V.
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