Lot #113: "Cree" First Nations - Vintage Original Handcrafted Tamarack Twig Goose

 The year was 1965, and John Blueboy, a 35-year-old Cree Indian, was recovering from tuberculosis in the Moose Factory General Hospital. To fill in time during his year-long convalescence, he came up with the idea of making souvenirs, which he sold to the nurses. In so doing, he turned an ancient Cree goose-hunting lure into an elegant and graceful art form that has become a major source of income for the James Bay region Indians and brought them international recognition as artisans and sculptors. More importantly, it served to preserve the Cree heritage and bears witness to the ingenuity of John Blueboy's ancestors.Tamarack goose decoys are delicate wood sculptures of various sizes made, not by carving, but by binding the fragrant twigs of the tamarack tree into a likeness of the Canada goose