Local Artistry Meets Compassion with AICHO Zaagi’idiwin Tour
This article was originally published in the February 2026 print edition of The Bark, distributed at the University of Minnesota Duluth campus.
Alberta, an individual of Indigenous and Scandinavian descent, honored both of her ancestral lines in her displayed beadwork. Photo by Zada L. Cardinal
Saturday, Feb. 7 marked the third Annual AICHO Zaagi’idiwin Tour at the Dr. Robert Powless Cultural Center. As advertised on the “Indigenous First: Art and Gift Shop” Facebook page, the “pop up market is intentional with making shopping for Valentine’s Day less stressful and purposely driven for community members.” As the community market hosted vendors of primarily Indigenous descent, the event was a celebration of vibrant colors and intricate artistry.
AICHO, or the American Indian Community Housing Organization, is a local non-profit which was established in 1993 and is located in downtown Duluth. According to Career Force, “AICHO grew out of a collective vision of Native American women in the Duluth community who saw a need for having a culturally specific organization to respond to social issues impacting American Indians…” AICHO’s mission is to provide Indigenous women and children with a safe living environment where they can be treated with dignity and respect. Per Stepping On Up, AICHO offers resources such as an American Indian Community Center, housing, a domestic violence emergency shelter, legal advocacy, youth programming and more.
The community gathering and market, the Zaagi’idiwin Tour, ran from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m, and saw a mix of live music throughout the first half of the event. The room was abuzz with laughter and conversation as new friendships were being made between the attendees and the vendors. From ribbon skirts to beaded lanyards, a variety of artistic pieces were on display for purchase along with the opportunity for good conversation.
Time and patience are required for the process of creating the intricate patterns in the beaded rings. Photo by Zada L. Cardinal
One of the vendors, a woman by the name of Alberta, specialized in creating stainless steel rings interlaced with strings of delicate beads of varying colors. She spoke of having Scandinavian descent mixed with an Ojibwe background, and how that impacted her art.
“When my Finnish ancestors arrived in Minnesota, they weren’t very liked. However, they got along fairly well with the Ojibwe living in the area, and here I am. I’m a mix of both cultures, and I experiment with different variations of how the art of the two blends together,” Alberta said.
She then took the time to show a unique wood ornament which was formed from birch bark into the shape of a star, thus exemplifying the blend of her two cultures into one that she was proud to inherit.
Several other vendors had their own origin stories as to how their art came to be. One individual, Sam, had their work on display on a table full of vivid digital art. They explained that one day, they decided to learn how to create digital art, fell in love with it, and started to create stories within the art itself.
As a registered member of the Red Lake Nation, Sam also assisted in creating stickers and magnets with Indigenous floral designs for local jazz artist, Marlena Boed.
Boed has released music on all streaming platforms and had the opportunity to showcase her musical abilities earlier in the day during the early hours of the event. As a recent graduate of UMD, Boed praised the music program for giving her the opportunity to start doing what she loved.
Sam is a local artist who is registered with the Red Lake Nation in northwestern Minnesota, and blends Indigenous patterns and colors with their own artistic passions. Photo by Zada L. Cardinal
“I started playing in high school, but my teacher made me play the baritone. When I got to college, I started playing the saxophone and eventually got to the point where I wanted to officially create music,” she said.
If you’d like to expand your jazz palette, you can explore Boed’s music by searching “Pink Marlena” on any music streaming platform.
As the event came to a close, the vendors who had been successful in selling most of their goods began to pack up the few things they had left while the other vendors began to load their boxes. As the beaded artistry was hidden under tissue paper, the art on the walls of the room began to reclaim the room.
Completed by Indigenous artists, both local and outside of Duluth, the paintings were a beautiful representation of the range and variety of Indigenous art and culture which are two of AICHO’s foundational values as an organization. When the group was created in 1993, it was a founding idea that art and culture would be used as a catalyst for creating change in the community. As the Dr. Robert Powless center continues to develop over time, so will the paintings as they continue to communicate the everchanging, yet constant Indigenous heart of northern Minnesota.
AICHO will host another market at a later time this year to support and celebrate our local community. For questions, you can visit their website at www.aicho.org, and keep up with upcoming events by following their Instagram page: indigenousfirst_aicho.