She Led The Way For Others

Team Carrie Cancer Fundraiser started yesterday at a local art center near me. It was a beautiful time, and I was elected to speak about it. Every year prior, we have been raising funds through the Powwow for Hope. This year, it was decided to have the fundraiser there every other year.

Team Carrie decided not to hold onto the donations we had already collected meant for the first Saturday in May, but to continue to fundraise this year for a local cause, and that is what we did. Carrie was an artist and she would love the venue.

A more recently developed gallery that is titled "Giinawind is an Ojibwemowin inclusive pronoun that means we/us and. It was chosen for the name of this program because it reflects the vision for a space that centers Indigenous art and artists while welcoming the whole community."

Team Carrie is a fundraiser organized each year to honor Carrie Estey, who died of leukemia in 2010 at age 53. Carrie was an artist who created works in pottery, sculpture, film, and more. Carrie's family members have been raising funds for 15 years to support people fighting cancer and their families.

The 2025 fundraiser will benefit the oncology and infusion center at the Deer River Hospital to support Native American cancer patients and their families.

Purchase raffle tickets and bid in the silent auction online. View prizes and the auction items in person in the Giinawind Creative Space at MacRostie Art Center.

Raffle drawing held during the First Friday Art Walk on June 6, 2025. Buy tickets in person or online for a chance to win prizes and support a good cause! An exhibit of original artwork including paintings, ribbon skirts, feather cases, blankets, jewelry, and more will be on display in the Giinawind Creative Space at MacRostie Art Center from June 6 - June 28. The artwork in the exhibit can be bid on in the silent auction -- or Buy It Now to secure your piece today!

It just happens that I attend the First Friday Art Walk every month and have gotten to know the people who work at this gallery and art center. I talked about what happened to our normal fundraiser for this year, and it just so happened that they had an opening in the perfect spot, and at the perfect time of year in The Giinawind Gallery.

We then found the perfect project to raise funds for. I spoke with someone at the Community Fund, and they told me that they thought a cancer program at the Deer River hospital, just down the road, and where the Leech Lake reservation begins may be a great spot for the funds raised.

She went on to say that they had lost the funds for gas cards for oncology and infusion patients for attending appointments there just last year. Gas cards may be the perfect fund to help to replace.

She then connected me with the program person involved. That person was welcoming and excited to work with us. I told her our normal goal was 500-1,500 each year. She said that they were having a bake sale and that any funds raised would be matched by another foundation.

It turns out that this year our goal, as set by the Art Center, is $5,000. Which meant that Team Carrie would have to invite artists we know to participate. And it turns out that I know several and decided to ask. Normally, it is mostly Team Carrie donating and a few others that donate every year.

Due to the photo above, I decided to assist in raising funds for cancer and to pray for an end to cancer. It seems to me I am hearing way more stories than I have previously about whole families dealing with cancer and losing their lives due to cancer.

My grandmother had cancer, and a few uncles were what I saw earlier in life. Since then, I have had many cousins from my age group and other family members who have had cancer; some died, and others are still living. Friends and family of friends, neighbors, and acquaintances.

The cancer conversations are overwhelming some days. I am lucky to have a supportive group of cancer survivors and thrivers in my life due to the LiveStrong program and other places.

We have one sister who is fighting the fight with leukemia now, as it has returned. And one of our older sisters died from cancer, out of the LiveStrong group of ten, who started together many years ago, now.

I am hoping for an end to cancer in my lifetime. In the meantime, I will continue to do what I know to do to keep cancer at a distance, and I will raise funds to help those dealing with cancer, and I am hopeful that others will support the research to end cancer.

Carrie led the way in the art world for many others. She brought back woodland pottery to the reservations in Minnesota by teaching groups of people pottery. She included sculpture on many pieces she made.

She started from gathering the clay, working it until it was ready to use, and different methods of putting the art piece together, firing the clay, and the conversation about the art piece's uses, and what was used previously.

She encouraged bringing the Rez Sisters by Thompson Highway, a Canadian playwright to the college in Bemidji, MN, and then got her friends and sister to participate in that play.

She asked me, "Could you be on stage with your underpants around your ankles like you were in that early picture of you on the potty chair?" Now, only she could talk me into that, and she did.

She videotaped the Kateri Tekakwitha conference in Bemidji, MN, when people were working to make Kateri a saint. She had also worked on other video projects and encouraged others to do the same.

She made moccasins for people who had died to wear in their coffins for cultural reasons. She made small drums for sale to donate to causes and to raise a few dollars when needed. She showed several how to tan hides. It was a smelly job and I wasn't interested, but others were.

Our younger brother got both a history degree and an art degree. She influenced him. She held several art exhibits locally and in other venues in Minnesota. It was an incentive for other artists to exhibit. I have seen many rising stars over the years since Carrie and others who have led the way.