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Wheatley artist creates historical statue of Tecumseh
By Mark Ribble
A grant from the Windsor-Essex Community Foundation made it pos-
sible for the Town of Tecumseh to unveil a statue of Chief Tecumseh at their Lakewood Park on Monday, July 3.
Along with Tecumseh’s descendants, local dignitaries and First Nations officials, the artist responsible for the work — Heather Mallaby of Wheatley — stood proudly beside her work.
Mallaby was excited to be commissioned for the work and says it takes a lot more work than people might imagine.
“I started sketching in January, doing lots of research, then the carving took about three weeks,” she told the Sun last week. “Drawing is one of the main points.”
She says that a small drawing on graph paper must then be converted to the life-size carving through mathematical calculations to make sure the proportions are accurate.
Mallaby says every big work starts with a sketch and, for this particular creation, she researched as many depictions of the historic chief as she could.
“I settled on the famous one of him wearing the red hat,” she said. “I put him in traditional buckskin with a traditional fringe.”
As an artist, Mallaby said she wanted to make sure that her depiction of Tecumseh was accurate.
“There’s a lot of work in being correct,” she said. “It was the most public work I’ve ever done. I’m quite proud of it.”
Mallaby says the original plan was for her to carve on-site at Lakewood Park, creating the statue from an old poplar tree, but once the tree was cut, they discovered a lot of rot in the middle.
So she took a large log from the top of the tree and carved the chief from that back at her shop, then returned to Lakewood to mount it on the remaining tree stump, which she also carved to match her work, which included a Three Fires Confederacy image.
The six-foot tall statue (plus base) is Tecumseh standing in full buckskin, holding a handful of twigs and wearing a wampum belt across his shoulder — both of which have historical significance.
One of Tecumseh’s famous quotes, “A single twig breaks, but the bundle of twigs is strong,” was the basis for the twigs in his hand.
On July 3, a sunrise ceremony was held by the descendants of Tecumseh and Heather was invited to take part as the artist who created the work.
Patricia Shawnoo, a direct descendent of Tecumseh, was on hand and was very pleased with the artwork.
A public dedication followed later in the day, which also included the Warden of Essex County, Hilda MacDonald.
“Heather’s work is so intricate,” said MacDonald. “It’s really incredible. We’re proud to know her and happy to be able to brag about her.”
Mallaby says the support from the Indigenous community and the municipality made the challenge much easier.
She credits Tecumseh’s Director of Community and Recreation Services, Beth Gignac, with being instrumental in arranging the carving — a process that began late last summer.
Mallaby’s business, Erie Treasures Chainsaw Art, is located at 1422 Mersea Road 7.
