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Formed under the "Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque" corporate structure and guided under its county affiliate "Clayton County Foundation for the Future", EMMA BIG BEAR FOUNDATION is a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation whose mission it is to educate the public and preserve hand-made baskets and jewelry, artifacts, photos, paintings, traditions, history and stories of EMMA BIG BEAR and her Winnebago ("Ho-Chunk") people.
Big Bear, who came from a long line of Decorah family chiefs of the Winnebago Nation. She made her home mostly in the McGregor-Marquette, Iowa area, where she traded in Iowa and across the great river on the island of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. To make a living, Big Bear sold her hand-made wares and those she'd traded with other Winnebago women on the banks of the Mississippi River. Iowa, Wisconsin, and the effigy mounds areas dotted along the river were Big Bear's most-beloved places to live and work. She did not stay away for long, always returned, and never lived very far away from the homes of her ancestors in the Upper Mississippi River Valley. |
Your donation is tax deductible as allowed by law.
Iowa residents may receive an additional 25% state tax credit to be taken directly off of their annual income tax liability, which may be coupled with taking their annual federal income tax filing deduction. For information on the additional 25% State of Iowa tax credit or to make a donation to help preserve Emma Big Bear’s legacy, please contact EBBF's Secretary-Treasurer Rogeta Halvorson: 563-880-9190 or [email protected]. Get your copy of the latest Clayton County Foundation for the Future Annual Report. |
