Click for pdf file of complete Windspeaker article.
Joe Jacobs
Roofer transformed after accident
By Heather Andrews Miller
Windspeaker Writer
Joe Jacobs was happily employed as a roofer when an injury
on the job in 1974 brought an end to a satisfying career. For
some time after the accident, he struggled to support his family.
One day his nephew gave him a piece of soapstone and Jacobs began
carving.
"A year later
he had amazingly produced more than 40 works of art from soapstone,
limestone, and ivory," said Addy, Joe's wife of 45 years,
who speaks for him because he is hard of hearing. "He believes
that every person has a creative gift but he had never discovered
his up till this time."
Jacobs was recognized for his work this year with a National
Aboriginal Achievement Award for arts and culture.
Originally from the Six Nations of the Grand River at Brantford,
Ont., where he was born in 1934 into the Bear Clan of the Cayuga
tribe, Jacobs looks to his Iroquois culture for inspiration for
his work. He interprets legends and myths in both abstract and
representational forms.
"One of the pieces he's been working on lately features
an evil man with snakes in his hair ...
PEOPLE OF HONOUR INDEX