Minnesota Goose Garden
Description
The MGG, begun in 1988, honors the Ojibwe culture and features flora used by the Ojibwe Native Americans. Artist Susan Swerda Foss has studied the flora for over twenty nine years. The garden is in the shape of a Canadian Goose, measuring 830 feet long, and the flora is planted so that in the future when the trees reach their mature height the goose will be three dimensional. It is about two thirds of that height now. There is also a gosling of arbors, and a nest with three eggs.
Within the nearly one mile of paths, there are over thirty cement statues of full-size Totem animals and human figures. The entrance to the garden has sculptural figures of ethnographer Frances Densmore (1867-1957) and Ni'sucwe'yaci'kwe with Frances recording the use of flora from her. Ni'sucwe'yaci'kwe (Woman Blown about by the Wind, or Mrs. Jackson) was one of Frances Densmore's interview subjects who shared her cultural knowledge. All the sculptures were made by Susan Swerda Foss and she is currently working on a new sculpture in the parking area with a 2017 grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board.
-Story contributed by Susan Foss
Photos Show
Entrance to the garden
The Minnesota Goose Garden was founded in 1988. [View Additional File Details]
Sculpture is present throughout the Minnesota Goose Garden
The MGG in bloom
Pink lady's slipper (Cypripedium reginae). Called agobizowin in Ojibway, the powdered root is used for skin inflammations, toothaches, and indigestion. [View Additional File Details]
Native flowers in the Minnesota Goose Garden
The garden features plants important to the Ojibwe people. Yellow lady's slipper (Cypripedium calceolus L.), called Makizin in Ojibway. [View Additional File Details]
The Minnesota Goose Garden in Sandstone, Minnesota
An aerial view of the garden. [View Additional File Details]
A bear sculpture in the garden
Artist Susan Foss isa founder of the garden and created all of the sculptures. [View Additional File Details]
Sculpture of a fish in the garden
One of the many sculptures created by artist Susan Foss. [View Additional File Details]
A wolf surveys the garden
Carved wooden sculptures dot the landscape of the Minnesota Goose Garden. [View Additional File Details]
A sculpture of a moose
The garden is also a place for children to visit and learn about nature. [View Additional File Details]
