Maude Kegg

Early life Maude Mitchell was born in a dark wigwam in August of 1904 in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, near Portage Lake, a few miles northwest of Mille Lacs Lake. Her parents were Charles Mitchell, a member of the non-Removable Mille Lacs Indians of the Adik-doodem, and his wife, Nancy Pine. Maude was named after her maternal uncle Gichi-Mizko-giizhig, otherwise known as George Pine. As a child she lived with her aunts Mary and Sara Pine, her father, her grandmother and her grandmother's brother, and her uncle and his wife.

Due to the death of her mother in childbirth, Maude Mitchell was raised by her maternal grandmother, Margaret Pine, (also known in Ojibwe as Aakogwan).

She learned English from her aunts and white neighbors at an early age. They married in 1920 in a traditional Indian manner, and again in 1922 in a church ceremony. They moved in 1942 to Shah-bush-kung Point on Mille Lacs with their children, and again in 1960 to a point more inland. Martin Kegg died in 1968. In "Portage Lake" Kegg relates her memories from her childhood working with her female relatives.

She preserved many traditions of the Ojibwe from agricultural techniques, such as how to harvest and process wild rice of the northern lake area and maple sugaring. She was one of the last masters of the Ojibwe language and contributed special Ojibwe terms and language data to linguists, especially in the form of the Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe, published in 1995.

Kegg worked for the Minnesota Historical Society at Mille Lacs for many years. She acted as a docent and tour guide, and helped create a large diorama of Ojibwe seasonal life, making every artifact in the exhibit.

She has shown pieces in the Smithsonian Institution's craft collection. The American Federation of Arts touring exhibition "Lost and Found: Native American Art, 1965-1985." showcased one of her beaded bandoliers.

Death She died on January 6, 1996, at age 91.