Community Legends Project sculpture installed at Grand Valley

Grand Valley State University was honored today as the newest sculpture for philanthropist Peter Secchia's Community Legends Project was unveiled on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus.

The Noahquageshik (also known as Chief Noonday) statue was installed at the Eberhard Center, just west of the Blue Pedestrian Bridge, and will belong to Grand Valley. It is the second of 25 sculptures being donated to the city, or a nonprofit, as part of the project's goal to commission one sculpture every two years for the next 50 years.

"We are honored to be one of the recipients of a sculpture from the Community Legends Project," said Thomas J. Haas, president of Grand Valley. "It is a privilege to receive this gift representing a Native American from our local culture. I would also like to recognize the Secchia family for their role in creating and remembering the legends of Grand Rapids."

Created by artist Antonio Tobias Mendez, of Knoxville, Md., the seven-foot bronze figure weighs 800 lbs. and sits on a three-foot square base. A plaque informs viewers that Noahquageshik (circa 1770-1840) was an influential leader of the Grand River Ottawa Anishinabe (Original People) who led bands of the Ottawa throughout the Grand River basin, including the Bowtink village which was located very near the sculpture.

Mendez has created more than 20 public monuments, including Thurgood Marshall (Annapolis), Mohandas Ghandhi (New York), and Arthur Vandenberg (Grand Rapids). For the Chief Noonday figure, the artist reviewed historical documents and consulted with experts from the Native American community, the Grand Rapids Public Museum, the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways in Mount Pleasant, and the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

"It was very important for me to be historically accurate in every detail of this sculpture, from the type of ceremonial pipe he holds, to the 'split feather' headdress of this region," said Mendez.