In this portrait of Winona, she is depicted along the banks of the Androscoggin River, in southern Maine. The days of her youth spent along the banks of the river were among her most treasured memories. In many places, water lilies would grow in abundance along its surface. She points towards Mother Earth, the source of all life, and holds a single blossom in her hand symbolically representing the memories of her youth. A descendant of the Passamaquoddy, Androscoggin and Wyandot tribes, she was a vocal spokesperson for Native Americans in the greater Worcester, Massachusetts, area. For many years she taught beadwork, shawl making, leather crafts, dancing and many of the traditions of her people to area Natives. An advocate for recognition and understanding of Native culture, she lectured at school and seminars, to groups and organizations and wherever people were interested in the American Indian.
Winona says “it’s very important that our children hold onto their traditions and pass them on when they grow up. Our elders are trying hard to keep the Indian ways going, and it is only through our children that our culture is kept alive. Every child born is the future. There are no orphans in the tribe. We are a family and every child is a part of that family.” Winona is also of Scotch descent. “It’s difficult to be both Indian and white in this society. There is a part of me that wants to be free, to be less interested in time and schedules, but we have to be a part of non-Indian society to survive, so we live partly as our forefathers lived and partly as non-Indians do.” A remarkable woman, she devoted her life to the education of all peoples.