9/10/2006:
The Fargo Forum announced today in 1939 that the bas-relief of a pioneer woman and her daughter titled “Daughters of Dakota” would be unveiled and dedicated on September 14 in observance of North Dakota’s fiftieth birthday. The relief was created by Ida Prokop Lee of Lidgerwood and would be just one of many sculptures she dedicated throughout her career.
Lee was already known for her “Prairie Pictures,” or portraits composed of North Dakota grasses, weeds, and bird feathers. Lee sold over half a million of these portraits. They, however, were only used to fund a project that was larger and more dear to Lee. For sixteen years, Lee sculpted busts of prominent Native American figures. At the dedication of these sculptures, Lee said, “The time is at hand when our native Indian people are rapidly becoming a part of the great melting pot of America, and their native characteristics are becoming lost in the transition.” Though the sculptures were of individuals, Lee hoped to capture the distinct characteristics of the five North Dakota tribes through them.
By Tessa Sandstrom
Sources:
Fargo Forum. September 10, 1939: 10.
Ida Prokop Lee General Reference File. State Historical Society of North Dakota General Reference File