(woman) "Prairie Mosaic" is funded by-- the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on Nov. 4th, 2008; the North Dakota Council on the Arts; and by the members of Prairie Public.

Welcome to "Prairie Mosaic," a patchwork of stories about the art, culture, and history in our region.

Hi, I'm Matt Olien.

And I'm Barb Gravel.

On this edition of "Prairie Mosaic," we'll learn about the Gaelic harp, visit an area museum, and enjoy some indie-pop music.

♪ Not your fault not your fault ♪ ♪ That's not how she sees it ♪ Rex Cook is the very definition of a real cowboy.

The 93-year-old rancher and horse trainer also excels as a western leather artist, designing and crafting saddles, belts.

and purses.

[soft tapping] I cut my decorative cuts like this.

I push it away from me.

The right way to do it is like this... towards you, and I can't do it that way because I never learned.

I push it away.

[acoustic guitar plays brightly] (Dave Urlacher) Rex is a good guy.

He's a cowboy, he'd help anybody.

If I have something, question, I'll run it by-- same deal-- he'll run things by me, he'll-- what would you do in this deal?

He showed me how the carve.

Rex is an excellent carver.

Rex and I have been in cow deals, horse deals, he's the kind of guy, old-time cowboy-- you get it done.

(Rex) Belts and purses, quite a number of them and the tack, that I made all the time, and I made that most of the time.

And then saddles and what you call it, breast collars, I've made several of those.

I always was interested in leather.

When I grew up occasionally you'd find a cobbler would have what they called a hand-carved saddle.

I couldn't imagine how they could carve it.

I always had a kind of a passion for doing it, and I tried with old leather and try to carve and it didn't turn out very well.

So I got the address of a Montana leather company in Butte.

And I just wrote them a letter and said I wanted the leather to carve belts and purses and a set of carving tools.

I had no idea what I was getting.

And they sent them to me, and I looked them over and kind of decided how they were supposed to work.

[guitar & mandolin play in bright rhythm] (Roy) The job is to cut all the parts so they fit.

It's fit on a tree.

The tree ordinarily was made out of rawhide, wood covered with rawhide, then you've got to form the leather which is wet, and form it to that tree.

You do it by stretching the leather and pressing it into place or in some cases, you've got to put gussets in and sew it.

That's part of the key is to make everything fit.

One of the critical parts, the seat of the saddle which is pretty hard, and some of the cuts you can only make one time.

They've got to fit the first time.

No shortcuts.

Part of my deal now with these bronc saddles is the experience I have.

It's not rocket science, but the riggings have to be square, you have to have good trees, good leather-- don't take shortcuts.

Saddles are specialized for certain things, and they sit a little different.

Cutting horse saddles are little different than the roping saddles.

The seat, it's hard to describe how a good seat is, but it's kind of like sitting in a good chair.

It's hard to describe a poor chair from a good one, but there's a difference, and that's the way it is with saddles.

[acoustic guitar plays in bright rhythm] I was born in 1928.

My family had always been horse ranchers and raised hundreds of horses.

Of course, I was always interested in horses, always wanted to be a cowboy like a lot of-- everybody grows up wanting to be a cowboy.

I had the advantage because I was right there, so I could, if I wanted to ride, go ahead We've got this to do, so I had riding to do.

I broke my first horse to ride, I was 12 years old.

[acoustic guitar plays in bright rhythm] That's where my ranch was, it had been a ranch site as long as anyone can remember.

There was a line camp or some big ranch.

I always, after I had the land, I never lived there, but I always had cattle and horses.

Then when I was teaching school, I'd go up and work in the summertime, pasture cattle, work them out there, and that was a lot of fun.

High school rodeos came along, and I got involved in that, so my son and daughter were both involved in that.

People knew about it, then they want their child to get some help, and they'd come to me, then from then on I had the kids that I helped, every year I'd help one or two.

From them, the kids, they learned a little something about riding, whether it's roping or whether it's working cutting horses.

(Roy) I asked Rex, I said how many kids have you helped rope, how many kids have you helped in cutting?

He says "I don't know."

He didn't know.

There's so many, he doesn't know.

I would say realistically, he's probably helped 50 kids cut.

And even today he helps those high school kids or has a horse high school kids can ride.

(Rex) I just like to ride, always liked to ride, I like to work horses-- something I like to do.

So I've got patterns, and what I do with them, I cut them out here.

This is a technique a lot of them don't use, I cut them out here.

Then when I do it, I just tip this over, and I've got the bare leather wet.

And I pound it down and put the pattern on here.

I guess practice like anything else, practice, practice, practice.

You've got to have a little artistic ability to lay out the patterns and make them work.

Or you can buy patterns, then the secret is working the swivel cutter, swivel knife.

Rex for his age has been a lot of places, done a lot of things and still goin' and still livin' that lifestyle.

He gets up in the morning, he goes out, feeds his horses before he goes out to his place out in the hills.

He don't sit down, he's always goin'.

(Rex) I did pretty much what I wanted to do.

Like I said, everybody wants to be a cowboy.

You do those things, I think the western way of life described how this country was settled and formed.

Ann Heymann of Winthrop, Minnesota has dedicated her life to the Gaelic harp.

On a visit to our studio, she graciously shared her knowledge and talent with us.

[harp plays softly] (Ann) Some friends gave me a publication called "The Ancient Music of Ireland."

And I'd read that they played with fingernails and they played the instrument on the left shoulder.

I approached the harp that I was to buy and played one string.

The sound rang out and rang out.

[Ann plays softly] I'm Ann Heymann, and I'm from Winthrop Minnesota.

This is a Gaelic Harp.

Its image is on the back of every Irish coin and on Irish passports and on postman's buttons.

It's the image that Guinness used, but now they've really modernized it.

Echlin O'Cathain was an Irishman playing harp in Scotland, and he's the one who first used the term Gaelic Harp.

There was a time when it wasn't really accepted into the church because it was considered pagan.

We know that this instrument was used to play in churches and private chapels of the big homes by 800.

To better understand it, I paid attention to Irish mythology.

It turns out the legend of the first harp is, a woman detested her husband, and she was running all over Ireland, and he was chasing after her.

There was the carcass of a beached whale in the northern part of Ireland at the Strand.

The wind blew through its bones or sinews, and the sound of it put her to sleep.

The husband saw this, and he thought oh, if I could please my wife like that, and made the very first Cláirseach from parts of the whale.

The profile of its skull structure looks like the harp lying on its back, so the eye would be here, and this would be the jaw down here, and this would be the bow, and this is where the mouth would open.

The baleen, it's like horsehair fringe off of them, and that's what strains the krill from the ocean.

There's the zoomorphic figure on the forpillar, and I believe that to be a two-headed eel representing the migration of eel, because they were magical.

There were 3 types of music that the instrument was known to be played for-- Goltraí Geantraí, and Suantraí.

And that's... [playing softly] This harp was made for me by David Kortier in Duluth Minnesota.

It's in the form of the medieval Irish harp that first appears in iconography circa 1000.

It has the harmonic curve in the neck.

This is a feature of instruments that are strung in metal.

At the same time period In 1000, the instruments that were strung in gut or horsehair had straight necks.

And it has a bowed forepillar, a robust construction, and you can even see the metal cheek band.

This means there's a lot of tension on my frame, which means I'm not the little tiny lap harp, but I have significant size and base pitches, which put more tension on the frame.

Now it is known that the harpers played with the harp on the left shoulder, and that's different from the way other harps are played.

Most harps are played on the right shoulder here, and this affords the right hand to be playing the high strings and the left hand the base, so it's orientated more like piano.

[playing softly] Now this is known as the downhill harp.

This harp is strung entirely in brass.

This is the water serpent otherwise known as eel.

Lough Neagh in the northern part of Ireland is known for having horse head eels like Scotland's Loch Nessie, but without as much hoopla.

This would be a Gothic Harp.

These instruments are known to have quite a sound.

They have bray pins, the pin holds the string in.

[making a resonant sound] This is the copy of a harp known as the Bunworth Harp.

It was made in 1734 For the Rev.

Charles Bunworth by John Kelly.

This is a one-piece willow sound box.

It's a high-headed harp.

It's the only Irish harp that resides outside of Ireland or Scotland.

It's in Boston at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Edward Bunting thought the right hand being strongest played the major melody notes in the sonorous range of the instrument, and the treble hand provides the symphonal part.

They bass hand plays on the beat, so it's ♪ Da-da-da-da da-da-da da-da-da dum ♪ ♪ Da-da-da-da da-da-da da-da-da da-da-da da-da-da ♪ ♪ Da-da-da da-da-da dum ♪ Harp is percussion before it is a stringed instrument.

You strike the string.

Think of how different the music would be if piano was designed with the extreme bass in the right and the extreme treble to the left.

How would the music have developed differently?

When the music starts to speak to me, I can't deny it anymore.

I'm trying to bring the voice of the instrument to life.

♪ ♪ In this Artifact Spotlight, Lisa Vedaa of the Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County in Moorhead shows us some essential homemade items that came with Norwegians on their long journeys to Minnesota in the 1800s.

Hi, I'm Lisa Vedaa the collections manager at the Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County at the Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead Minnesota and this is my Artifact Spotlight.

Here at the museum we have a small collection of Norwegian folk art artifacts that were brought over by immigrants from Norway in the 1870s and 1880s.

A lot of the people who came to Clay County from Norway were joining relatives in Clay County, or when they were some of the first ones to come, they were taking advantage of the homesteading offers that were available for land in Minnesota.

These artifacts are mostly household goods that were all handmade and decorated in a variety of manners from painting to different kinds of carving and also wood-burning.

Many people didn't have access to factory made goods so that's why a lot of the items in their homes were handmade from wood and other materials that were easily accessible to them.

And when they came to America, they also didn't have access to factory made luggage, so they made wooden immigrant trunks and decorated them very elaborately in many cases.

We have several immigrant trunks in our collection.

This trunk was made for Anne Johnsdatter Guedten in 1879 for her trip to Clay County.

It has some very beautiful painting decorating it that is called rosemaling, which is specific to Norway.

Different regions of Norway have different styles of rosemaling.

It also has some very beautiful wrought iron work for the lock and the handles on the sides and some of the fastenings on the corners.

It also uses some wood pegs for its construction and also some metal rivets and nails as well.

People often packed a lot of these household goods into their immigrant trunks to bring with them to America so they would have what they needed to start their new homes.

There's different types of objects such as salt cellars.

Salt was a very prized seasoning.

It wasn't as common in the 19th century and prior to that.

This was a wedding gift in 1851 to the couple that brought it over from Norway.

Boxes like these were called tine, and they were meant to hold different types of food or other household objects.

They were made by bending birch wood and fasting the ends together with birch root.

This box was decorated with burned wood designs and this tine was decorated with painted design that is common to the Telemark region.

This is a butter tub that just held butter, and it's made in 1807 but repainted in 1914.

Another common feature for decorating is putting the year that the object was created on the object.

This milk bowl is one of our oldest objects in the collection.

It was made in 1780 as carved in the bottom of the bowl with the initials of the maker and his little design at the bottom.

Folk art pieces like these have survived because they were durable and well-built and people save them out of nostalgia for their heritage in Norway.

Minnesota and North Dakota have some of the largest number of Norwegian immigrants, so there's still deep connections felt by people of Norwegian background to their heritage.

As the County Historical Society, we do focus our collecting on Clay County, Minnesota, but we are not just a Scandinavian Museum.

We do want to collect objects for our collection from people from all backgrounds who have had a history in Clay County.

ELSKA's indie, pop-style music blends with her dynamic vocal range and personal lyrics to produce a progressive and pleasing sound.

Enjoy this Minnesota musician who performed for our series Prairie Musicians.

[playing in bright rhythm] ♪ If I could just find a hummingbird ♪ ♪ I bet I'd make him stay ♪ ♪ Just too fast too colorful ♪ ♪ Too bad they don't remain ♪ ♪ In the same place ♪ ♪ Oh oh my check out that hummingbird ♪ ♪ He can't make up his mind ♪ ♪ 'Cause he's not like any other bird ♪ ♪ 'Cause just when he decides ♪ ♪ He'll fly off to another one ♪ ♪ Then come back to the other one ♪ ♪ I think I might want a hummingbird ♪ ♪ And I bet I'll make him mine ♪ ♪ A rose ain't red enough to keep him around ♪ ♪ And the wilder flowers just let anyone in too spread out ♪ ♪ Seems like everybody's trying to lure him away ♪ ♪ If he'd get close enough I bet I'd make him stay ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Here comes that hummingbird ♪ ♪ And I know what's on his mind ♪ ♪ He's just trying to wet that beak of his ♪ ♪ In every flower he finds ♪ ♪ He'll fly off to another one ♪ ♪ Then come back to the other one ♪ ♪ I don't know why I want that hummingbird ♪ ♪ But I'm gonna make him mine ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ A rose ain't red enough to keep him around ♪ ♪ And the wilder flowers ♪ ♪ Just let anyone in too spread out ♪ ♪ Seems like everybody's trying to lure him away ♪ ♪ But if he knew how sweet I am ♪ ♪ I bet I'd make him stay ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ And if he found me boy ♪ ♪ Those wings would never get tired ♪ ♪ And boy he'd never feel hunger ♪ ♪ I'd feel like home ♪ ♪ Because home is wherever you are ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ A rose ain't red enough to keep him around ♪ ♪ And the wilder flowers ♪ ♪ Just let anyone in too spread out ♪ ♪ Seems like everybody's trying to lure him away ♪ ♪ If he'd get close enough I'd let him know ♪ ♪ A rose ain't red enough to keep him around ♪ ♪ And the wilder flowers ♪ ♪ Just let anyone in too spread out ♪ ♪ Seems like everybody's trying to lure him away ♪ ♪ But if he knew how sweet I am ♪ ♪ I bet I'd make him stay ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ You're ok you're ok you're ok you're ok ♪ ♪ Is not how she hears it ♪ ♪ You're fine you're fine you're fine you're fine ♪ ♪ Is not how she feels it ♪ ♪ We say just get over it ♪ ♪ Just get over it just get over it ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Not your fault not your fault ♪ ♪ Not your fault not your fault ♪ ♪ Is not how she sees it ♪ ♪ It'll pass it'll pass it'll pass this will pass ♪ ♪ Is not how she feels it ♪ ♪ Just get over it just get over it ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Open caring eyes ♪ ♪ Open soul and mind ♪ ♪ A heart in division ♪ ♪ Something's missing ♪ ♪ When no words prevail ♪ ♪ When our wisdom fails ♪ ♪ Abandon the system ♪ ♪ Stop talking listen ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ You're wrong you're wrong you're wrong you're wrong ♪ ♪ That's how she hears it ♪ ♪ You're no good you're no good ♪ ♪ You're no good you're no good ♪ ♪ That's how she feels it ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Open caring eyes ♪ ♪ Open soul and mind ♪ ♪ A heart in division ♪ ♪ Something's missing ♪ ♪ When no words prevail ♪ ♪ When our wisdom fails ♪ ♪ Abandon the system ♪ ♪ Stop talking listen ♪ ♪ When no words prevail ♪ ♪ When our wisdom fails ♪ ♪ Abandon the system ♪ ♪ Stop talking listen ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Just get over it just get over it ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Just get over it just get over it ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Open caring eyes ♪ ♪ Open soul and mind ♪ ♪ A heart in division ♪ ♪ Something's missing ♪ ♪ When no words prevail ♪ ♪ When our wisdom fails ♪ ♪ Abandon the system ♪ ♪ Stop talking listen ♪ ♪ Open caring eyes ♪ ♪ Open soul and mind ♪ ♪ When something's missing ♪ ♪ Stop talking listen ♪ If you know of an artist, a topic, or an organization in our region that you think would make for an interesting segment, please contact us at... (Matt) You can watch this and other episodes of "Prairie Mosaic" on Prairie Public's YouTube channel and follow Prairie Public on social media as well.

I'm Matt Olien.

And I'm Barb Gravel.

thank you for joining us for another edition of Prairie Mosaic.

[guitar, bass, & drums play in bright country rhythm] (woman) "Prairie Mosaic" is funded by-- the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on Nov. 4th, 2008; the North Dakota Council on the Arts; and by the members of Prairie Public.