Two large copper rocks recently were installed at the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians’ Four Winds South Bend in Indiana. The rocks are part of the tribe’s collection of historically and culturally significant objects. Tribal Chairman John P. Warren said, “The Potawatomi consider copper a sacred healing metal. The Pokagon are descendants of the Copper Culture people, an ancient indigenous cultural tradition and lifeway of early inhabitants of northern Michigan and Wisconsin. Stories tell that copper was created from a lightning strike to Mother Earth, and ancestors fashioned copper found in this Great Lakes region into tools, adornments and weapons. Modern Pokagons value copper still, especially as vessels for life-giving water in ceremonies.”
The newly installed rocks, known as float copper, were found in an area called Copper County in Michigan’s Northern Peninsula. After a 9-hour journey, the larger rock was installed at the entrance of the Copper Rock Steakhouse, one of Four Winds’ five restaurants. At 10 feet high and five feet wide, it weighs nearly 7,000 pounds. The smaller rock, placed inside the steakhouse, is four feet tall and three feet wide and weighs 3,500 pounds.
Mineral dealer Ken Flood, owner of Keweenaw Gem in Houghton, Michigan, said, “These two huge float copper specimens were cleaned and prepped for polishing to highlight the raw native copper surface. The process took about four and a half weeks. Most of the big nuggets like these are gone. It’s nice to have these stay in the Midwest.”
