ABOUT: NAMADJI (Na-maud-gee) POTTERY.......

The Nemadji Tile and Pottery Company was established in 1923 in Moose Lake, Minnesota, in the area known as the Arrowhead region.  The company produced floor tiles that could be found in churches, businesses, and in the homes of wealthy Americans.  The clay for the tiles dug from the Nemadji River bank had the distinctive colors of red, brown, gray, yellow, and tan.  Less costly decorative items were also produced for the tourist trade and were marketed as resembling ancient Indian works.  Nemadji Pottery thus became known as Indian pottery.

It was never actually made by Native Americans, but is said to be reminiscent of the style and colouring used by them.  The pots, bowls, and vases produced by Namadji Pottery had a very distinctive look.  It is typified by its swirled paint look using beautiful bright colors.  The glazing technique for the Nemadji pottery was developed by Eric Hellman in 1929.

When the company changed ownership in the early 1970's the plant was moved to Kettle River, Minnesota, about 8 miles from Moose Lake.  The new owner updated the manufacturing process and make changes to the pottery.  When the company again had a change of hands in 1980 tile production ended but the company continued to manufacture the Namadji Pottery. 

The painted decoration was distictive and unique, and the style remained the same until production ceased.  The last Namadji pottery was produced in 2002.  Since this unique pottery-no two peices are alike-is no longer manufactured it has become a sought after collectable.

A scrap of paper was to be found in each piece of pottery bearing the the following legend...

"NEMADJI POTTERY

Twenty-five hundred years ago the ice sheet of the glacial age covered the land.  It is now known the the primitive ancestors of our present Indians lived here when the great ice sheet started to melt and retreat.  Clays of various shades and composition were made by the glacial ice sheets: the great weight of the ice ground rocks and ores into dust, which became clays, afterwards washed and refined by the lakes and streams from the melting glaciers.  From these clays Nemadji Pottery is made.

The Indians used this clay left by the ice sheet to make cooking pot and vases, and in the ancient warrior's grave are found fragments of this favorite cooking pot.  Namadji Art Pottery is made largely from design of this ancient Indian potter and many of their traditional shapes are preserved in out designs.

The coloring of Nemadji Art Pottery is accomplished in a manner that allows no two pieces to be exactly alike.  The Pottery is burned in a kiln and glazed on the inside.  The warm rich colors of this pottery recall the colorful costumes of the redmen, who, though long since gone to the happy hunting ground, still haunts in spirit the plains, woods, and lakes of this our Empire"