Chief Blue Jacket Sculpture Revealed by Nonprofit to Pay Tribute and Ignite a Calhoun Street Comeback

FORT WAYNE, IN (July 15, 2022) – Fort Wayne based nonprofit, Blue Jacket, Inc. dedicated a sculpture recognizing its namesake and honoring the great Shawnee War Chief Blue Jacket on Friday, July 15th at noon.  A small reception followed, featuring an exciting announcement about future growth of the organization and its campus on S. Calhoun. 

Allen County Commissioner Rich Beck and City of Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry were present issuing a proclamation along with other elected officials.  Organizers are exhilarated at who was in attendance; sixteen (16) Shawnee descendants of Chief Blue Jacket who travelled from over the country, predominantly Oklahoma. Tony Hudson, Executive Director of Blue Jacket, reflected, “It is nerve wracking to me that descendants bearing the name of this brilliant legend will be present, because I fear we will fall short in honoring the legacy of someone whose life story captivates me.”

The 13-foot-tall fine art sculpture was created by local artist with an international influence, Sayaka Ganz.  When creating the Chief Blue Jacket sculpture, Sayaka spent a significant amount of time researching Shawnee culture and Chief Blue Jacket himself. Sayaka expressed, “I hope that this sculpture will give the people who come to Blue Jacket a sense of dignity and hope and a sense of resilience because of the use of the materials and also the subject matter portrayed.” 

The sculpture signals to the Fort Wayne community, specifically the south side neighborhoods, that Blue Jacket, Inc. is planning to invest much more time and energy into its campus acting as a bellwether for an economic comeback on Calhoun Street south of Pontiac St. Blue Jacket, Inc. wants to build upon the improvements made in the northern portion of this historic corridor by businesses such as Saigon Restaurant, Sanco Industries, the Oyster Bar, and Neighborhood Health Clinic and to also be the connector to the anchor South Side High School.

The sculpture will act as the flagship for a sculpture garden adorned with new landscaping, new flag poles, new decorative fencing, an upgraded gazebo intending to bring pride to Blue Jacket clients and neighbors alike to also serve as a place for meetings or a cozy respite.  

As a teaser for an exciting announcement, guests tasted gourmet coffee from Utopian Coffee and catered hors d’oeuvres from the once fan favorite Calhoun Street Soups, Salads & Spirits (CS3) and visit Blue Jacket’s art gallery.  An announcement was made about the Tall Rabbit coffee shop pilot launching in a few months to build are larger café on the same block as the Blue Jacket offices some time in 2024.

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ABOUT BLUE JACKET, INC
Blue Jacket, Inc. was incorporated in 2003 and launched in 2005 as an independent 501 (c)(3) nonprofit to address a critical need to provide training, employment and vocational direction to ex-offenders returning to the Greater Fort Wayne community. In 2012, Blue Jacket expanded its mission to serve anyone considered to be a disadvantaged candidate to employment. Whether someone is in need of a first or even a second chance at employment, Blue Jacket will serve these individuals. 

ABOUT THE ARTIST        
Sayaka Ganz was born in Yokohama, Japan and after living in four different countries, moved to the Midwest where she received a BFA from IU and an MFA at Bowling Green State University. Sayaka was taught everything has a life and spirit by the Japanese Shonto philosophy, which is why she now creates art with reclaimed metal and plastic objects. 

ABOUT THE CHIEF
According to historians, Chief Blue Jacket was a great war chief of the Shawnee people, known for his militant defense of Shawnee lands all the way from southern Ohio to what is now NE Indiana along the Wabash River. He was fierce, smart, and charismatic in unifying tribes using the vehicle of trade, leading along with Miami Chief Little Turtle in Ohio Territory and an incredibly decisive victory in 1790 known as Harmar’s Defeat at a location now known as Prominade Park in downtown Fort Wayne. This battle was known as the Battle of the Pumpkin Fields by the confederated tribes.  Chief Blue Jacket is one of the two reasons the U.S. Army commissioned General Anthony Wayne who led a final Battle of Fallen Timbers that resulted in the Treaty of Greenville, thereby relocating most of the Shawnee.

Chief Blue Jacket’s original nicknames were Tall Rabbit, Whirlwind, and Big Rabbit because of the way he fought on the battlefield but chose the name Blue Jacket (Weyapiersenwah) because of the blue linseed hunting coat he wore.  He lived between 1743 – 1810 and died where he retired near the Detroit River. No one knows his final resting place.  Chief Blue Jacket was a strong ally to Chief Little Turtle and according to author John Sugden, Little Turtle’s historical prominence is primarily because of his self-promotion in later years, though many of the crowing achievements of the unified Native American tribes were because of Blue Jacket’s leadership. Blue Jacket preceded famous Shawnee leader Tecumseh.  

Chief Blue Jacket was known as a leader in the Northwest Indian War (fighting for control of the Northwest Territory) and fought in Lord Dunmore's War, American Revolutionary War (allied with the British), Harmar’s Defeat, Battle of the Wabash (known as St. Clair’s Defeat) and Battle of Fallen Timbers.  St. Clair’s Defeat was the bloodiest defeat by Native American tribes ever in history.  

In the late 1800’s, a story was published which claimed Blue Jacket had actually been a white man named Marmaduke Van Swearingen who had been captured and adopted by Shawnees in the 1770s. DNA testing of the descendants of Blue Jacket and Van Swearingen concluded that Blue Jacket was not Van Swearingen and truly a Shawnee with published results on testing techniques in the 2006 edition of The Ohio Journal of Science. An outdoor drama based on the Van Swearingen story was performed in Xenia, Ohio for many years, ending in 2007.