John Richard Kakaygeesick

November 4, 1951 - September 26, 2024

John Kakaygeesick grew up in Warroad, the second eldest son of Robert and Florence (Cobiness) Kakaygeesick. His great-grandfather was Kakaygeesick and he was named after his grandfather, John. He died this past week in Moorhead at the age of 72.

Like his brothers, John was an artist. His work has been shown in galleries and exhibits across the Midwest. His most recent exhibit was at the Spirit Room Gallery in downtown Fargo in May 2023.

I feel fortunate to have attended the Everlasting Sky art show in May 2022 at the Hampton Inn in Warroad. The show featured the art of John Kakaygeesick and his brother Don and sister Karen Kakaygeesick-Dethmers. Here is a photo of three of John’s paintings on display there.

The painting on the left is of a loon, in the middle a portrait of his great-grandfather Kaaygeesick, and on the right a duck, which signifies his clan. John’s style is distinctive within the Woodlands School of art, which contains spiritual lessons and illustrates Ojibway stories and legends from nature.

John Kakaygeesick was a featured speaker at a writing retreat in Warroad in 2021. He was asked about a drawing of a loon, which he had shown us. This solitary bird of the wilderness appears in several of his paintings.

John went on to tell us the Moong legend. The story is about a man and a loon stranded on an island. The man was hungry, so he said he would give the loon a gift if he would catch him a fish. At this time, the loon was sleek black with a white chest and could speak with other animals including man. The loon caught a fish and they had a big feast that night, but the man asked the loon to wait for his gift until morning. When morning came, the loon asked for his gift. The man reached for the back of his neck to untie the bone choker necklace he wore and tied the choker around the loon’s neck. It was so tight, the loon could not speak, but only make the sound: moong. The choker became so tight it broke and fell onto his back which is why we see the loon as it is today – its back and wings speckled with white.

I came to know John Kakaygeesick in the past ten years through his brother Don. One of the stories John told me about his experience growing up in Warroad illustrates his strong spirit.

In 1964 John and his siblings were scooped up and placed in foster families. John, age 16, was taken to live with a family in Badger, Minnesota. He didn’t stay. John walked the 35 miles back to Warroad. “I never ran away. I walked away.”