08/25/2026
Spotlight on jeweler Leah Winneshiek, who, along with Chlois Lowe III, will showcase her artwork at Crosscurrents Heritage Center on Saturday, August 29, at 3 pm. To register, go to crosscurrentsheritage.org and scroll down to the “Fall 2026 Events” post.
Leah Winneshiek is a tribal member of the Ho-Chunk Nation. A 1987 graduate of Wisconsin Dells High School, she primarily works as a jeweler.
Leah has always enjoyed art in all forms and mediums. She began making jewelry in 1999, inspired by her love of gemstones. She started working with polished beads of moonstone, turquoise, tiger eye, and amethyst, using sterling silver wire to create simple, elegant designs. Presently, Leah is known for her beadwork pieces, such as her "Waterfalls," and more notably, for her birch bark jewelry.
Leah also works with Little Eagle Arts Foundation (LEAF), a Wisconsin-based nonprofit organization located near Wisconsin Dells and Baraboo, dedicated to promoting and preserving the visual, performing, and culinary arts of Native American and First Nations artists from the western Great Lakes region.
Leah’s parents are also of the Ho-Chunk Nation. Ed Winneshiek, is an Army veteran, proficient golfer, and one-time AODA counselor. A jovial and wise elder, Ed is well-loved by everyone who meets him. Leah’s mother, Sybil Sine Winneshiek, was strong, beautiful, and humorous in her approach to life. She was the Henu of five younger sisters with one older brother and one younger. In Leah's eyes, this made her mother a force and an accomplished homemaker, cook, and great fry bread maker. Sybil loved to laugh and was sought out for her beautifully made beadwork. She passed in 2012.
Leah has one daughter, Spring, who lives in Michigan with her husband Mark, and two children.
While growing up in Wisconsin Dells, Leah did not see it as highly commercial, tourist town, but simply as her home and the place where she and her sister Erin lived. They had a lot of fun living right next to the Riverview Amusement Park. She had an awareness of tribal "doings," usually through word of mouth. There was a sense of pride in knowing the tribe was involved in the Stand Rock Indian Ceremony, which showcased beautiful dancers in their intricate, colorful handmade regalia, against the rock formations on both sides of the Wisconsin River right where the Dells Boat Tours docked each night.
Leah's sister Erin and mother Sybil worked at the concession stand at Stand Rock every night and had many laughs alongside friends and relatives, most of whom were Ho-Chunk Nation. Many Ho-Chunk families performed and drummed (along with other guest tribes), educating the public about Ho-Chunk customs and the meanings behind the dances. The Winnebago Indian Museum, which closed in 2000, was another cultural hub where people could learn about Ho-Chunk art and cultural ways. Visitors came from all across the country; some came every year—like Leah’s in-laws!
