This web site is dedicated to the unsung art form that is "Fish Decoys" and the carvers, past and present, who make this a fun and enjoyable hobbie. Emphasis on Native American carvers, their art work and their history.

• History: Fish Decoys have been carved and used since the late 1600's or before. Some of the early fish decoys were made of bone or sea shells. In the days of these early fish decoys the North Woods was covered by a high canopy forest. At that time the deer and other forage animals we find there today were not available for food. This made fish the most important food source all year round. For more information on the early fish decoys you should check out the book "Fish Decoys of the Lac Du Flambeau Ojibway". More information on this book can be found on the Resources page.


• Tool for Survival: Some Native American tribes used fish decoys in the winter to spear various species of fish to provide food for their families. The Lac Du Flambeau band of Ojibwa Indians in northern Wisconsin still spear through the ice in the winter to provide food for family and friends. Some of them have also carved fish decoys for tourists to supplement their income.


• Folk Art: Today there are many carvers that carve Fish Decoys as folk art. These folk art fish decoys can have very wild paint jobs or not even represent a fish. Some are crawdads, fish eating other fish, frogs, turtles, sharks, or fish with large teeth. The list can go on and on. I was once told by a Native American carver from Lac Du Flambeau Wisconsin that the bottom of a fish decoy is carved and painted to attract other fish. The top or body of a fish decoy is carved and painted to attract a collector. This same carver also told me that collectors don't know that frogs don't have pink lips and toe nails.