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Iron Spirits This page book is about the tradition of blacksmith made iron grave crosses, the people who made them and the communities they served. It is a story of hard work and faith. The crosses are a profile and inspiring body of work by a small number of people and can be considered some of America's finest folk art. Through them we hope to understand and appreciate art and culture in a very fundamental way. The story is predominately that of the Catholic Black Sea German Russians, but also includes Catholic German Hungarians, Ukranians, Poles and Bohemians, all of whom came to the steppes of the New World from the steppes of the Old, the Ukrane, Russia. These people settled throughout the Great Plains as well as the pampas of Argentina. The iron grave cross custom was brought with them from the old country and in North Dakota was practiced from the first arrival of immigrants in the 1880's through the 1940's. The North Dakota Council on the Arts undertook the project because there was a need to document further this important form of American folk art and to express in a broad public manner the beauty and cultural value of the grave markers. It was the singular and captivating beauty of the iron grave markers on the plains of North Dakota which inspired this project and gave it form. As with all art, the appreciation one gains from the crosses is a matter of personal taste and acceptance. And as in all work, there are varying degrees of technical expertise displayed. But beyond aesthetics and technique, the crosses, reflecting one of the most elemental forms in nature and having been stylized throughout human history by all peoples, can be seen in yet new, original variations of astounding diversity. The iron crosses of the North Dakota blacksmiths belong to an even greater tradition than their ethnic/religious base. They share company in the ancient endeavor of people to symbolize the universal. Here then is art in everyday life, truly a gift of iron spirits.
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