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Barring an unfortunate slip of the saw, a cigar store Indian will soon emerge from a 600-pound cottonwood log in Norman Little's driveway.
Anyone living near him at 415 N. Bell St. has probably heard the buzz of his chain saw and seen the piles of sawdust accumulating there since he began the carving several days ago.
Norm says he'd rather be creating his piece in the privacy of his garage, but the fumes from his gasoline-powered saw drove him outside.
And now he's got to hurry. "I don't want to standing out there sawing in a blizzard," he says.
His wife; Bertha, is worried about where the wooden Indian will rest when it's finished.
"I'm not looking forward to having a cigar store Indian in the front yard," she says, admitting that her tastes run more toward the well-groomed and the tidy .
Norm's not worried, however. "I'll paint it up. There'll always be a place for it."
Norm, 55, a retired rural mail carrier, has been carving all his life.
He began the way any little boy might. "I just started whittling."
Until now, he has worked mostly with small pieces of wood, carving little animals.
Then he spotted this particular log south along the Missouri River.
With the help of four men, he rolled it up planks into the back of his pickup. When he got the log home, he stood it upright in his garage.
To square out the log, he cut off slabs. Each weighed 100 pounds.
"I'm using the chain saw, but when I get down to the fine work, I'll start using a mallet and chisel," Norm says. Because he's carving only for fun and a "little" satisfaction, he can afford to practice.
He has seen several pictures of Indians he hopes his piece will resemble. Mostly, though, he's working from imagination.
"I think it's gonna turn out," he says with confidence.
When he's finished, he may go on to bigger and better things. His wife says he's interested in carving a totem pole someday.
But for now, he's got one big carving on his hands.
When Norman Little, 415 N. Bell St., swept away the sawdust and stepped back, he was confronted by what he calls "a pretty fierce looking Indian."
That Indian was a 600-pound cottonwood log until it met Norm and his chain saw toward the end of December. Seven days later, Norm had it stained, varnished, painted and bedecked with brass trim.
A regular cigar store Indian, he calls it. "It turned out better than I .thought it would," he said of the carving project that left four barrels of sawdust and plenty of wood scraps for the family fireplace.
When he started the project, his wife, Bertha, worried about where it would rest. Norm says their converted attic is destined to be home for the l50-pound carving that tops out at slightly more than 6 feet.
With its leather loincloth and a headdress made from feathers of ducks Norm shot last fall, the Indian has an authentic look - with the exception of the blue opalescent buttons used for eyes.
"There must have been a Norwegian down the line," Norm joked, but says if he finds brown buttons he'll be certain to make a replacement .
He started the project outdoors to escape the fumes of his gasoline-powered saw but moved inside to complete the finer details with mallet and chisel. And though he worked quickly, he carved details such as fingernails and wrinkles.
Working with a chain saw is very dangerous, Norm said. "It'll kick back when yu don't expect it to." On the other hand, it certainly speeds the process. "Just chipping away, it would probably take a month to do what a chain saw can do in a day."
Until the spirit moves him, Norm doesn't know what his next project will be.
He might do another Indian.
"It's certainly better than twiddling my thumbs or watching the tube."