Statue Outside Morell’s Chippewa Trading Post in Bemidji Moving to Museum

A 20-foot-tall statue of a Native American figure is no longer standing in downtown Bemidji.

The statue, which is unofficially known as the “Muffler Man” or “Nanabozho,” was taken down Monday and is being moved to the American Giants Museum in Illinois. The statute had stood outside Morell’s Chippewa Trading Post since 1963, but Morell’s was sold recently and new owners are moving it closer to Bemidji State University.

The statue first appeared in Bemidji in the early 1960s, a time when several versions were being built for a chain of muffler shops.