Missionaries from the 17th century onward were quick to try convert the "Indian savage" and by the 19th century many of the Iroquois and Ojibwa leaders themselves were Christian preachers. Crucifixes were widely available at Trade Posts, but Indian-made crucifixes are exceptionally rare, and this example is particularly artful.

In the Woodlands aesthetic the Christ figure is rendered with limited attempt at portraiture, and more with a sense of conveyance of feeling—by subtle exaggerations of the figures arching back, the recessed groin, the feet, and radiating lines framing his head.

A related example is illustrated in American Folk Sculpture, Robert Bishop, plate 341, 341a, p.186. The Splendid Heritage collection contains a crucifix figure (#WC8903012) from a Cross Village church. Cross Village was an Ottawa Indian settlement in Emmet County, Michigan, along the trade route to Montreal.