Thunderbird Symbolic Ghost Dance

Ghost Dance Shirt“Thunderbird Symbolic Ghost Dance” 11 x 30” WC & Gouache on Paper

The Thunderbird is a powerful symbol in Native American culture.  It appears repeatedly in ceremonial objects.  Its image is also commonly found carved into stone, known as petroglyphs.  The legendary Thunderbird ruled the skies, and was credited with thunder and lightning.  Its powerful presence was feared and revered.

In 1890, the Plains Indians ceremonially tried to resurrect their way of life through a movement known as The Ghost Dance.  It was also believed that the Ghost Dance would bring their relatives back from the dead.  This ceremony drew Indian tribes together and was quickly outlawed by the United States.  Regardless, the Ghost Dance was conducted.  For this ceremony, participants wore specially designated ghost dance shirts, believed to hold great power, and render the wearer impervious to bullets. Such a shirt, adorned by the powerful thunderbird, is depicted at the top of the painting, The Government’s efforts to to stop the Ghost Dance once and for all, led to the infamous Wounded Knee Massacre on December 29, 1890.  This horrendous act, sadly, did end the resistance, as it annihilated 145 Lakota men, women and children.

Over a hundred years later, we can look back at the Ghost Dance, and wonder why people ever would have believed in such a thing as the Ghost Dance.  But, it was a desperate time, the people were displaced from all they knew.  Also, consider the Christian religion which was being preached to them at every opportunity.  It told of a loving God, sent to earth, and raised again from the dead to save all…

To and From Crazy Horse

Homage to Crazy Horse“To and From Crazy Horse” 11 x 30” Watercolor and Gouache on Paper

Crazy Horse, a powerful Sioux chief, unified the Sioux and Cheyenne tribes to resist the United States Government.  The era in which he lived and fought were called the Indian Wars.

Along with steady encroachments on Native American land, the Indians were killed with bullets as well as disease.  Reservations were set aside upon which the Native Americans were being forced to relocate.  The telling of this war, as in any war, depends on the teller. A record left by the Native Americans is called a Winter Count.  A significant event from each year was recorded on various tribes’ winter counts.  According to the Battiste Good Winter Count, 1874 was called “Measles and Other Sickness Used Up the People Winter.”  This was the year Crazy Horse lost his daughter to illness.

As seen in a vision, Crazy Horse seemingly could not be touched by bullets in battle.   His ability to unite the people led to General Custer’s defeat at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876.  The Flame Winter count recorded this year as “Horses taken by the U. S. Government”, as the Native Americans who peacefully relocated to the reservation, had their horses taken away.

1877 brought about the beginning of the end for life on the plains.  Drought, war, and the annihilation of the bison were making it impossible for a tribe to survive off of the reservation.  For the good of his people, Crazy Horse turned himself in.  Crazy Horse was killed: not by enemy bullet, but by being bayoneted by the Indian police at Fort Robinson.  The death of Crazy Horse allowed the U.S, Government to relocate the Sioux without further unified resistance.

The story: the HISTORY is compelling and a big part of the American story that constitutes the American I live in today.

Battle with the Crow

Inside a tipi“Battle with the Crow” 8 x 10” Oil on Panel

The Sioux and Crow Indian tribes of the Northern Plains were long-time enemies.  Tales of battles fought and coups counted were the tried and true test of manhood, told generation to generation.  Depicted in this painting is the telling of such a tale, such as may have been shared inside a traditional dwelling, the tipi.

While living in West Chester, PA, I had my experiences with large flocks of crows.  I’d never seen the like in South Dakota!  A mass of the black birds landed in my yard, blocking out the sun as they came and went, but also totally covering the ground and squawking loudly.  It was eerie and quite scary: I was glad to see them migrate on…  This happened two separate falls.  So, now when I paint crows, that memory and the sound come back to me instantly.

Courtship Blanket

“Courtship Blanket” 9 x 12” Oil on Panel

A Native American tradition which inspired this painting is the courtship blanket.  Often the courtship blanket was made for a young man by a family member, such as his sister.  For an intentioned suitor to invite a young woman into the shelter and privacy of his blanket, signaled serious courtship intent.  Her acceptance into his blanket also symbolized willingness to consider the young  man as a possible husband.  The custom was called “ina aopemni inajinpi”, which means “standing wrapped in the blanket”.  In that private shelter, the couple was able to whisper together, although done in a public manner.  The tradition of the courtship blanket is a romantic notion of young love and was the impetus to this artwork.

Wild Horses

Wild Horse“Wild Horses” 8 x 8” Oil on Wood Panel

A horse’s profile is superimposed over the romantic ideal of horses in the wild, running free.

This painting is on a wood panel, and I like the natural graining of the wood showing through the imagery.

Crow Battle

Inside a tipi“Crow Battle” 12 x 36” Oil on Canvas

The Crow Indians were long-time enemies of the Sioux, and many stories are told about fierce battles between the two.  The name the Crow Indians call themselves is Apsaalooke, meaning “Children of the Large-Beaked Bird”.  It is actually a mistranslation of their name which caused them to become well-known as Crow.  As often happens, that name stuck.  In thinking about fierce battles and legends involving crow birds in Native American culture, the image of a tipi filled with the motion of crows in flight took root for me.

I love to incorporate a sense of motion in my artwork. I have just put a painting on display at Roma’s Restaurant , Spearfish, which shows the Louvre in motion.  While visiting there, I was mesmerized by the patterns of people moving… like a kaleidoscope, with arms linked, moving in various directions, up and down stairs and across broad expanses of floors…in a variety of colors.  It impacted me and I had to paint it!

Memories of the Hunt

Ancient Bison Hunt“Memories of the Hunt” 24 x 36 ” Oil on Canvas

From ancient cave paintings, pectoglyphs (pecked into rock) and petroglyphs, (Etched lines into rock) the bison emerge as the life force for the Plains Indians of North America.

The bison provided virtually everything needed for survival in this harsh environment.  Tribes followed the herds, hunting as a group when necessary.  The amazing hunt of the bison is depicted in this painting, as told around a campfire at night, inside the protection of that which the bison also provided: the shelter of a tipi.

I love a night sky:  to quietly contemplate one’s smallness and the timelessness of the universe is an important prescription to putting life in balance.  Mankind has shared this bond through-out time… the sky has guided and explained away many of mankind’s concerns.


Reno’s Retreat

Custer's Last Stand battle“Reno’s Retreat” 36 x 48” Oil on Canvas

Amos Bad Heart Bull recorded a dramatic image of Reno’s retreat in a ledger book in which he rendered stories of the Oglala Lakota.  His image of Reno’s retreat, and the still to this day debated details of the famous battle, inspired this painting.  Upon his death, Amos’ ledger book was given to his sister, Dolly Pretty Cloud.  She allowed a graduate student, Helen Blish, to study and photograph the ledger for her master’s thesis.  Thankfully, the photos remain, as the original ledger was buried with Dolly Pretty Cloud when she died in 1947.

Reno’s Retreat was the first of the battles that were to become known to the world as “Custer’s Last Stand”, or the “Battle of the Little Big Horn”.   Native Americans knew the battle by their name: “The Battle of the Greasy Grass” …shouldn’t the world know it by the name the victors gave it?!  Fought in what is present day Montana, it occurred on June 25 and June 26, 1876. This battle resulted in the annihilation of 5 regiments in General George Armstrong Custer’s 7th Calvary.  Although it was a great victory for the combined Plains Indian tribes, it marked the beginning of the end of The Great Sioux War.

On this day, the U. S. Army engaged with a large encampment of combined Plains Indians tribes.  The first group to attack the tipi village was led by Major Marcus Reno.  His soldiers charged across the Little Bighorn River, to find a much larger encampment than they anticipated.  Intense fighting took place and Reno was forced to retreat across the river and into open terrain, resulting in a bloody and chaotic scramble. Reno’s group were able to re-group atop a knoll wait for help to come days later, while listening to the battle being waged against the men with Custer.  Reno’s Retreat was the beginning of the famous battle.

The beginning of the end.  The unraveling lodge poles in this painting are symbolic of the breaking down of a way of life.  It reminds me of the heroic and noble tales that are told yet today about this pivotal battle in history.   This is one of my most favorite paintings to date.

Primal Hunt

Bison Hunt with Native Americans“Primal Hunt” 24 x 36” Oil on Panel

The dependence early man had on the bison is evident in rock carvings still found across the Great Plains of North America. A successful hunt was primal to the tribe’s survival, as the bison provided virtually everything needed.   A dramatic hunting of the bison is depicted in my painting, showing imagery of the hunt, as found in ledger art recorded by various tribes.  Depicted here is the hunt once horses came into use.  The dramatic motion and danger of the hunt is depicted in the telling of the story.   The bison hide, being the source of the shelter, emphasizes the importance of this great animal to the Native American Indian tribes.

What is primal to you?  For me, art is primal.  I get very irritable if I don’t get enough art… just ask my husband!  The need to create… the need to apply paint… the absolute need to explore ideas visually.  I am a VERY visual person… I have to see it, then I can do it… that is primal

Sitting Bull’s Vision

Soldiers falling into camp“Sitting Bull’s Vision” 36 x 48” Oil on Canvas

The Lakota Chief, Sitting Bull had an inspirational vision, in which he saw soldiers falling into camp like grasshoppers falling from the sky.  This vision pre-dated the Battle of the Greasy Grass. (Also known to history as Custer’s Last Stand… or The Battle of the Little Big Horn…)

This vision gave strength to the Sioux resistance, and encouraged many to leave the reservation.  The vision was inspiration to Oglala Lakota Chief Crazy Horse to raise a band of warriors and led to the Battle of the Rosebud, and then to the famous battle against Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer.  Historical telling and re-telling differs between cultures as to what happened that day.  What isn’t in debate is that a great stand was taken, and a mighty defeat was the result.

The witnesses to Sitting Bull’s vision and to the resulting massacre are depicted utilizing imagery which was inspired by a ledger drawing by  Black Hawk, a Lakota.  These artworks show an amazing collection of Native People united with arms around one another; their backs to the viewer.   Witnesses to the vision.