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Courtship of Young Lakota Men and Women
Saint Valentine recieves a rosary from the Virgin Mary.Valentine’s Day is a day most associated with romantic love, often celebrated with affectionate cards, fresh flowers, or gifting of sweets to...
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How The Ghost Dance Came To The Lakota
The origin of the Ghost Dance stemmed from the introduction of Christianity to the native people of the Northwest, specifically the Shaker Movement in which Christians prayed and danced for the Second...
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Thunderbirds and Dragons on The Northern Plains
The sun set in a dark cloudy sky. There was very little color. No pinks, reds, oranges, or purples. No fanfare for the setting sun but for a dark blue and black sky. The clouds seemed to absorb...
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Christian Iconography...But Painted in The Tradition of Plains Indian...
Some years back I painted an icon of the Holy Trinity. I thought that I'd take a traditional art like American Indian pictography and attempt to "write" an icon in the tradition of eastern or Russian...
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Sibley Island or Burnt Boat Island?
I made this post on the North Dakota Humanities FaceBook page. I wanted to share it here and write a little more on it. This image is taken from the hilltop at Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park looking...
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More Christian Iconography in The Tradition of Plains Indian Pictography
A picture of the icon as in its finished state.This past spring season I thought I'd finish a project that began maybe five or six years ago. I had applied plaster to a wood plank then pretty much...
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Sacagawea, Sakakawea, Sacajawea
Some time back I posted an explanation about the name of the young native mother who accompanied the Corps of Discovery from Knife River to the west coast. What is her name? How is it really...
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Waniyetu Ehanna, Sung Noni Ota Kin: A Long Time Ago, They Saw Horses, 1692
A few months ago I was asked to draw a pictograph of the arrival of the horse. I was also working on a short essay about the sense of place that the Dakota and Lakota people have for the Northern Great...
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The Finish, A View of Western North Dakota before much Development
"Verendrye Meets The Mandans" by Clell Gannon. Photo by Brian R. Austin, State Historical Society of North Dakota. The painting is on display in the south vestibule of the Burleigh County courthouse....
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The Luke Winter Count
The Luke Winter Count begins in the center and spirals outward in a counter-clockwise manner.Late last year, an Episcopal (Anglican if you're not an American) priest made a passing comment to my mother...
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Def Leppard on the Reservation
I think that I was fortunate to grow up on Standing Rock in the 80s. In retrospect I’d say that I grew up in a clash of cultures and I didn’t know it. I played outside and ran to the top of Golf Hill...
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Pe’ Sla, The Heart Of All That Is, Sacred Site of the Lakota is Threatened
Gratify yourself with a copy of this beautiful book "Lakota Star Knowledge: Studies in Lakota Theology" by Ronald Goodman. Contact your nearest bookstore or order one off of Amazon, after you've...
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Ghost Dances: Proving Up On The Great Plains
Ghost Dances: Proving Up On The Great Plains by Josh Garrett-DavisA Review Garrett-Davis took this reviewer on a journey of self-examination and reflection of his life as it is now and what it was for...
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A Photo Essay of Whitestone Hill
On August 29, 2012, I took a visit to Whitestone Hill State Historic Site, which is located south of Jamestown, ND just off of HWY 281 near the towns of Kulm and Edgely.It was a chilly morning and a...
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Ghost Dances Featured on Prairie Public
(Not the real cover...I don't like the real cover, but not finding a better one I made this generic old looking one.)I recently read Ghost Dances: Proving Up On The Great Plains by Josh Garrett-Davis....
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Conflicts Across The Country
Back on September 4, 2012, Prairie Public Radio's program Hear It Now featured the Chautauqua program, a living history program which disappeared for a few years in North Dakota. Working at my day job,...
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Ikpanazin (To Pick Up One's Self)
On July 25, 2012, the St. James Episcopal Church located in Cannonball, ND on the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation, burned to the ground. Arson is the suspected cause.St. James was founded in...
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Ely Parker: Seneca Chieftan, American General
The following article originally appeared in the North Dakota Humanities Council's publication On Second Thought, the Civil War issue. Reuben Fast Horse wrote the original draft, this author edited and...
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Life's Journey - Zuya, A Review
The following is a review of Albert White Hat's "Life's Journey - Zuya," which I submitted to the State Historical Society of North Dakota's "North Dakota History." Read it here first, then watch for...
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His Red Nation: A Tale of Little Crow
The following was prepared for the North Dakota Humanities Council's publication "On Second Thought," the Civil War issue. This paper was originally slated to be penned by Mr. Jerome Kills Small, but...
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