When he turned 30 years old, though, Red Eagle decided he was going to change his life. “I got sick and tired of being sick and tired. For me, the way to change my life was through my culture.” That’s the guiding force behind Red Eagle’s bow-making work today.

In 2014, he and his wife left Montana for South Dakota’s Lake Traverse Reservation so Red Eagle could reconnect with his Dakota roots by learning the language. “The more we reclaim who we are—our language, our way of life, our history, everything that happened to us both good and bad—it grounds us and gives us a sense of identity,” he says.

At his wife’s suggestion, he looked into a Dakota language teaching certificate program at Sisseton Wahpeton College. “I enrolled, and the rest is history,” Red Eagle says. The college offered traditional arts workshops, and Red Eagle took all of them. Having always been interested in archery, once he got to bow-making, the craft spoke to him.

He spent years supplementing his formal training by speaking to elders and learning about the long traditions of bow-making from around the world. “I’m really big on not staying stuck in the past, but using it as a foundation to move us forward. That’s why I do everything in my power to learn how we did things a long time ago, but also acknowledging that we live in a different time and not being afraid to adapt and adjust,” Red Eagle says.

Not only are the bow and arrow tied to Dakota creation stories, “to me, the bow and arrow symbolize being able to provide and also protecting your people. There’s a spiritual significance to them.”

Building on a background running a youth program in Montana, today Red Eagle works with Native American communities of all kinds to revive culture through bow-making and other crafts, but delights in working with Indigenous young men specifically. “I help our young men reconnect with their roles and responsibilities in our community because that was stripped of them through boarding schools.”

Photo Credit: Jeremy Red Eagle

Photo Credit: Jeremy Red Eagle

Photo Credit: Dustina Gill

Red Eagle’s holistic approach to bow-making is customized to the needs of the community he’s working with. This means his classes can include everything from responsibly sourcing the necessary wood to the intricate beadwork and quillwork that embellishes the final product. Others swap traditional, natural materials like bone and animal sinew with modern materials like metal for accessibility.

For Red Eagle, receiving the 2024 Midwest Culture Bearers Award gives him the ability to focus on bow-making amid his broader art practice. “Starting this spring, my goal is to bring back horseback archery.” Plus, “my grandson is two. I want him to grow up with a bow in his hand.”

Jeremy Red Eagle is a 2024 recipient of the Midwest Culture Bearers Award, which celebrates and financially supports the work of Midwest culture bearers and folk arts practitioners.

The Midwest Culture Bearers Award is supported by Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts for project management.

The post Meet Jeremy Red Eagle, The Bow-Maker Teaching Dakota Traditions appeared first on Arts Midwest.

Though undoubtedly aesthetic, the works felt impersonal, branded, commercial. 

“You’re telling other people’s stories,” the artist says. In 2023, she moved away from projects like those and focused on stories and communities important to her. So when Berg, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, heard of a Rapid City, South Dakota, tribal health center looking for art, she dove in. 

Oyate Health Center 

The project’s arts selection committee received maybe half a dozen proposals from Berg—as well as submissions from dozens of creatives across the region. 

What’s now a clinic-wide, permanent collection with over 100 pieces was two years in the making, from the open call to installation process. 

Photo Credit: Oyate Health Center Permanent Art Collection Catalog

Photo Credit: Oyate Health Center Permanent Art Collection Catalog

Photo Credit: Oyate Health Center Permanent Art Collection Catalog

Photo Credit: Oyate Health Center Permanent Art Collection Catalog

Photo Credit: Oyate Health Center Permanent Art Collection Catalog

Photo Credit: Oyate Health Center Permanent Art Collection Catalog

Photo Credit: Oyate Health Center Permanent Art Collection Catalog

Photo Credit: Oyate Health Center Permanent Art Collection Catalog

Photo Credit: Oyate Health Center Permanent Art Collection Catalog

All the selected (and compensated) art pieces focus on culture-specific healing, made by 50-some enrolled tribal citizens from the Great Plains area, from professional artists to community creatives. 

“[We] really focused on those visuals of healing and how we as Native people dissect that word—healing spiritual health as well as physical and mental health,” says committee member Ashley Pourier, a museum curator and a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe. 

‘Our Own Visual Vocabulary’ 

The Great Plains Tribal Health Board spearheaded the project. 

Taking over management and reconstruction, the former Indian Health Services Center-turned-Oyate Health Center became a brand-new building—with a brand new need for art. But not just any art. 

Since the healthcare center is for Native American patients and staff, the art inside needed to be, too. Having Indigenous symbolism about has transformed the space, and what it means to heal inside it. 

“It’s important for us, for Indigenous people, to have our own visual vocabulary, to have our own understanding. You can walk into hospitals across the country and there’s frequently flowers or things that are very universal,” Berg says of the more generic art. 

“But what’s really nice about Oyate [Health Center] is that we were able to create art from our perspective, things we understand, things we relate to. It helps you feel like it’s your space; it helps you feel that you’re meant to be there.” 

The art collection, from photography to paintings to 3D work, touches on spiritual and cultural understanding.  

Berg’s piece, Eagle Buffalo Star, is an expansive wall relief artwork. Made of diamond-shaped resin tiles, it’s a lively, almost moving image of a buffalo and eagle connected by a star. 

Photo Credit: Oyate Health Center Permanent Art Collection Catalog

Photo Credit: Oyate Health Center Permanent Art Collection Catalog

Photo Credit: Oyate Art Center Permanent Art Collection Catalog

She started with the idea of traditional beadwork and star quilting: Little pieces come together, creating meaning. Its oranges, yellows, browns and blues—colors of the sky and earth in the Black Hills—shine in the center’s new pediatric area. 

“The stars … are hopeful and help us to think of the healing aspect of our connection, of how we’re not alone,” Berg says. 

There’s a new and meaningful feeling of community in the space. Berg calls the health center a “hub,” thanks to its art from people across her community. 

“It’s literally a museum. It’s a collection,” Berg says. “It’s not just a building. It’s our building.”

The post This Health Center’s Art Collection Is Medicine to Its Community  appeared first on Arts Midwest.

“To us, it’s a message of survival and resilience,” Snow explained. The Swan Clan is one of the eight clans of the Meskwaki Tribe.

Dance is just one of many artistic mediums the Meskwaki anthropologist and mother uses to honor her heritage. She’s also an accomplished singer and sought-after expert on food sovereignty, thanks to the teachings of her ancestors.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Stephanie BadSoldier Snow

“I’m a miracle,” Snow said, detailing a family history shaped by the trauma of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative and forced sterilizations of many Native American women. 

Raised by her great-grandmother, Snow remembers foraging in the woods and planting and harvesting corn, squash and beans alongside her elders in the old ways. 

“I give credit to my great-grandmother every time I speak or share, because I wouldn’t have the base knowledge or the sense of identity that I have without her,” Snow said.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Stephanie BadSoldier Snow

Crossing Cultures to Inspire Change

As an enrolled member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and a leader on the Meskwaki Settlement in Central Iowa, Snow is often called on as a voice for her community. 

She recently served as emcee for ‘A Gathering of Indigenous Artists,’ a group show co-presented by Lakota artist Lyle Miller Sr. and Mexican-American artist Siriaco “Siricasso” Garcia, who met in Springboard for the Arts Rural Regenerator Fellowship. 

Snow and Garcia were introduced through a mutual connection. He was instantly impressed, saying Snow ‘stands up for her people and wants to represent her culture in a positive way.’

Snow, who is also fluent in Spanish, performed in the Grinnell College Latin Jazz ensemble as a student. She started singing backstage alongside her talented grandfathers and uncles and recorded with a group that supports the Moms Clean Air Force “EcoMadres” program. 

 

Field organizer Karin Stein, who is a longtime friend and touring musician, considers singing alongside Snow “sheer joy.” They share a belief that storytelling through a variety of art forms can connect people to a cause. 

“I think music is part of a tool set,” Stein said. “If we can make people happy, and if we can make them relax because we speak their musical language, maybe they’ll be patient and listen for another five to 10 minutes about an important environmental or social message that we have.”

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Stephanie BadSoldier Snow

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Stephanie BadSoldier Snow

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Stephanie BadSoldier Snow

A Meskwaki Mother’s Wish 

Like the mother swan in her dance, Snow is preparing for her youngest to graduate from high school. She fears sending her children off during this era of political upheaval, but tending to tradition helps. Snow is preparing mirrored beadwork that will adorn a harness her son will wear during his graduation ceremony. 

“Our belief is that shiny things you have will reflect bad energy away from you,” Snow said. “I pray for the day that someone doesn’t call me resilient anymore.” 

The post Sharing Meskwaki Ways Through Dance, Music, Beadwork, Foodways appeared first on Arts Midwest.

Here’s a sampling of artists from the Dakotas to Ohio. Be sure to listen to the half-hour-long playlist and tell us who we’re missing! 

• Chayla Hope: If the color pink had a sound, this would be it. This Cleveland, Ohio, based artist’s sound is sparkly,strong, and guaranteed to boost your mood. Come January 24, her newest EP Delusional hits soundwaves everywhere.
• Double Winter: Aptly named for what often feels like excessive winter in the Midwest, this group hails from Detroit, Michigan. Their sound is psychedelic and playful with a perfectly deep vocal track to keep you coming back for more. We recommend ICU from their album, Hourglass.

Photo Credit: Kat and the Hurricane Facebook

• Kat and the Hurricane: Synth much? This Madison, Wisconsin, trio certainly does. An all-queer and trans indie-pop group, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what year their music sounds like. 2014? 2024? All of the above? Perhaps—though the band has only been releasing music since 2017. Swimming II is a high-energy bop from their latest album.
• KennyHoopla: Ohio (or Wisconsin, where he grew up) really won with this one. Making waves in the scene, KennyHoopla is ready for you to start a gentle mosh pit. The musician’s latest single, ONE TULIP//, raises the bar with its emotive, punk-indie handshake of a sound.
• Kit Pines: We’re waiting for Sharon van Etten and Fiona Apple to announce North Dakota musician Kit Pines is actually their daughter. The “wild prairie punk” artist just released a New Year’s Eve album with some songs you’d be hard pressed to forget, including one of our favorites: Potatoes (Midwest, anyone?)

• Lady Revel: It’s sweet, it’s snappy, it’s Des Moines-based indie rock band Lady Revel. Its latest single, Spilling My Guts, is bright but shoe-gazey with relatable lyrics for any emotional season. 
• The Penny Peaches: These two Minnesota sisters perfectly capture Americana bliss. Don’t Ask Questions is such a sing-along song on one of three (what?!) albums released in 2024. Let’s go, girls (and dad on rhythm). 
• Stella Standingbear: The ultimate confidence boost has arrived with Keep It Burnin’ from her EP Bear Spirit. The Lakota hip-hop artist lives in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, exploding with hits in 2024. 
• Thundergoat: If metal music were underwater, it’d be Thundergoat’s music. Well, at least Etherean Scales from its latest EP. From Tomah, Wisconsin, the band goes subtly hard—a great intro to folks new to metal (it’s fun, we promise!) 
• Wishy: Get those shoes out, it’s time to gaze upon them! Someone on Reddit called this Indiana-based band “fuzzy dream pop” and we couldn’t have said it better. Give Planet Popstar a listen. 

The post Midwest Made: New Local Music to Add to Your Playlist  appeared first on Arts Midwest.

But swap out the fish for owls and say “gookooko’oo” instead of “go fish,” and you have Bineshiiyag: one of several new amusements in the Nashke Native Games award-winning line. 

Launching a year and a half ago, the three-person business is trying to bolster Ojibwe language and culture in the Midwest—in a fun, accessible (not to mention, effective) way.

Photo Credit: Courtesy Tony Drews

“Our mission is to increase awareness and the power of learning through gameplay. And boy, we just see it come to fruition every day,” says founder and CEO Tony Drews “Chi-Noodin” (Big Wind). 

Language learners, teachers, families, and curious board-gamers alike can purchase the games, ranging from modern takes on traditionals (like Bagese: The Bowl Game) to fast-paced fur trade-simulation kits with puzzles and tile matching challenges (like Mii Gwech). 

The games are an avenue for discovery; they can be played in Ojibwe or English (Dakota expansion packs coming soon!) Here, words are intentionally not forgotten. 

Drews says there are less than 700 first-language Ojibwe speakers in the U.S.  

“And if we don’t do something, we’re gonna become known as the people who were the Ojibwe,” he says. “Native history is Minnesota history. And without a spark, our youth aren’t gonna learn it.” 

Drews’s great-grandmother only spoke Ojibwe. Her daughter was sent to Pipestone Indian Training School and now, Drews’s father doesn’t know more than four words in Ojibwe.  

“It took one generation to strip my family of its culture, its language and the millennium of our culture,” Drews says. “We can’t talk about language and culture separately. They’re intertwined.” 

Take the word mindimooyenh. Somebody who holds the family together. A term of high respect for an elderly woman. 

“If you call someone an old woman in English, that’s a dig, right? So if we lose that word, we lose the cultural perspective of how we truly look at elderly women,” Drews says. “And the same with elders. We call our elders gichi-aya’aa: ‘the Great Beings.’” 

Photo Credit: Courtesy Nashke Native Games via Facebook

Second-grade teacher Lisa Schussman’s students have played Ginebig: The Snake Game, Makizinataagewin: The Moccasin Game, and Bineshiiyag in her Lincoln Elementary classroom.

She loans out take-home kits at the Bemidji, Minnesota, school where many Native students attend; the area is surrounded by the Leech Lake (Ojibwe), Red Lake (Chippewa), and White Earth reservations. 

Photo Credit: Courtesy Nashe Native Games via Facebook

Photo Credit: Courtesy Nashe Native Games via Facebook

Photo Credit: Courtesy Nashe Native Games via Facebook

Photo Credit: Courtesy Nashe Native Games via Facebook

Photo Credit: Courtesy Nashe Native Games via Facebook

Photo Credit: Courtesy Nashe Native Games via Facebook

“I just find it such a valuable way to get … excited about the language and about their culture and respect too,” Schussman says, overhearing students using words learned in the games. 

“I think that a lot of times we get nervous to try or we don’t want to do something wrong, so then we don’t. But I’ve found that through the games, you’re a lot more willing when it’s in a fun, laughing atmosphere to just try.” 

Goji’ewizi: Just try.

The post Game Time: Reviving the Ojibwe Way with Dice and Cards appeared first on Arts Midwest.

Red Eagle, ‘Mato Zi,’ is an enrolled member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation, located in North and South Dakota. In 2007, he began studying and working with the International Traditional Games Society. They are dedicated individuals working to recover, restore, and re-introduce games developed by Indigenous nations in North America.

“I wanted to work with Native youth because they are the future, and I wanted to do my part,” he said. His focus has been the origin and history of Plains Style archery and lacrosse and of the Dakota people, and how he can guide the transference of this knowledge to both young and old. 

Photo Credit: Dustina Gill

“The best way I could think of ‘how’ was to meet them [the youth] on their level, by utilizing play-based learning programs or traditional games—the Indigenous form of education,” added Red Eagle. 

However, the lack of information on traditional ways has posed difficulties. Due to the late 1800’s assimilation of the Dakota people and the boarding school era, much of the first-hand knowledge has been lost. And documentation is limited. 

Research has been key in this revitalization process. Various Dakota elders have shared some oral history. Visits to museums have provided a wealth of visual information. These include stylistic, geographical, functionality, and elemental distinctions used by various tribes throughout North America. 

“The way a bow is made is true beauty. The design elements we incorporate tell their own stories. How cool is that!” he said. 

Still, there is much to learn.

 

The purpose of traditional games was based on the continued life and survival of Indigenous nations. They were introduced to members at a young age. Red Eagle shared that some tribes even presented their infants with lacrosse sticks upon the celebration of their birth—exemplifying their cultural importance. 

Plains Style traditional games have classifications such as ‘games of chance and intuition’ and ‘games of skill and agility/endurance.’ Individual games are said to awaken and strengthen inherent human senses, increasing one’s chances of survival.

Photo Credit: Dustina Gill

Photo Credit: Dustina Gill

Photo Credit: Dustina Gill

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Jeremy Red Eagle

The use of Indigenous language plays a key role in learning and sharing mechanics of these games. It infuses a deeper meaning of their importance to dakod wichohan or the Dakota way of life. 

Red Eagle has studied and acquired the Dakota language as a second-language speaker. He uses it as part of his traditional games teaching method in hopes of its parallel revitalization. 

His families’ relocation to South Dakota in 2014 coincided with his first attempt in introducing traditional games on a larger scale. The formation of a lacrosse team, Susbeca Lacrosse, included young members from his home district, Enemy Swim or Toka Nuwan. Red Eagle took this as a chance to coach the team using his knowledge of the Dakota language.

Photo Credit: Dustina Gill

Today, through local Native non-profit Nis’to Incorporated and other partnerships, youth of all ages practice lacrosse and archery weekly, hosted by the Sisseton-Wahpeton College. And Red Eagle is often present at these gatherings. He guides participants in the “rules” of play or in making “equipment” for traditional games from natural materials he has collected.

“Everything we need to make these games (happen) can be found right on the land we call home,” he said. 

The history of these games reminds us of the connection between language, culture, history, and land. They can reconnect Indigenous populations and people, in general, with the natural world. Most importantly, they bring communities together. 

The post Sharing Traditional Games with Dakota Youth appeared first on Arts Midwest.

Photo Credit: Minnie Wabanimkee / Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: Minnie Wabanimkee / Arts Midwest

We headed to what Cindi calls “Whitefish Acres” off Old Mission Peninsula. Anderson and Schocko pulled the anchor into the boat, and the net emerged from the depths. As it came aboard, Cindi stood near the edge with a dip net to catch any falling fish. 

All told, they pulled 900 feet of net, yielding 200 pounds of fish. Some days they catch as much as 700 pounds. Everyone paused in the glittering sunshine of the bay to carefully and quietly remove the fish from the nets. Ruby  drove the boat toward the marina and said she’d love to captain a vessel someday, with a solid crew like the people behind her.

Once ashore, each member of the family has a specific job. Schocko guts trout while Ed filets whitefish. Ruby removes the pin bones and prepares fish patties. Cindi handles “chunking” (portioning trout for the smoker), brining, and running the smoker. She also tends their weekly market stall at Sara Hardy Farmers Market in Traverse City. Nephew Daniel Genereaux untangles the nets and prepares them to be reset while Anderson and Schocko replace worn out netting and sew in new mesh. Other nephews gather during the week to clean the fish processing area and sanitize coolers and equipment. 

Photo Credit: Minnie Wabanimkee / Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: Minnie Wabanimkee / Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: Minnie Wabanimkee / Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: Minnie Wabanimkee / Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: Minnie Wabanimkee / Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: Minnie Wabanimkee / Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: Minnie Wabanimkee / Arts Midwest

A Special Connection

Treaty Fish Co. is a community hub—a result of the quality of their product and the spirit of the family. While I was there, at least three different people came looking for fish even though it wasn’t a day they were actively selling. Cindi told an elder, who was letting his dog swim at the marina, to grab a cooler to take home some fish.

Cindi’s passion for community and creativity shine through. She designs the packaging, working with FDA officials to both adhere to regulations and to ensure the finest product possible. In fact, the new marina fish processing facilities were designed based on the camping trailer Cindi had retrofitted, using her knowledge of federal health regulations as well as smooth division of labor.

Recently, the fishery joined the 100% Fish Great Lakes Pledge, which commits them to using 100% of their product in zero-waste ways. Cindi showed me some sunflowers she was growing next to the fish processing building (where she poured leftover fish juice); they were four times the size of those a friend was growing. 

When asked what they love most about their work, both Cindi John and Cameron Schocko said it was being in the bay. Cindi said, “I do this all so I can be on the water. Can’t you smell it? Can’t you feel it? It’s special.”

 

The post Treaty Fish Co. Sustains Anishinaabe Traditions and Community Spirit appeared first on Arts Midwest.

This project and ensuing partnerships opened the door for Henley Rey Taken Alive, a resident of the Standing Rock Reservation and the 10-year-old daughter of Lisa and Ray Taken Alive. She participated in the film’s dubbing process; making history with ‘The Avengers’ being one of the first major films to be fully dubbed in Lak̇ot̄a. For her, “hanging out with my uncles and cousins at the studio” was a favorite moment during the process.

Henley Rey has had a front seat to those deeply involved in the Lak̇ot̄a language reclamation movement. Her father is an activist who has worked tirelessly to address data sovereignty and language revitalization. He helped plant the seed that grew into the Lak̇ot̄a dub of the Hollywood blockbuster.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Ray Taken ALive

“It ties us to our family,” shares Henley Rey as she talks about the importance of learning and speaking the Lak̇ot̄a language for her people. “It gives us something to be proud of. It will help us be proud to be Lak̇ot̄a,” she says when asked about the significance of the movie project.

Many of the original cast members, including Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, and Jeremy Renner were able to do some of their original lines in Lak̇ot̄a. Alongside them, Henley Rey recorded lines for a “young girl” character in the movie. 

She hopes to see more movies dubbed in Lak̇ot̄a since they can be used as a way to learn the language and as a tool for schools to use in their curriculum. “I wish learning Lak̇ot̄a was just as important as learning to read in schools,” says the young Lak̇ot̄a language learner, who attended a local Lak̇ot̄a immersion program. Projects like this one on mainstream platforms are key to preserving the traditional language and encouraging more speakers.

Considering the future of the language and her own language journey, Henley Rey hopes to be a fluent speaker within the next 10 years. She looks forward to more projects like this one being set in motion. The fifth grader would love to see one of her all-time favorites ‘Holes’ (the 2003 movie based on Louis Sachar’s 1998 novel of the same name) dubbed in Lak̇ot̄a someday.

The post Meet Henley Rey, a Young Lakota Voice in ‘The Avengers’ Dub appeared first on Arts Midwest.

Executive Director Julie Garreau, who has been with CRYP since the beginning, is no stranger to balancing numerous aspects of the program. On the day Garreau spoke to me from her office, she and the CRYP team were preparing to welcome artists from around the nation—and this year, New Zealand—to kick off the tenth annual RedCan Graffiti Jam.

Photo Credit: Cheyenne River Youth Project

Photo Credit: Cheyenne River Youth Project

Photo Credit: Cheyenne River Youth Project

Photo Credit: Cheyenne River Youth Project

Photo Credit: Cheyenne River Youth Project

Photo Credit: Cheyenne River Youth Project

Far more than just an art showcase, RedCan promotes collaboration and community initiatives through pairing artists with teen interns of a CRYP Lakota Art Fellow. “CRYP created the Lakota Art Fellowship in 2019 so it could provide opportunities for teens on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation who have an interest in pursuing careers in the arts, and who have completed multiple internships through the nonprofit youth project’s dedicated art institute,” says communications director Heather Steinberger.

Photo Credit: Cheyenne River Youth Project

An Evolving Event

Garreau remembers RedCan as “a risky kind of project to initiate, but I feel like with CRYP we really understand kids, and you’ve got to take some risks sometimes to keep them interested and motivated and you have to do things very differently.”

Starting with the evening they arrive, the artists enjoy a traditional Lakota meal of buffalo soup, wojapi (a berry sauce), and fry bread. The four-day event, which  includes performances, skateboard painting, music, and community meals, serves to not only engage but keep kids’ attention while celebrating Lakota identity and culture. 

This year, buildings in the mural lineup included the animal shelter, veterans building, radio station, and food pantry. Garreau takes time to discuss with the artists what the buildings are used for and their history within the community. Murals are also installed in the Waniyetu Wowapi Art Park, an open-air space where a series of wooden panels, shipping containers, and walls host constantly revolving graffiti compositions.

 

Returning artists include, among many others: East, an artist of Cherokee descent from Denver; CYFI, a Yaqui and Azteca artist from Minneapolis; and Natasha Martinez, a.k.a. Rezmo, a Diné and Mexicá artist currently living in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community in Arizona. New to the event this year are Māori artists Phat1 and Lady Diva, from Aotearoa (New Zealand); Midwestern artist Brady Scott; and Kansas-born Ponca artist Amp.

Photo Credit: Cheyenne River Youth Project

Celebrating Connections

Rezmo had just arrived in Eagle Butte when in an email she wrote, “What I look forward to the most this year is painting in the community and making connections with the community members that come out and talk to us throughout the week.” At home in Arizona, she works in youth services and teaches art to kids ranging from pre-K age to teens, so partnering up with interns and young artists at RedCan sparks her energy. “It makes me happy to teach them and share what I know,” she says.

Garreau relates a story she heard from artist Hoka Skenandore, a Lakota artist who painted a mural spelling “Lakota” in both the Lakota language and in sign language, depicting each letter in hands of varying skin tones. “He said, this little boy came up to him and was watching him for a while,” Garreau shares. “Then the little boy went up to the mural and put his hand on the wall. And he said, ‘Huh, just like me.’ That’s the other part of this, right? Seeing yourself in these spaces and knowing that you are part of this, you know that this is for you—for us.”

The post Rewriting an Art Form for Indigenous Youth in South Dakota appeared first on Arts Midwest.

This has been Laura C. Red Eagle’s journey. A writer and language enthusiast, Red Eagle is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, whose traditional territories include land in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois. 

Photo Credit: Laura Red Eagle

Red Eagle grew up in rural Wisconsin with her non-native mother, away from her Ho-chunk communities in the area. During this time, she had trouble navigating her identity, culture, and community. Her father’s family were fluent Ho-chunk speakers, but they spoke to her in English when they shared space. In high school, Red Eagle decided to start learning her traditional language. She joined a language camp offered by the Ho-chunk community in Black River Falls. This lit the fire to her language-learning journey.

Over the years, she noticed a deep yearning to create community around language learning. Post-secondary education didn’t offer what she was hoping for. Determined, she decided to gather her own resources. 

These resources were few and far between — common for many Indigenous languages. As oral languages, resources weren’t created until colonial contact. Made by non-speakers, non-native individuals and organizations, complications arose around the control of translations and learning methods, and access to these materials. 

A Space to Share

Red Eagle tracked down a tape that offered Ho-chunk for colors, numbers, and animals, but she craved to dive deeper.

Then, a timely interaction set the stage for her next chapter of language-learning. At her father’s funeral, she heard Jon Greendeer (current president of Ho-Chunk Nation) speak in Ho-Chunk. After a conversation, he offered resources and other community members to connect with around the language. The importance of community learning spaces kept surfacing for Red Eagle. 

“Learning the language in a judgment-free zone opens doors into learning about history, the ways of thinking, and being, and what is important, and so much more,” she says.

Her perseverance led to the Indigenous Language Table at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery (WID) in Madison. It’s a space for active language practice beyond the classroom. The Indigenous Language Table is a communal gathering that meets once a week. It emphasizes the importance of using the language in everyday conversations.

To young Indigenous people and new language learners, Red Eagle says: find a class, build a community, and create spaces for language use. 

Red Eagle remains steadfast in creating a supportive community for language learners, even with the struggles of language revitalization work. “Language is ultimately about connecting as human beings and creating a sense of belonging,” she says. She envisions more Indigenous Language Tables across Wisconsin and beyond. Her story is a testament to the resilience and dedication required to revive and sustain Indigenous languages. Her efforts with the Indigenous Language Table offer a blueprint for creating vibrant language communities.

The post Building an Indigenous Language Learning Community in Wisconsin appeared first on Arts Midwest.