Archives for August 2019

Our special guest teacher this summer was award winning Lakota author, elder, teacher, traditional artist, and actor Joseph Marshall, III.

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Joseph shared his wealth of Lakota tradition and knowledge with the students and led the morning circle to inspire students in their work.

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Joseph taught a special master writing workshop for the kids and discussed the power of Lakota identity. He expanded on those ideas with the whole academy at a special afternoon lecture.

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Film students got to shoot and produce a special interview with Joseph!

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Video coming soon!

Students in the film program learned all aspects of filmmaking. They started off with basic production skills of how to operate a camera and sound equipment. In class assignments focused on camera work, composition, and how to tell a story in just a few shots.

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Students then learned more advanced skills like lighting and grip, and started the process of writing scripts for their short films and learning how to break down a script to produce it.

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Students then went into production for their films – shooting and directing many extras!

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Students also received hands on training in editing and post production on our new iMac editing stations!

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Stay tuned for links to our 2019 student films which screened at the 2019 Pine Ridge Indigenous Film Festival!

The greatest treasures we had at the program were the incredible elders and master teachers who came to be with and teach the kids! Unci Verola Spider is a master quill worker and language arts teacher who taught at Oglala Lakota College for decades. She is one of the few Lakota teachers who has carried on the tradition and inspires the new generations to take up this ancient form of quillwork.

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This very intricate art form requires great skill and patience.

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Students learned different quilling techniques – including wrapping and sewing – and produced beautiful bracelets and medicine wheels.

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J.T. Shinning Oneside did work with students in beading, sewing, and plant medicines. Her special project this year were baskets made of sweetgrass – grown and generously donated to us by our friend Vanne Mocilac.

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The wealth of knowledge these elders hold and share is beyond priceless. Thank you Verola and J.T., And thank you to our other elders and teachers: Joseph Marshall III (Writing and “Lakota Identity”), Waylon Black Crow (leather work, drum sticks, pouches, traditional songs), Duane Reddest (traditional singing and drumming), Rick Red Blanket, and Uncis Stephanie Apple & Mona Richards! Wopila!

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To kick off the program – students raised a traditional tipi. Resident Unci and Elder – Verola Spider – took students through the whole process. They selected a spot, made prayers, and raised the first poles.

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Students set up the poles and wound the rope. Verola prepared the covering and gave a teaching on the significance of the poles and the way they come together.

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Students finished wrapping the cover, and of course, film students helped to document the event.

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Elders helped kids finish the process and Verola finished up with a blessing inside for each student. The tipi stood at the center of camp as a place of reflection, creativity, and Lakota identity.

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The Visual Arts Classes ran the full spectrum of modalities: painting, drawing, sculpture, and several special projects. Students worked inside the art studio, outside in the beautiful landscape, on on site specific excursions into nature.

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Students participated in a multi-media “Self Portrait” project. After prepping their panels with gesso – they used different mediums including photography, transfer paper, and paint to design their creations.

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Our third version of the three dimensional star quilt measured 6 feet by 6 feet …

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Our exhibition gallery was full to the brim of the incredible work these kids created!

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The 2019 Mitakuye Hide-Tanning Workshop was a great success! The workshop began with some basic instructions on the various tools that we use and the different kinds of things we can make with tanned hide.

Our first project was building a frame together. After that was done, we took a deer-hide that had been soaking in water, cut small holes around the edges, and tied and stretched it onto the frame. We then “fleshed” and cleaned the hide.

One of our major projects this year was scraping the hair off a full buffalo cow-hide. This was a “summer hide,” so it had much shorter hair than a “winter hide,” but it still took a lot of work!

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We had several projects going on this year including: a deer hide, a section of a buffalo robe, buffalo rawhide, and an elk hide.

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Hide-Tanning is a lot of hard work – but there is nothing like the experience of taking a smelly, fleshy skin and transforming it into a velvety soft, pure white deerskin or a beautiful soft buffalo robe!

It is awesome to see so many youth get so excited about their ancient art form of traditional brain-tanning!

Special thanks to Larry Belitz (www.siouxreplications.com) for supplying Mitakuye with green hides for the workshop and making a new wahintka (elk-horn scraper) for our students.

The highlight of our Hoye Wayelo Summer Arts Immersion programs is the Black Hills Summer Arts Academy in the sacred ancestral lands of the Lakota.

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The Summer Arts Academy brings together kids from all over the reservation to study visual art, film, music, dance, theater, writing, and a full spectrum of traditional arts, including traditional hide-tanning, beadwork, singing and drumming, and the ancient form of quillwork. Students kicked off the academy by raising a traditional tipi.

More on the tipi raising here

Days began with a traditional circle and smudge. Elders gave talks and we discussed the events and intentions of the day.

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Art classes ran the full spectrum of visual art modalities.

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See more on the visual art classes here

Filmmakers learned all aspects of the craft.

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See more on the filmmaking program here

Traditional arts included hide-tanning, quillwork, beadwork, sweetgrass art, and plant medicines, – more here and raising a traditional tipi.

More on Traditional Hide Tanning Workshop here…

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More on Traditional Arts here

More on Special Guest Teacher Joseph Marshal III here

Music, dance, writing, photography, and theater rounded out the classes…

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And of course we also had to have time to let loose and have some straight up fun!

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Our days ended with a traditional campfire, singing, stories, and of course, S’mores!

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Our week-long academy culminated in a final exhibition and performance. Students presented monologues, performed choreography, screened films, and shared the full range of art they created.

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We took the art into the communities for the Hoye Wayelo Summer Arts Immersion program at the Lakota Cultural Camp in Wanblee.

We were invited by the directors of this unique camp to come and work with the students who were getting immersed in Lakota teachings and culture. As art is such a big part of Lakota Culture and traditional identity is such an important part of the work we do – it was a beautiful collaboration.

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Set on the traditional ceremonial grounds of the Moves Camp family – we did a focused version of the start quilt. Kids designed the pieces and wrote on topics of their Lakota identity and culture. They shared ideas, values, and qualities they thought were important to include in to the beautiful 3D star quilt.

Hoye Wayelo Summer Arts Immersion took art into the schools with the Little Wound School residency.

We had a busy program with students at Little Wound K-12 School in Kyle! Kids did work in music and film and were part of our first 3D Star Quilt Project.

We wanted to work with kids to build a community art project that celebrated Lakota Culture and the incredible traditional Lakota art. We also wanted to create a project that celebrated each student through their own work that would come together to form a greater whole. Beautiful by themselves and spectacular when they came together.

And so the 3D star quilt was born.

For the Lakota people, the star quilt, wichahpi owinza, represents honor and generosity. The pattern of the star quilt is inspired by the Morning Star which is is the last and brightest star in the eastern horizon before dawn. It is believed that the Morning Star represented the way the spirits came to earth and served as a link between the living and those who have passed.

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Kids also played music and filmed the creation of the project.

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The Star Quilt stands 6 feet by 6 feet and will be hanging in the school in fall.

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Pine Ridge Hoye Waylo Arts immersion program took the art to streets in our week long immersion program in downtown Pine Ridge! We partnered with Henry Brown and his Kidz Klub and Tiny DeCory and her BEARS program for a week full of creating! Kids did painting, drawing, chalk art, guitars, drums, piano, filmmaking and photography!

Visual Arts …

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Film …

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Music …

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Photography …

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It was a very busy week with these ambitious young artists!!!