My sculpture titled 1876 depicts who is considered to be some of the most important principals involved in the battle of Little Bighorn. Gall led some of the early charges and it is said that Crazy Horse led the decisive charge that killed Custer. Although Sitting Bull did not participate in the battle, it was his dream of a great victory during a vision quest that brought the Indians together at Little Bighorn. I was told by my guide at the Memorial Site of the many advantages that the Indians had over the Calvary. Most notable I think was the repeating Winchesters possessed by the Indians, like the one Crazy Horse is holding, as opposed to the Calvary’s single shot rifles. In contrast to that, it is said that Gall carried only his axe into battle; as a way, perhaps, of avenging the death of his family who were killed by the Calvary at an earlier date.

The Crow tribe comes from the French derivative of the English name The Bird People. The Apsaalooke or Crow were part of the Hidatsa Tribe until 1776. Catlin was fascinated by some of the unique physical traits of the tribe noting that most of the men were at least six feet tall and had hair that swept the ground. Part of the daily ritual of the men included grooming their hair with bear grease. Painted in 1832 by Catlin, Pariskaroopa was a Band Chief and is the third in a series of ten figures based on the documentaries of historian painters Karl Bodmer and George Catlin. Catlin painted Pariskaroopa in profile to show the crescent shape of his face saying that this shape seemed particular to the Crow. Two Crows is also shown wearing what is said to be a full eagle headdress, probably golden, and has full eagle and otter bags attached to his lance.

Girls coming of age in Native American culture are often deified durring a ceremony celebrating their transformation into womanhood. My sculpture, Butterfly, is inspired in part by a tradition where a young girl uses a buckskin robe to envelop herself in purifying cerimonial smoke. In my sculpture, she reaches out and releases the smoke in a gesture of renewal, the creation becoming the creator.

The idea that there is something bigger than ourselves, and using symbols of the physical world as metaphors to express spiritual ideas, has always been a strong motive in creating art. In my piece, Calling the Fathers, I=m drawing on historic Native American legends to tell a story I believe we have in common. For the Plains Indians, the buffalo was central to life and religion. The buffalo skull at the base of the sculpture symbolizes how life on earth begins and then moves on. The eagle at the top of the sculpture symbolizes the other side, the infinite freedom of the sky. The lone figure at the center, by way of a drum and ceremonial fire, is seeking guidance by summoning the spirits. The smoke from the fire is sometimes thought of as the Breath of the Great Spirit. This smoke becomes a bridge linking the earth and the sky, and thus might be a way to carry ones= prayers.

Canyon Dreamer represents an Anasazi teenager lost in her thoughts as she pines for her boyfriend in the way that my two daughters might have done when they were teenagers. It is fun to portray a subject in a way that time nor culture changes.

I still don’t know much about Great Blackness other than his name was Upsichta, which means Great Blackness and he was a Mandan Warrior. It is said that he killed three enemies in a single battle. I’m not sure why he had the mirror attached to the eagle wing fan, but many of the men were really into grooming and spent lots of time at it.

The Guardian is based on a warrior named Red Thunder. He was the son of Black Moccasin, chief of the Hidasta who had a reputation as a diplomat and was reported to be the first to greet Lewis and Clark on their journey west. Red Thunder was known as a true warrior. I have portrayed Red Thunder holding an 18th century Springfield flintlock and a bow and arrow. Given the efficiency of the bow and the time it took to reload the muzzle of a rifle, it was common practice to carry both.

In the culture of the Plains Indians some 150 years ago, a boy would be introduced to the bow and arrow very early in his life. Helping him to understand the rudimentary process of correctly fitting the arrow to the bow, a father kneels over his young son and the scene is that of bonding and affection between the two. As my sculpture depicts this event, it also lends itself to an even bigger story. The deeper side is that the bow and arrow represent food and protection for the whole tribe. For these early Indians, the process of mentoring related directly to the survival and prosperity of the people. Together, this very young boy and his father create equilibrium where the skill and knowledge of the boy will not only impact the teacher, but the rest of the tribe as well. For in this sculpture, the boy represents the future, his father and mentor the present, here they are equals: Iron Sharpens Iron.

The Pueblo people were known mostly through the images of the Taos painters for their beautiful white robes. These trade items were sheets made by Sears Roebuck or Montgomery Ward, but prized by these people at the turn of the 20th century. Little Pueblo Girl is wearing such a robe. Catholicism was introduced to the people of the region much earlier and embraced by the pueblo at this time as well, hence the cross earring. My model was a young Ute Navajo, Aspyn Joe, who is the granddaughter of my friend and fellow CA, Oreland Joe.

The Buffalo Bull Dance of the Mandan was witnessed by both George Catlin and Karl Bodmer in the early 1830’s. It was then noted that the Mandan men had a series of six societies with the most important being The Buffalo Bull Society. My sculpture portrays two men engaged in the society’s Buffalo Bull Dance. The figure with the full buffalo mask, ceremonial lance and wolf tails trailing behind his moccasins would be the society leader.

Ascending the precipice of the future, she casts off the veil of night. Glancing to the past before welcoming the new dawn.

Nothing exemplifies the American West more than the cattle drives or buffalo hunts on the Great Plains. In the 1870’s these two archetypes – the Cowboys and Indians – shared in opposition a land that supported each others’ life style. Visions of Change, created in a double helix, is, I believe, a good metaphor for how different ways of life and conflicts evolve and change.

The two men portrayed in “War and Peace” would be typical of the 1870’s Plains Indians. The idea for this piece came, in part, by one of the creation stories I read that talked about the first woman who had two sons. One son, whose father was the Sun, grew up to be a Warrior. The other son grew up to be a Shaman or Medicine Man and his father was the Moon. This story explained the two sides of the male ego.

A Sioux Warrior, with medicine he has earned, gains strength and understanding from visions received during a ritualistic prayer. His character, honorable and pure, determines the importance and greatness of these visions received. His prayer, a cry for courage in battle, and thus for the health and strength of his Nation, is this “Warrior’s Lament”.

This piece evolved out of four studies that I did based on the young Navajo sheepherder in the Monument Valley area.. I was interested in conveying an image that would talk to the feeling that the Monument Valley gives. As I imagined what it would be like if one of the girls was standing on the edge of one of the plateaus I was taken by the two worlds that exist there. The Earth and the sky. As my studies evolved further, the clothing that is indicative of the Navajo People became less important. The feeling of the place between Spirit and Earth came through in this simplified form.