Buy T-shirts, Posters and more to help restore the bison!

•••••

Laura used a process called acrylic transfer, incorporating historical images. The images are related to the Ghost Dance, the slaughter and the near extinction of the American Bison, the massacre at Wounded Knee (mostly women and children), due to the fear of the religious movement (the Ghost Dance). The premise of the Ghost Dance is that if you prayed, sang the songs and danced (which is also praying), lived a good life, the suffering would end, the oppressors would leave and the buffalo would return.

•••••

Laura Heit-Youngbird was born in Tucson, Arizona, in 1954. Her father was in the Air Force and the family moved frequently.

She is a graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead with a MA in drawing and printmaking and is also known for her work in clay.

Youngbird currently lives in Breckenridge, Minnesota and works at Circle of Nations School, in Wahpeton, ND. CNS is a Native American off reservation boarding school, where she enjoys teaching Art.

The themes in her work include experiences her family and particularly her grandmother had while at boarding schools and the issues that surround Native peoples assimilation into the dominate culture.

Artist Statement:
Wacapi Wanagi, in proper grammer translates as Dance Ghost.

It was only right the bison tell the story of the Ghost Dance. In preparation I collected historic images from the Smithsonian Archives of Wovoka the prophet, Big Foot, Sitting Bull, Gall, Kicking Bear, Lost Bird, Black Kettle, Red Tomahawk, Custer, the Ghost Dancers, the Lakota, the bison, their near extinction, the Battle of Little Big Horn, the massacre (which was originally called the Battle of) Wounded Knee, the US Army Seventh Calvary, the Hotchkiss guns, the Railroad, the Goldrush, etc.

I would like to thank the Smithsonian Archives for giving me their permission to use these images to help tell the story. The Ghost Dance was a movement, a response to the terrible conditions on the newly formed reservations. The bison are sacred, the bison were a way of life to the people on the Plains. They used everything, the meat for food, the hide for shelter and clothing, the sinew for thread, the bones for tools. The bison were slaughtered by the millions because they were a nuisance for the railroad... The people were starving, the promised rations were of poor quality and many hands had taken their share before the supplies arrived.

Word spread of a messiah. Representatives from tribes all over the nation came to Nevada to meet with Wovoka, a Paiute holy man. He taught them the Ghost Dance and the Ghost Dance songs. The prophecy ensured if the people did these, and lived a good life, eventually the suffering would end. The earth would be renewed, the white man would be gone, the dead warriors and the great herds of buffalo would return.
The government was afraid and banned the Ghost Dance on the Lakota reservations. When the ceremonies continued, they called in the troops. The Seventh Calvary set up their hotchkiss guns overlooking Big Foot's camp. There were 500 soldiers, 350 Lakota, 120 men, the rest were women and children. They decided to wait until morning to disarm the Indians. After a night of heavy drinking, one of the soldiers tried to disarm a deaf Indian named Black Coyote. The gun went off setting off the slaughter. The massacre at Wounded Knee took place on December 29, 1890. It was the end of the so called Indian wars.
This is a very abbreviated overview of the events leading to and surrounding the Ghost Dance. I have put together some of the pictures, in an effort to show you how I feel. I could write a book, but there are books already written. I encourage you to read and think about this, Wacapi Wanagi.

Herd About The Prairie: A Virtual Art Stampede is sponsored by the Lake Agassiz Arts Council and showcases the work of local and regional artists with support from businesses and individuals in the central Red River Valley.

2006 © Lake Agassiz Arts Council, All Rights Reserved.