Honoring Heritage
November is Native American Heritage Month and is an appropriate time to honor the Original People; tribes who were here long before Europeans arrived to commit various injustices in their goal of taking this continent for themselves.
Despite shameful acts that were (and continue to be) committed, there are now many ways to pay some small amount of respect. There are events at various locations, but participation has been made easy thanks to the internet. At the bottom of this email are just a couple of links that will help you do that. And there are others if you look.
One way I personally am paying honor this month is through my pastels. In this case I painted two descendants from The Battle of Little Big Horn which took place more than 150 years ago. Sioux warriors used the ancestors of these sturdy horses to hunt, migrate, and protect their way of life. The Battle of Little Big Horn was but one struggle in which they used their horses to keep their families safe from murder and theft by the white man. Eventually, in 1881, Sitting Bull and other Lakota Chiefs were forced to surrender even their valuable horses, now known as Nokota. This made survival when they were forced into prison camps difficult, if not impossible.
Not all Nokota descendants have been as fortunate as the two who are featured in this painting. Although there is an organization known as the Nokota Horse Conservancy (http://www.nokotahorse.org/) that strives to protect the endangered breed, funding help is needed.
Coal and Finn are now residents of Oregon and are loved by my friend Jenny S. Now I should also mention that Jenny allowed me to use her photograph of Coal and Finn in order to make this painting.
As usual, this 9x12" pastel on Wallis paper painting is available for a donation to a good and relevant non-profit organization.
Margie