Indigenous Artist Inspired by Veterans and Her Mother
Native Veterans play significant roles in their communities, often well beyond their time in military service—protecting, caring for others, and even becoming tribal leaders.
By Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian
Rebecca Head Trautmann
In 2021, the National Museum of the American Indian acquired a set of four stunning screen prints titled Takes Care of Them by Sičáŋǧu Lakota artist Dyani White Hawk.
Takes Care of Them: Wókaǧe (Create) (2019)Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian
The set honors the strength, leadership, and care-taking roles of women and veterans in Native American communities.
The prints evoke historical and contemporary Plains women’s dresses, including those White Hawk has studied in the National Museum of the American Indian’s collection.
Takes Care of Them: Wačháŋtognaka (Nurture) (2019)Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian
White Hawk describes the four prints as having individual personalities, representing female relatives at different stages of their lives, from sisters and “aunties” to mothers and grandmothers.
Each plays a different role, but they come together to care for their families and communities.
Takes Care of Them: Wačháŋtognaka (Nurture) (2019)Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian
Based in Minnesota, the artist worked collaboratively on the prints with Master Printer Cole Rogers and the staff at Highpoint Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis.
Layers of ink were painstakingly applied to suggest the yokes of dentalium shells as well as the textures of felted wool cloth, satin ribbons, cowrie shells, and other materials traditionally used to make these dresses. Metallic foil accents were then individually added by hand.
The rich textures and close attention to detail in these prints are characteristic of White Hawk’s approach to all of her art.
Takes Care of Them: Nakíčižiŋ (Protect) (2019)Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian
She earned fine arts degrees from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the University of Wisconsin Madison.
White Hawk's paintings, sculptures, and mixed-media works draw on Indigenous and modernist abstraction, often incorporating beads and quills or patterns and materials that evoke them.
Takes Care of Them: Wówahokuŋkiya (Lead) (2019)Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian
White Hawk credits her mother—a U.S. Navy veteran and the first woman to carry the Highground Veterans Eagle Staff as a member of the Oneida Nation Color Guard—with teaching her how to be a “good relative.”
White Hawk says that we need such women warriors, those who serve not only on the front lines but at home.
The four prints, she says, recognize the “collectivity of the way that we’re raised and nurtured.”
The National Native American Veterans Memorial was dedicated November 11, 2022, with a procession and dedication ceremony on the National Mall in Washington, DC. To learn more about the military service of Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians visit: https://americanindian.si.edu/visit/washington/nnavm.
This story was originally published in the Fall 2022 edition of American Indian Magazine.
Rebecca Head Trautmann is an assistant curator of contemporary art at the National Museum of the American Indian and the project curator for the National Native American Veterans Memorial.
