Through his artwork, Arthur Amiotte offers insight into the early reservation period, a time of great upheaval for the Lakota people. In words and images, he tells the fascinating story of his great-grandfather, Standing Bear, a Lakota artist whose family uniquely blended Native and European ways of life.

Drawing inspiration from Standing Bear’s legacy, Amiotte uses ephemera, historical and modern photographs and artworks, and the remembered stories of his relatives to compose collages that tell the story of a culture and people in transition. The vivid juxtaposition of materials allows viewers to experience the nuances and fluctuations in the Lakota people’s environment, values, and way of life.

Louis S. Warren relates the life of Standing Bear in a brief biography, and Janet Catherine Berlo contributes an essay placing Amiotte’s collages in their artistic and anthropological contexts.

About the authors: Arthur Amiotte is an Oglala Lakota artist from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He now works full-time as am artist. Louis S. Warren teaches environmental history and the history of the American West. He has received numerous awards for his books. Janet Catherine Berlo is a professor of visual and cultural studies at the University of Rochester and has also taught Native American art history at Harvard, Yale, and the University of California. 

Image description: The cover image shows a colorful, layered collage that blends traditional Lakota figures, ceremonial attire, and cultural symbols with historical and modern elements, such as sunflowers, vintage automobiles, horses and prairie landscapes. The title and authors' names are found on the top of the cover image, in the sky.