Charise Abernathy models a chiffon dress designed by Mildj Native Fashions. Jewelry is by Ladybird Fashion Jewelry. Photo by Aly Duncan Neely
Native POP brings film, art, concerts and culture to downtown Rapid City
By Aly Duncan Neely
Native Sun News Correspondent
nsweekly.com RAPID CITY –– The Rapid City Arts Council and Native POP: People of the Plains presented A Gathering of Arts and Culture art market and cultural celebration, a day of film, art, concerts and cultural education, downtown at Main Street Square on Saturday, July 16. Artists and culture bearers from all over the Great Plains spent the day with the public, sharing their stories, art, skills, history, music and films. The Native POP Film Showcase kicked off at 10 a.m. at the Seed Theater on Fifth Street, highlighting Great Plains talent, which included 14 short clips by emerging film producers. These included: More Than a Word by John Little; Pride and Basketball by Cinnamon Spear; Horse Nation by Keith BraveHeart; Taste of Time by Julianna Clifford; Pre-Occupied and Lexiconography by Heid Erdrich; The Things I’m Afraid to Tell You by Tara Rose Weston; The Radical by Angel Two Bulls; One More Game by Michael LaysBad; Istinma/To Rest by Jesse Short Bull; The Blanket and He Walks With Thunder by Razelle Benally; Aspire to Be You by Jedadiah Richards; and The People by Angel White Eyes and Willie White. A panel discussion completed the Film Showcase with Razelle Benally, Willie White, and Jesse Short Bull offering encouragement and suggestions about the resources needed to get started as a film maker.
Tammy Eagle Hunter displays her portraits at the Native POP Art Market 2016. Photo by Aly Duncan Neely
Culture bearer presentations included a demonstration of the fine art of adornment painting by Sheldon Bird. The Bird family, mother Jackie and two sons Gordon and Sheldon, collectively preserve traditional ways of knowing through music, dance, and art and storytelling. Jackie Bird, a Sisseton-Wahpeton tribal member and Dakota Sioux, strongly influenced by the spirituality of her Mandan/Hidatsa grandmother, is a traditional hoop dancer, fancy shawl dancer, singer, storyteller, and fashion designer, while Gordon on guitar and Sheldon on drum provide musical backdrop for traditional songs and stories. Oglala Lakota, Kevin Hoch Decora, talked about the revival of the traditional game of lacross. Decora, coach for the Thunderhawks, a lacross team out of Mission, hand crafts lacross sticks (tasaka skapi in the Lakota language). Decora stated that the game was essentially lost for 152 years, but now lacrosse teams “play till the snow falls” and participate in tournaments across the country.
Read the rest of the story on the all new Native Sun News website: Native POP brings film, art, concerts and culture to downtown Rapid City (Contact Aly Duncan Neely at kestreldancing@gmail.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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