“Dirge with Black Feet” is my personal reflection on life’s affirmation, celebrating a positive and optimistic view of living. The title is a playful nod to Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem, Dirge Without Music, which beautifully contemplates individual death. However, while Millay centers on personal mortality, my focus is on the death of culture. I can’t accept the decline or loss of cultural heritage, and that belief shapes this work.

The three tipis (lodges) in the painting each bear significant cultural symbols. On the central tipi, I depict a shaman holding a black buffalo skull. Traditionally, one might expect a peace pipe or symbol of good medicine, but here, the skull represents the depth of the culture being honored. Another tipi also holds the black buffalo skull, an acknowledgment of the buffalo’s crucial role. On the third tipi, I’ve drawn a bird symbol, not exactly the Thunderbird but inspired by it, a vision of the Ghost Dance movement that many tribes turned to, envisioning the buffalo’s return, peace on the plains, and the end of westward expansion encroaching on their lands. This dance represented hope for a restoration of life and freedom, a spiritual call for continuity amid change.

This piece was featured at the Autry Museum in LA, an honor I equate to being asked to play at Yankee Stadium, a top distinction. I’m grateful it was chosen. This painting holds deep meaning for me, embodying resilience and reverence for culture.