Rapid City Journal:  December 1, 2005

Two Bulls among honorees
By Jomay Steen, Journal Staff Writer

RAPID CITY - Rooted in tradition, a great-great-grandmother’s continued work to share her knowledge with all people has earned the Oglala Lakota woman a national honor.

First Peoples Fund will give its prestigious Community Spirit Award to Nellie Two Bulls, 79, of Pine Ridge along with three other American Indian artists at a ceremony Saturday, Dec. 3, at both The Journey Museum and Central High School theater.

Lori Pourier, First Peoples Fund president, said the evening would celebrate a world of diversity, not only in the kind of art highlighted but in the lives of the artists.

“It’s going to be a wonderful time,” Pourier said. “Grandma Nellie is going to share one of her songs with us.”

“Only once in someone’s lifetime does something like this happen,” Two Bulls said. “But I’m very happy that this happened to me.”

Each year, First Peoples Fund recognizes four artists for their work to bring spirit back to their communities through artistic expression, commitment to sustaining cultural values and service to their people.

Those joining Two Bulls are Lois Chichinoff Thadei of Olympia, Wash., an Aleut; Apolonia Susana Santos of Warm Springs, Ore., a Tygh-Yakama; and David Moses Bridges of Perry, Maine, a Passamaquoddy/Wabanaki.

For 20 years, Two Bulls revived interest in learning the Lakota language and cultural stories by taking them into the classrooms at Red Cloud Indian School and Holy Rosary Mission on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. She also presented lectures about the importance of language, tribal songs, thought and philosophy of the Lakota people to local and national audiences in an array of venues, including Crazy Horse Memorial near Custer.

The winners and the categories in which they will be honored are: Two Bulls, story telling; Chichinoff Thadei, weaving and printmaking; Santos, painting and sculpture; and Bridges, birch-bark canoes and baskets.

Nominated by their communities and peers, the artists are selected by an independent panel of judges. Each artist will receive $5,000 as part of the fellowship.

A banquet reception begins at 5 p.m. Saturday at The Journey, 222 New York St. The Periaktos Productions will present “Four Voices — A Collective Spirit” at 7 p.m. at Central High School Theater. Other performances will be by the Native Thunder Drum Group, Red Cloud Indian School Dancers, Jenny Ghost Bear and Spur Pourier, Phillip Whiteman Jr. and Dallas Chief Eagle Jr.

The Sioux Indian Museum will host “Voices from the Four Directions” from Dec. 3 to Dec. 31 at The Journey. Paulette Montileaux curated the exhibit, which includes photography by Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie of the 2005 and 2006 Community Spirit Award artists.

Pourier said the tenacity and drive of the four honored artists continues to inspire her.

Here is what First Peoples Fund says about the artists:

At 42, Bridges is the youngest artist to receive the award. His work as an environmentalist and conservationist reflects his love of water. Bridges builds his canoes using the traditional methods of the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot and Malecite. No nails, screws or other metal fasteners are used in construction of his canoes.

Like Bridges, Santos has also been involved in conservation efforts. For the past 25 years, she has worked to preserve fishing rights. Santos, who has ovarian cancer, has begun looking at Medicine Art that incorporates ceremonies of medicine societies from throughout the world.

Weaving has been the core of Thadei’s creative expression, but storytelling and printmaking frame that core. An Alaskan native, her family was one of those held in internment camps when the Japanese invaded the Aleutian Islands during World War II. “She is a powerful voice for her community,” Pourier said.

Pourier said that these four artists were selected from 100 nominations but that they all have an innate sense of responsibility for their community and the future generations of their tribes to understand where they come from and who they are.

“They’re revitalizing those cultural songs, dances and ceremonies, and it is pretty powerful work,” she said.

The organization has recognized Two Bulls for keeping the stories of her people alive.

In 1983, she and her husband, Mathew, were celebrated at “Mathew and Nellie Two Bulls Day” in Rapid City. She also had shows at The Journey. In 1987, Black Hills State University bestowed a doctorate degree on the Oglala Lakota woman.

Two Bulls also has adopted through traditional ceremonies a community of Indian and non-Indian people to be a part of her family. Her life has earned her the respect of Indian and non-Indian communities, and she was the perfect choice for the award, Pourier said.

“I feel so happy, honored and sacred all at the same time,” Two Bulls said.

Tickets to the Dec. 3 banquet reception at The Journey and Central High School theater are $50 for adults. Tickets for only the honoring ceremony at Central High School cost $10. Call 348-0324 for tickets.

Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com