Hockaday features exhibit of Blackfeet tales and tepees

The Hockaday Museum of Art is currently featuring an exhibit titled “Blackfeet Lodges and the Stories of Sstaniiniki,” which was organized and loaned by the Museum of the Plains Indian in Browning.

Sstaniiniki (Cecile Black Boy) was an intrepid and meticulous researcher and interpreter of her people’s ways of life. As part of the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Writers Project, from 1939 through 1942, Sstaniiniki traveled all over the traditional Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfeet) homeland collecting stories. These are sacred images and stories, passed down through generations, telling of the traditional Blackfeet way of life. Sstaniiniki’s stories and pictures became the basis of Blackfeet Tipis: Design and Legend (1976), a series of fine art prints and stories edited by John C. Ewers and Olga Ross Hannon and illustrated by Jessie Wilber.

The exhibit will be on view through Jan. 8 in the Community Gallery.

To honor and celebrate the legacy of Cecile Black Boy (Sstaniiniki) and Blackfeet culture, the Hockaday will host a closing ceremony Saturday, Jan. 8, from 1 to 3 p.m. Beginning with a Blackfeet Elder-led prayer, the event will include a presentation about Cecile Black Boy by Mary Ellen Little Mustache (great-granddaughter of Sstaniiniki), the opportunity for others to share their recollections about Sstaniiniki, traditional refreshments of dry meat, berries and mint tea, as well as some time for playing hand games.

Schedule

• Opening Prayer: Blackfeet Elder

• Presentation: Noomhtsii'pitapi Sstaniinikii (The life of Cecile Black Boy)

• Book Project Introduction: Sstaniiniki "Kills Instead" A Nomadic Life. This book will feature her offspring, who are still living and making art. Family members will be invited to share their recollections for inclusion in the book.

• Traditional Blackfeet Handgame playing

• Traditional Blackfeet refreshments by Mary Ellen Little Mustache

For more information, email education@hockadaymuseum.com or call 406-755-5268.

While admission to this event is free to the public, if anyone wishes to make a donation at the event, the money raised will be put directly towards the Hockaday's Indian Education Programs such as its Traveling Medicine Show.