Transcription

My name is John Pepion and I am a Blackfeet visual artist. I have been fortunate to be raised in my community; the Blackfeet Indian Reservation located in northwestern Montana. If you have ever visited Glacier National Park, you have driven through my community. The drawings that I create are inspired by my culture, and I add my own flair and stories to all the work that I create.

Today, I’d like to tell you about this small tipi that was created in the early 1900s. It was made for Walter McClintock, an anthropologist and collector that visited and studied my tribe in the early 1900s. He came very close to the community, was adopted in, and had a relationship with the Blackfeet for 15 years.

First, it is important to let you know that Blackfeet tipis always face east to honor the rising Sun. Because this is a very small tipi, we made an exception so we can see the pictographic stories better. This tipi was created and drawn by a Blackfeet woman named Kills-Close-To-The-Lake and features the exploits of her husband, Big Eyes. Plains Indian drawings historically focused on battle feats, which are a way a Plains man protected his family and community.