About this artwork
Rhonda Holy Bear uses her art to create cross-generational connections with ancestors. She created this exceptional and intricate sculpture over 12 years. With a body entirely carved from wood, it features 32 different Lakota techniques, such as beading and quillworking, and has been awarded “Best in Show” three times in major Native art competitions. The sculpture portrays a Lakota widow honoring her fallen husband by wearing his regalia, including his eagle-feather war bonnet. She demonstrates her own accomplishments as a woman, wife, and mother in her belt of honors. The deeply personal figure was inspired by Holy Bear’s paternal grandmother Josephine Sees The Horses Woman, who was born in 1872 and whose father was killed in the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
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Status
- On View, Gallery 160
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Department
- Arts of the Americas
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Artist
- Rhonda Holy Bear, Wakah Wayuphika Win, Making with Exceptional Skills Woman
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Title
- Lakota Honor - Sees The Horses Woman - SuWakan Ayutan Win
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Place
- Henderson (Object made in:)
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Date
- 2011-2023
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Medium
- Wood, antique micro-seed beads, micro-porcupine quills, metal sequins, catlinite, shell, brass, metal, chicken feathers, hair, paint, cotton, wool, fabric, deer skin, antler, horn, and bells
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Inscriptions
- Signed dress interior: "RH". Signed and inscribed valise recto, middle, in beads: "WAKAH WAYUPIKA WIN / WAKPA WASTE OYANKE". Inscribed valise verso, middle, in beads: "SUWAKAN AYUTAWIN / ITAZIPCO".
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Dimensions
- 67 × 33.2 × 33.4 cm (26 7/16 × 13 1/8 × 13 3/16 in.)
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Credit Line
- Rhoades Family and Mrs. Leonard S. Florsheim Jr. funds; purchased with funds provided by Allen Turner in memory of Father Peter J. Powell
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Reference Number
- 2023.1378a-c
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Copyright
- © 2023 Rhonda Holy Bear, Wakah Wayuphika Win, Making with Exceptional Skills Woman
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
