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June 26, 2003

Center for Western Studies Receives Grant from Deupree Family Foundation

The Center for Western Studies at Augustana has been awarded a $2,500 grant from the Deupree Family Foundation, Windsor Locks, CT.

The grant was given in recognition of the Center's commitment to encouraging the sale of works by Native American artists.

It will cover the purchase, mounting, and cleaning of an early piece by Arthur Amiotte (Custer, SD) recently acquired by the Center. The piece illustrates an important event in Amiotte's life and offers an insight into the struggle of contemporary Sioux Indian people to live lives that respect their traditional ways while adapting to the dominant society.

Says Amiotte: "It commemorates the death from tuberculosis of my cousin, Lucy, picturing her in her sister's dress of black felt trade cloth with red-ribbon trim and shell decorations, inside a swirl of color representing the Sioux hoop of unity. She is waving her blanket in the wind, saying goodbye to me. She had once told me that she wished she could be away from Indians and the Reservation because this is what had made her ill. She said I was supposed to not go back there or it would happen to me also."

Because of its beauty, the stature of the artist, and the cultural value of "Wind in Her Blanket," the piece was chosen for foundation support.

The Center has encouraged Indian artists by including them in its annual "Artists of the Plains Art Show and Sale," and by emphasizing Indian arts and crafts in the gift shop.

The Center has a representative Plains Indian permanent display in the Froiland Room in the Fantle Building on the campus of Augustana College. Admission to all displays at the Center is free.