Logo of Tapun Shawin exhibition. Click on it for information about its design.

Opened

2017 at The Journey Museum, Rapid City, SD

2017 at South Dakota Art Museum, Brookings, SD

2018 at Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center, Chamberlain, SD

This exhibit focuses on the short narrative about a Lakotan woman, Tapun Shawin (Red Cheek Woman), who married a Starman that James LaPointe (Oglala Lakota) published in his 1976 book, Legends of the Lakota.

Our exhibit divides LaPointe's 1,095-word narrative into seven “passages.” Each of these passages was creatively interpreted or illustrated by four types of artworks: a 3-D artwork, a song, a 2-D artwork and a poem. These artworks and their passage are a “vignette.” These seven vignettes recount the narrative using LaPointe's words along with new original works which illustrate the compelling journey of the newlyweds to the sky world, the miraculous birth of their son and how his Lakotan relatives raised him until he decided to return to his father's people in the sky.