Daily Correspondent

At first glance, Oglala Lakota artist Dwayne Wilcox’s colored pencil drawing of two women in traditional garb at a powwow looks like it could be from a century ago. Completed on antique ledger paper, the drawing is an example of ledger art, a pictorial tradition developed by Native people of the American Great Plains during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in which events, such as ceremonies and battles, are drawn onto pages.

Take a closer look, though, and it becomes clear that the piece is contemporary because of what the two women are holding in their hands—smartphones. One screen reads: “r u at da powwow.” The artwork’s title is 4G Better Than One-G, a play on the Lakota word for the number one, wanci (pronounced “one-gee”), and the names for different levels of cellular service.

Wilcox’s colorful ledger art is now on display in Washington, D.C. at “Unbound: Narrative Art of the Plains,” an exhibition at the National Museum of the American Indian that juxtaposes historical and contemporary works by Native Plains artists to demonstrate how the art has evolved over time to respond to changing social, political and environmental conditions.

“I want people to see that we’re not just stuck in the past,” says curator Emil Her Many Horses, who is also an Oglala Lakota artist. “We’re inspired by our traditions, and we try to follow those, but we’re also evolving, too. We’re bringing this forward.”

Ledger art, muslin drawings and a painted shirt made of deer hide and horsehair are some of the displayed narrative works from the 18th and 19th centuries. The diverse array of artifacts, which were selected from the museum’s collection, shows how Plains peoples recorded their own histories, and how, over time, they adapted their storytelling traditions to newly available materials like canvases and ledger books.

Historical drawing
Cheyennes among the Buffalo, Bear’s Heart, paper, graphite, colored pencil and ink, ca. 1875 National Museum of the American Indian

Historical and modern pieces in the exhibition present different interpretations of the same art forms, showing the evolution of narrative art. Two decorated dresses traditionally worn by women whose relatives were killed in battle highlight how this art form shifted over 100 years: The first was likely painted by Running Antelope around 1880 and features the Hunkpapa Lakota in battle with the Arikara. The other, a dress in a similar style, shows an eagle plume alongside distinctly modern guns, soldiers and U.S. flags. Created by Arikara artist Lauren Good Day in 2012, the dress honors her grandfather, Blue Bird, who fought in the Vietnam War.

In pairing contemporary pieces with similar artifacts from the archives, Her Many Horses says he wants to show how Native artists are still evolving storytelling traditions. “I really want people to see that we’re still here,” he says, “and we’re still documenting.”

This continuity is also evident in two winter counts, or illustrated calendars that represent each year with one drawing of an important event that occurred. The years are counted from winter to winter, hence the tradition’s name.

A winter count created by unknown artists that begins in 1798 and ends in 1902 depicts events like the introduction of smallpox to the Plains, and a spectacular 1833 meteor shower that earned the nickname “the year the stars fell,” according to Her Many Horses. It is paired with a more contemporary winter count, a bright yellow painting by Martin E. Red Bear that traces significant events from 1980 to 2004, such as then-President Bill Clinton’s 1999 visit to the Pine Ridge Reservation and a dazzling lunar eclipse, which Red Bear depicts his family watching.

Historical dress
Hunkpapa Lakota dress, ca. 1880.  National Museum of the American Indian
Contemporary dress new
A Warrior’s Story, Honoring Grandpa Blue Bird, Lauren Good Day, dress, 2012 National Museum of the American Indian

Her Many Horses commissioned over 50 works of contemporary art for the exhibition, which originally debuted back in 2016 at the museum’s New York City location. Artists representing Plains communities such as Apsáalooke, Comanche, Kiowa, Osage and Pikuni were asked to create whatever inspired them, the curator says.

He aimed to include artists who had narrative art traditions in their communities, and in their practices. “I didn’t specifically say, ‘You should do this, you should do that,’” he says. “It was up to them to create what they wanted.”

The resulting collection is as diverse as the many artists behind it. Primarily ledger art, the modern works range from psychedelic black-and-white graphite works to vivid drawings made with colorful felt-tipped markers, and they depict events ranging from military victories to modern pop culture iconography.

Familiar faces abound in the work of Dallin Maybee, a Northern Arapaho and Seneca ledger artist who blends traditional and contemporary motifs in his drawings, which include Indigenized interpretations of characters from Where the Wild Things Are and “SpongeBob SquarePants.”

His drawings also represent important moments in his personal life, such as one that shows him working as a prosecutor for the Gila River Indian Community near Phoenix.

“You’re kind of always surrounded by art in our communities, whether it’s dance, or the very utilitarian function to much of our art,” Maybee says. “And being exposed to it, you enjoy it, you see the beauty in it.”

As both an artist and a parent, Maybee says he sees an importance in bringing those traditions into the future.

“I feel that when I’m engaged in the art forms that I do, I’m helping evolve and grow and continue our culture for my children,” he says. “Then, they learn these art forms and styles, and I’m so pleased that they appreciate it, and they want to engage in it as well.”

Maybee was inspired to take on characters like SpongeBob, in part, by watching his children connect to them. “Part of the joy of these pop culture icons and cartoons and books is how we can immerse ourselves into the narrative, even though it may be something different entirely,” he says. “I see them resonating with my children. And so I always wanted to express that in a way that makes sense to Native people.”

Maybee hopes that through these works, people will see that Native narrative art is evolving, growing and “responding to the environments that we’re in for the positive.”

“The creation of art is not just creation of art,” he says. “It’s an act of cultural preservation.”

“Unbound: Narrative Art of the Plains” is on view through January 20, 2026, at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

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Ella Malena Feldman is a writer and editor based in Washington, D.C. She examines art, culture and gender in her work, which has appeared in Washington City Paper, DCist and the Austin American-Statesman.