Boundless K-12 Curriculum: KINSHIP & STORYTELLING

DYANI WHITE HAWK

2D interpretation of a traditional Lakota dress. Green background, a collar with 10 rows of grey + cream lines, dragonflies, gold foil dots and multicolor horizontal lines at the bottom.
2D interpretation of a traditional Lakota dress. Red background, a collar of 10 rows of grey and cream lines. Alternating bands of white, black + red at the bottom.

Dyani White Hawk
Sicangu Lakota, German and Welsh ancestry, American, born 1976

Nakíčižiŋ (Protect) from the
Takes Care of Them suite, 2019
Screenprint with metal foil
Museum purchase with Trinkett Clark Memorial Student Acquisition Fund 2020.06

Dyani White Hawk
Sicangu Lakota, German and Welsh ancestry, American, born 1976

Wačháŋtognaka (Nurture) from the
Takes Care of Them suite, 2019
Screenprint with metal foil
Museum purchase with Trinkett Clark Memorial Student Acquisition Fund 2020.05

ABOUT THE MAKER

Dyani White Hawk is a multidisciplinary visual artist with mixed Sicangu Lakota, German, and Welsh heritage. She was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin. Dyani’s mother was adopted and raised by non-Native parents, so it wasn’t until Dyani was a teenager that she began to learn about her Lakota ancestry. Since then, her work focuses on topics of identity, heritage, family, and worldview. For her, as an artist, it is important to be transparent in how one tells their history.

A photo of Dyani White Hawk in her studio.

Takes Care of Them speaks to the ways that the women collectively care for our communities at large. The emphasis on collective is really important because it’s not just mom, it’s not just grandma. It’s the combination of mother, grandma, aunty, cousin, sister, all of those relationships…

— Dyani White Hawk, from:
Mead Seeds interview

Additional Resources

VISIT THE Dyani White Hawk’s WEBSITE
Dyani White Hawk process
video
“Crafting With Dentalia”
video

Learn about other objects in KINSHIP and STORYTELLING:

A basket with a photograph at the bottom of the basket of a woman selling baskets.

In what ways do objects connect us to the past?

2D interpretation of a traditional Lakota dress. Green background, a collar with 10 rows of grey + cream lines, dragonflies, gold foil dots and multicolor horizontal lines at the bottom.

How does connecting with culture influence a person’s identity?

Freehand pyrography on winter birchbark

What are the ways that social or cultural identity link people over time and distance?

A woven drawstring bag.

Why is it important to acknowledge both shared aspects of culture and individual cultural ancestry?

A quilted patch of overlapping layers with words stitched onto the surface.

How can individual words connect with a bigger idea?

A line drawing depicting stereotypes that exist about Native Americans.

How does written expression help one reflect on and understand cultural identity?

A triptych of geometric patterns stacked vertically made with pencil and ink on paper.

What are some ways that visual language can tell a story about a person?

Two screen prints based on Lakota traditional dresses.

How does combining imagery with words tell a story more effectively?

overlapping concentric circles made by ripples in water.

Boundless K-12 Curriculum

* YouTube links to audiovisual materials shared by other creators are included in the curriculum. For more information, including for captioning and transcripts of the suggested audiovisual materials, please contact the audio/video content creators.