Multimedia Artist

Amna Nawaz: Our Brief But Spectacular tonight comes from the Portland, Oregon-based multimedia artist Wendy Red Star.

She grew up on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana, and her work celebrates Native identity.

Wendy Red Star, Multimedia Artist: I grew up in a pretty funny family, so that will often show up in the work. People might have that experience of looking at my work and feeling that it's ironic. But, actually, what I think is happening is, I'm telling the truth.

I grew up on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana. What I remember was riding horses a lot with friends, going to an event that is held on the reservation every year called Crow Fair, wearing regalia that my grandma would make for me and my cousins.

When I was in undergrad at Montana State University, I was taking a Native studies class. I came across this chief name Sits in the Middle of the Land, and he was important because he told the U.S. government where Crow territory was. And so he said: "My home is where my teepee sits."

And then he went to place the four poles in the major migration routes that we would travel throughout the season, and that mapped out like 38 million acres. And within that was Bozeman. And so I was really comforted to know that I was on Crow territory.

I wanted to make a piece that would honor that, and so I set up teepees around campus. Historical images of Crow people have been a big source of inspiration for the work that I make, finding out their name and who they were and where that photograph was taken and the context of that.

Being an artist, making art, culturally, it is so important. It's what we're remembered by. I need to make art. And if I don't make art, then I'm not fundamentally me. So, I do know that really is important for my identity.

My name is Wendy Red Star, and this is my Brief But Spectacular take on channeling identity through art.