Illustrator Gwynnevere Vang, the 2022 ThreeSixty scholar, created this piece and the following reflection after her trip to Hoċokata Ti, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s cultural center. Vang was part of ThreeSixty’s 2022 Radio Broadcast Camp with MPR News, and students’ radio stories centered on Indigenous narratives.
“The turtle represents what I learned at the open exhibit. The turtle was the only animal that could reach the bottom of the sea and grab mud, ultimately creating land and Earth itself. Throughout camp I got to see how important the natural land was to sustain the living things on Earth. Like Reuben Kitto Stately said, ‘Everything you need to sustain life is on the surface, you don’t need to dig for it.’
The sky, land and water are for the sky, land and water acknowledgements presented at radio camp. The fact that we acknowledge land that belonged to our Indigenous peers makes a very large impact on me and how I will go about respecting the environment.
The beadwork is inspired by the Oglala Lakota Tribe member I interviewed at the roundtable event! Her name is Jaida Grey Eagle, and she makes beadwork inspired by her great-grandmother’s quilt patterns. It was fun to interview her and hear about her journey in photojournalism!”
