Native American 'expresses his existence through art'

BILLINGS, Mont. — Ben Pease is an artist and Indigenous creative.

"I'm Apsaalooka," Pease said. "I'm Crow Northern Cheyenne from present successful Montana. My clans are Big Lodge and kid of Big Lodge. My Apsaalooka name, my Crow name, is Steals the Guns from Two Enemy Camps.”

As an Indigenous person, Pease says creativity is simply a portion of his existence.

"We make things for mundane life, and they conscionable hap to beryllium beautiful," Pease said. "We make things for ceremony, for celebration, and they conscionable hap to beryllium beautiful.”

Growing up connected the reservation, Pease says helium was taught ne'er to speech astir himself. However, helium realizes the request to talk up for his people.

"It's a almighty happening to recognize that, 'Hey, determination is state and being an artist, I conjecture to cognize that you bash person a dependable and you tin talk with that voice.'”

As a Native American, Pease says helium experiences a batch of broadside eyes and racism.

“The struggles that Indigenous peoples person faced successful our tribal communities, it's immeasurable," Pease said. "It stems each the mode from our peoples being successful nutrient deserts, to cleanable water, to underrepresented wellness care, addiction, drugs and alcohol, home violence, abuse.”

According to Pease, galore Native communities person closed their borders during the pandemic. However, that, unfortunately, hasn't stopped Indigenous populations from being among the hardest deed by COVID-19 deaths.

"In the Crow community, particularly successful the bluish Cheyenne community, we were deed hard," Pease said. "We mislaid truthful galore elders scores and scores of elders that were those keepers of knowledge.”

Pease says artists bring ideas, ideas bring much people, and radical bring change.

"I would anticipation I'm capable to transmission immoderate of these struggles successful my art. I conscionable don't cognize if that's for maine to decide.”

Pointing to 1 of his works successful Stapleton Gallery, Pease explained the connection down it.

"There's an arrow for each authorities successful the contiguous U.S., it's talking astir taste adaptation being capable to determination guardant successful the look of adversity, being capable to turn and alteration and shift.”

In presumption of Indigenous acceptance, Pease says helium believes nine is moving successful the close direction.

“I bash judge it's amended present than it's ever been successful history," Pease said. "At slightest I anticipation it to be. I deliberation that antithetic institutions astatine antithetic levels are starting to clasp diverseness and normalize it and observe it. And that's great. You know, fto radical archer their ain stories alternatively of telling them for them.”

Jeremiah Young is the Owner of Stapleton Gallery and has been showing Pease's works for 5 years.

“Not each assemblage is trying to bash this, but we are," Young said. "We're trying to archer the communicative of a place, and you virtually cannot archer the communicative of this spot without including the Indigenous dependable that hasn't ever figured into the West. But it should have, and it is present acknowledgment to artists similar Ben.”

“I conscionable privation to applaud different Indigenous artists, artists who besides hap to beryllium Indigenous, due to the fact that we're present and we person a dependable and we're making abstraction for ourselves, you know, making this happening that we're doing normal, you know, expressing our beingness and that's beauteous and almighty and its ain happening truthful if you’re capable to find the enactment of an Indigenous artist, enactment them,” Pease said.