Amelia Schafer
ICT + Rapid City Journal
RAPID CITY, S.D. — In the peak summer heat, 15 Lakota artists gathered at Racing Magpie in Rapid City to sell their creations during the first summertime Night Market from three to eight on Saturday, July 22.
This year’s Night Market included a free screen-printing demonstration, live music, food trucks and a screening of “Mináǧi kiŋ dowáŋ: a Zitkála-Šá opera,” accompanied by a documentary about the making of the opera film.
Organized by Duwana and Lori Two Bulls, both Oglala Lakota, and hosted at Racing Magpie, this was the first time there had been a summer Night Market. Usually, the market is hosted in the spring and winter.
“We decided to try our hand in the night market this year because they’re so popular around the country,” Duwana Two Bulls said.
The Two Bulls family is full of artists, including beadworker Molina Two Bulls and her eight-year-old daughter Bobbi, both of who sold creations alongside several members of the family at the Night Market.
As the youngest artist vending at the market, Bobbi is just starting out as an artist. The “tiny cowgirl” loves to add horses into her art, making beaded necklaces and perler bead art to earn money for her upcoming Disney trip.
Bobbi also helped her uncle, Micheal Two Bulls, with his free screen-printing demonstration during the Night Market.
Micheal brought out two of his silkscreen print stencils “Homelands” and the “Nameless woman,” both of which are a tribute to his Lakota culture. If guests brought their own item, whether it was a T-shirt or tote bag, they could walk away with a new, free piece of art.
The “Homelands” design features the Black Hills, Bear Butte, a Thíŋpsiŋla (wild turnip) braid and other cultural symbols.
“It’s about reasserting that we are from the land,” Micheal Two Bulls said about his design. “I made it to empower other Oceti Sakowin relatives.”
The print of the woman is meant to recognize those who were forgotten and their names were lost to time. Micheal found the photo from an old book of Oglala Lakota photos.
Around eight, once the market portion of the night ended, another element of the night’s artwork began. The free screening began as more than 50 community members gathered to watch the story of Yankton Dakota author and poet Zitkála-Šá, alongside several members of the cast and crew.
Director Sequoia Hauck, White Earth Anishinaabe and Hupa, decided to tell Zitkála-Šá’s story for their opera alongside the An Opera Theatre located in the Twin Cities area in Minnesota.
The entire cast and crew of Zitkála-Šá is Indigenous, and it was important to Hauck to make sure the project uplifted Indigenous people, specifically those from where Zitkála-Šá came from in South Dakota.
As an author, an activist and a boarding school survivor at the turn of the 20th century, Zitkála-Šá has served as an inspiration for many Indigenous people, including actress and singer Emmy Her Many Horses, Sicangu and Oglala Lakota. Her Many Horses plays the 30-year-old version of Zitkála-Šá.
Her Many Horses had begun pursuing music in college, but was discouraged due to the racism she faced as a Native woman.
“Had I known her story when I was younger, I wonder how that would’ve impacted me had a film like this existed when I was younger,” Her Many Horses said. “I want this story to be told and shared so not only people hear her story but so people understand that there were others who came before them that have been in this world.”
The three cast members in attendance all echoed that this was an especially impactful project to work on.
“When I hear Emmy’s voice or Jagger, who plays the 10-year-old Zitkála-Šá, it brings me to tears,” said Adrienne Zimiga-January, Oglala Lakota, who plays the last version of Zitkála-Šá. “This was a very beautiful process to come together as Native women and be able to sing about her life and who she was.”
After the showing, an open Q&A session was held with the actors and director.
This story is co-published by the Rapid City Journal and ICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the South Dakota area.
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