A Pendleton blanket story begins in Canada…

Blanket worn by Sterling Peterson, who is known as iniipoka, which means ‘Buffalo Child’ in the Blackfoot language. Sterling lives on the Chopaka (Okanagan: C̓up̓áq̓) Indian Reserve. One of Peterson’s passions is learning language.

Jim Yellowhawk of Black Hills, South Dakota

Jim Yellowhawk, the artist who created the buffalo graphic on the Pendleton blanket, grew up on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. Jim is an enrolled member of the Itazipco Band of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and the Onondaga/Iroquois on his mother’s side.

Yellowhawk has been immersed in the arts of his ancestors since he was a young boy as his grandmother, Annie Yellowhawk, was a traditional bead worker and role model for traditional ways and his father, Jerry Yellowhawk, is also a passionate artist in a number of mediums.

Jim’s work portrays traditional symbols such as the horse, eagle, buffalo and the circle about which he has strong beliefs. Yellowhawk’s artwork is in public and private collections across the country. See Jim Yellowhawk’s Facebook page or his Instagram gallery for more of his work.