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…

Chopaka is near the American border on the Similkameen River in the Okanagan Valley of BC, Canada. Peterson’s reserve was the location formerly listed as a railway station on the Great Northern Railroad which later became BNSF.

Jim Yellowhawk of Black Hills, South Dakota

Jim Yellowhawk, is the artist who created the buffalo graphic on the Pendleton blanket shown here.

Yellowhawk grew up on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota and 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 eagle, the 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.

Stay Tuned

Sterling Peterson speaks his mind and appreciates that at REZ13 we want to hear his story. Check back for developments that come out of the connecting the dots that begin with this beautiful Buffalo blanket.