Pine Ridge Reservation...

I recently went to the the Pine Ridge Native American Reservation in South Dakota for the 6th time. Went with the organization Love,Light,&Melody.  My goal this trip was to paint a 30ft x 10ft mural in a school hallway in Manderson aka 'Murderville'. It's known as one of the most dangerous areas on the reservation. 

During the first couple days we were invited to a Pow Wow. This was pretty big and I was honored to attend my first one. Hundred of kids dressed in amazing hand-made outfits and danced traditional dances in this competition. I really wasn't sure how they could tell who was the best with all the kids but it really was great to hear the men tribal singing and seeing all the dancing going on for quite some time.

 This was one of the largest groups of friends I've gone with.

 We visited our good friend Bernard's home where we got hang and have the usual jam session. Bernard finally got his shirt that I drew & designed for his fun band. 'Barney Fife & the One Bullet Band'. Some of the most amazing sunsets I've ever seen have been right from is little house and vast land.

 A couple days later I finally got started on the mural at the school. I wanted to incorporate native animals within the design. The school also had a basic idea/theme. Since it was for kids I kept it bring and fun.

 About 5hrs into painting the mural we got news of a major snow storm headed our way. Watching the weather carefully I had to start packing up the paints. Pretty bummed as I realized I might not be able to finish the wall. We slowly drove back to a safe shelter.

 The next morning the weather was 3 degrees but clear. So at 5:30am I headed back to the school and painted as fast as I could with the little time I had left to finish. (Below is a few detail and process photos.) The kids all loved the mural and were super excited to see it in their halls. Having them feel proud of their school and happy to see the mural makes it all worth it.