12" x 36" Framed Original.
Through a series of 19th-century treaties, the United States confined Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota Nations to designated reservations within what became the Dakota Territory. These agreements fractured the Great Sioux Nation, separating relatives across great distances and restricting traditional movement across their homelands.
Once placed on reservations, leaving without permission was often treated as a criminal act. Travel to visit family could result in pursuit by the U.S. cavalry, who labeled those moving beyond reservation boundaries as “hostile” or “renegade.” In response, tribal runners used knowledge, strategy, and the land itself to protect their people. Runners would draw cavalry pursuit by leaving tracks, leading soldiers far from the community. Others tied turtle shells to their feet, erasing footprints and allowing groups to circle back, regroup, and move undetected.
This mixed media work incorporates turtle shells, trade cloth, and blue-dyed quillwork to reflect both material culture and survival strategies, as well as combining traditional lifeways with post-settler influence. “Turtle Tracks” honors the resilience, resistance, and relational ties that endured despite forced division.
Artist Jerry Fogg (Fogma/Ledger), Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋ Nakota, centers Indigenous history and lived experience in his work. Drawing from traditional knowledge and contemporary mixed media, Fogg challenges colonial narratives while honoring the resilience, intelligence, and adaptability of Plains people.