By Rosetta Diane Hoessli
Have you ever looked so deeply at a painting or a photograph that you felt you could crawl into it, absorb its story, and live its truth?
I have. But I’ve never experienced anything more powerful or immersive than I did one autumn day in 2000, when an older Lakota artist named Daniel Long Soldier ambled into a KOA office in the Badlands of South Dakota, carrying a black-ink drawing etched into a soft, white-tanned rabbit skin that he wanted to give the office manager as a gift.
Every time I remember this event, I cringe. I really do. I never barge in anywhere. I don’t even like to be noticed. I like to do my business and get out. But this day? This day, as this smiling Lakota artist held up the rabbit skin and waited for what he clearly hoped would be the pleased reaction of his friend, I sidled over to him as unobtrusively as I could to sneak a peek.
I couldn’t believe what I was looking at.
If I could’ve stepped into that incredible black-ink portrait of a Native American warrior and followed him throughout his life and into death, I would’ve been happy. Immediately, he became a fully-drawn character named Black Thunder in WHISPERS THROUGH TIME, which was just beginning to percolate in my imagination.
That drawing sealed the deal. I had to have it. In the back of my mind, I heard my father's voice telling me, "If you really want something, you have to go after it. You may even have to ask for it."
And so, without even thinking about the fact that he was presenting it to a very sweet woman who was obviously his friend, I grabbed his arm and exclaimed, “May I buy this? Please, please…This is the most amazing portrait I’ve ever seen!”
The woman looked stunned, Daniel Long Soldier looked dumbfounded, and my poor husband looked like he wanted to disappear into the floor. I didn’t care. I really didn’t. I knew my story would come to me on wings and an angel’s breath every time I lost myself in that portrait.
The office manager said, very graciously, that she was happy to let me have it – what else could she say, for crying out loud? Daniel Long Soldier quoted a ridiculously low price, told me he’d done it in about an hour while sitting out in the Badlands that morning, and, really, it was no big deal. I would’ve paid ten times what he asked, but he wouldn’t hear of it and I didn’t hesitate.
I took it home.
I don’t think my husband – my ever-polite Texas native with impeccable manners – has ever forgiven me. To this day, I don’t care. I’d tackle him again. I didn’t realize until later that Daniel Long Soldier’s work is all over the internet; he’s a world-famous artist himself. The nephew of well-known Sioux artist, Alex Standing Soldier, he specializes in pen-and-ink, pencil, acrylic, charcoal, and gouache. He’s entirely self-taught, and he’s used his life experiences, history, and culture in his work.
But, to me, he’s so much more than all that. To me, he’s a storyteller. He’s living history. He breathes a lifeforce into a subject in a way I’ve never seen before and probably never will again. I’m so grateful that he overlooked my lack of manners that day, and maybe even recognized a kindred spirit.
Because I certainly did.
*If you’d like to know more about Daniel Long Soldier, this is an excellent website that showcases his work as well as the work of other talented artisans on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation:
https://aktalakota.stjo.org/artists-authors/long-solider-daniel/
If you haven’t read WHISPERS THROUGH TIME, by Rosetta Diane Hoessli, you can buy it here or at other reputable retail outlets:
https://www.amazon.com/Whispers-Through-Rosetta-Diane-Hoessli-ebook/dp/B098278M38/