Kenneth Williams (Seneca/Arapaho) and Orlando Dugi (Navajo) collaborated on “Looking Forward, Looking Back,” shown here in the first image. The image depicts a double-sided mirror bag, one side beaded by Williams and the other beaded by Dugi. The sides show two figures, one with long hair wearing regalia and the other with short hair sporting a suit and tie. The man in regalia is known as Ohiyesa, and the man in the suit is known as Charles Eastman. Ohiyesa and Eastman are the same person. Ohiyesa is a Dakota name, translating to “winner.” An English name, Charles Eastman, was later used for him during his time at Dartmouth College. Eastman was the first Native doctor to practice Western medicine and was also a co-founder of the Boy Scouts. He was a doctor during the time of the Wounded Knee in 1890 in which nearly three hundred Lakota people were killed by the United States Army. Eastman, though growing up in the non-Indian world, knew this tragedy and was there for his people. At the end of his life, Ohiyesa/Eastman returned to his Dakota lifeways. (summarized from It's in the details : Kenneth Williams and Orlando Dugi)
Storytelling is deeply embedded in Indigenous artmaking practice. Beadwork is a contemporary tradition and one of many mediums that Native craftspeople use as record-keeping, lesson-sharing, and resistance. The beads used on the bag panels here are known as seed beads due to their small, seed-like quality. Seed beads come to Turtle Island in the mid-1800s, and beading with them is a particularly meticulous process. Each seed bead holds meaning in the final composition. Williams and Dugi continue to tell many stories through their intricate craftmanship—sewn with care as these stories are in the details.