Related Events:

Exhibition Reception & Artist Talk: Friday, November 20, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. | Free to the public
Manifest Your Peace with Paint Workshop: Saturday, November 21, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

About this Exhibition:

The Square is proud to present Buffalo Tales: Wisdom from the Past, Light for the Journey — Works by Black Pinto Horse Monte Yellow Bird, Sr. in two galleries through mid-January, 2027. Curated by Nicole Maria Evans, Chief Curator/Director of Curatorial Affairs, the exhibition includes brand new paintings and ledger art by Yellow Bird, photographs from the artist’s life, and sculptural works.

What stories do we carry forward?

For Hidatsa and Arikara artist Black Pinto Horse Monte Yellow Bird Sr., storytelling is not simply a way of remembering the past, it is a responsibility to the generations yet to come. Rooted in ancestral knowledge, ceremony, lived experience, and an enduring relationship to place, his art brings histories forward so that they may continue to teach.

The exhibition takes place during 2026, the 250th anniversary year of the United States. National commemorations invite reflection on American history, identity, freedom, and the stories through which the nation understands itself. Buffalo Tales expands that conversation by placing an Indigenous artist’s voice at its center.

Black Pinto Horse Monte Yellow Bird Sr.’s work reminds us that Indigenous history is not only a story about the distant past. Three Affiliated Tribes refer to the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara peoples that have lived on these lands for generations, with their own cultures, traditions, stories, and ways of life long before the United States was established in 1776. Those traditions continue today.

Through his paintings and ledger drawings, Yellow Bird carries stories and knowledge from his ancestors into the present, while sharing them with future generations. His art shows us that the past is not gone, it continues to shape who we are and can offer wisdom for the journey ahead.

In this context, Wisdom from the Past, Light for the Journey becomes both a title and a proposition. The past is not simply something we look back upon. It is something we carry.

Yellow Bird describes his motivation with striking simplicity: “The need to share the voice.” That voice reaches across generations to his ancestors, to future generations, and to those encountering these stories for the first time. Through Buffalo Tales, Yellow Bird invites us to listen closely, to look with curiosity, and to remember that the stories we inherit can continue to guide us. His work asks us not only to consider what has been carried forward, but also what wisdom we will carry with us on the journey ahead. — Nicole Maria Evans, Chief Curator/ Director of Curatorial Affairs

About the Artist:

Black Pinto Horse Monte Yellow Bird Sr. is an Arikara/Hidatsa artist from the Three Affiliated Tribes who grew up in White Shield, North Dakota. His family lineage connects him to generations of tribal leaders and spiritual figures. His childhood was also shaped by the displacement of his community from Elbowoods following the construction of Garrison Dam in North Dakota when ancestral bottomlands along the Missouri River were flooded. These histories of place, disruption, survival, and continuance remain important contexts for understanding his work.

For Yellow Bird, however, history is not defined solely by loss. It is also a source of knowledge, strength, beauty, and direction. “The most significant aspect of my work is sharing stories with viewers from diverse backgrounds,” he explains. Through those encounters, the past becomes active. Storytelling becomes a means of remembering who we are, where we come from, and what we might carry forward.

Acknowledgements:

This exhibition was curated by Nicole Maria Evans, Chief Curator/Director of Curatorial Affairs with support from Natalie Nicolson, Facilities Manager/Exhibition Preparator and marketing designs by Sara Johnson, Culture & Engagement Manager. Exhibitions at the museum are supported in part by the Montana Arts Council, a state agency funded by the State of Montana, and the National Endowment for the Arts. We are funded in part by coal severance taxes paid based upon coal mined in Montana and deposited in Montana's cultural and aesthetic projects trust fund. Additional funding is provided by museum members and the citizens of Cascade County, Davidson Family Foundation, D.A. Davidson, Montana Credit Union, Hotel Arvon, a generous anonymous donor, and Kelly’s Signs & Design.

Special acknowledgment for support from the Ti Stalnaker Memorial Fund for Indigenous Art Exhibitions at Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art.

America 250 sponsors for this exhibition include Steve L’Heureux and Carol Bradley, Gaines & Beth McFadden, Alanna Zrimsek, and Doug Zody. Thank you!