10/12/2026
Today is Indigenous Peoples' Day, a day to honor and reflect on histories, cultures, and resilience of Native communities who have endured centuries of colonization, displacement, and forced assimilation. The Square is honored to host three esteemed Indigenous artists with exhibitions and installations currently on view. "These artists' work reminds us that Indigenous history is not only a story about the distant past. . . Indigenous 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." — Nicole Maria Evans, Chief Curator/Director of Curatorial Affairs.
The museum may be closed today, but we are open Tuesday through Saturday. We invite you to visit the galleries and learn the stories, wisdom, and techniques of Black Pinto Horse Monte Yellow Bird, Sr. (Arikara/Hidatsa) and John Well-Off-Man (Chippewa-Cree) with his daughter, artist Sonya Well-Off-Man (Chippewa-Cree). Both John and Black Pinto Horse will give Artist Talks and workshops in October and November, respectively.
• John Well-Off-Man: Language, Land, & Resistance
John Well-Off-Man (Chippewa-Cree) grew up in Havre and on Rocky’s Boy Reservation in Montana. He earned a diploma in photography in Cincinnati and an Associate of Fine Arts in printmaking from the Institute of American Indian Arts. Well-Off-Man went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts and a Master of Arts in Fine Arts, Integrated Arts, and Education from the University of Montana.
His art has been exhibited nationally and internationally, with works included in the permanent collections of the Missoula Art Museum, the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, and the Westphalian State Museum of Natural History in Münster, Germany, among others. Through printmaking, Well-Off-Man addresses pressing issues facing Indigenous communities, focusing on cultural and Indigenous language revitalization as well as environmental challenges.
Sonya Well-Off-Man (Chippewa-Cree) is a sound artist and engineer exploring how listening shifts across space, movement, and technology. Her work spans performance, installation, and studio environments, where she creates sonic environments that foreground spatial depth, emotional resonance, and the physicality of sound. Drawing from a background in music technology and digital media she blends technical precision with an intuitive approach to composition and sound design. Whether shaping audio for live performance or crafting immersive multichannel environments, her practice reflects a sustained curiosity about how sound can alter perception, guide attention, and transform the experience of place.
• Buffalo Tales: Wisdom from the Past, Light for the Journey — Works by Black Pinto Horse Monte Yellow Bird, Sr.
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.
John Well Off Man Monte Yellow Bird
