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Today, artist Joe Pulliam continues the custom of his ancestors as he creates ledger art. Ledger art takes its name from the source of paper Native Americans began to use as European settlement moved westward. As tribes came into possession of ledgers, ink and pens, their artists expanded their craft, which had primarily consisted of using bone fragments and earth pigments to paint on shields and robes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis really represented the next step in art,\u201d Pulliam said. \u201cThey were adapting to new materials.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A native of Pine Ridge, Pulliam worked as a graphic designer for 10 years before learning about the connection of his people to ledger art after being introduced to the medium by Nebraska artist Daniel Long Soldier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe historical aspect of ledger art drew me to it,\u201d Pulliam said during a recent stint as the artist-in-residence at the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center in Chadron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Pulliam discovered his great-great-uncle, Amos Bad Heart Bull, had been a prolific ledger artist, it cemented his decision to carry on the tradition. Bad Heart Bull\u2019s father served as the historian for the Oglala Lakota and after becoming a scout for the U.S. Army, which included time at Fort Robinson, Bad Heart Bull followed in his father\u2019s footsteps detailing the history of his people. According to Northern Plains Reservation Aid, Bad Heart Bull created 415 ledger art drawings on used ledger pages over the course of 20 years. The drawings depict Oglala Lakota life before 1856, followed by the conflicts with the Crow from 1856-1875 and the Battle of Little Bighorn, in which his father fought.![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/discovernwnebraska.com\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG_7022.jpg?resize=452%2C441\")
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Artist Joe Pulliam answers questions about his ledger art in front of a ledger art creation done by his great-great-uncle, Amos Bad Heart Bull.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bad Heart Bull\u2019s original pieces were buried with his sister, Dolly Pretty Cloud, but were documented by photographer Helen Blish, said Laure Sinn, of the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center. Staff at the center discovered Blish\u2019s book in the center\u2019s archives \u2013 a gift to Mari Sandoz at some point \u2013 and Bad Heart Bull\u2019s connection with Northwest Nebraska and created the current gallery showing \u201cNative American Legacies.\u201d The show, which runs through Dec. 13, includes reprints of many of Bad Heart Bull\u2019s ledger art pieces, as well as original creations by Pulliam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using Blish\u2019s work as a focal point, the show also features Honoring Quilts donated by Roxie Puchner and a display calling attention to missing and murdered indigenous women. Blish herself has connections to the region, as her father, William, was assigned to work with the Oglala Sioux on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation while employed with the Department of Interior\u2019s Indian Bureau, according to History Nebraska. After graduating from college in 1922, Blish taught English in Gordon for a time before returning to her native Michigan. When it came time for her to write her master\u2019s thesis, she began looking for examples of Plains art, an endeavor that led to her 1934 manuscript \u201cA Photographic History of the Oglala Sioux\u201d featuring Bad Heart Bull\u2019s work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pulliam said research is a key part of his ledger art as he finds ways to preserve the culture and history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m exploring new ways to portray history in a modern light,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A piece he calls \u201cIndigitized\u201d represents Native American\u2019s struggle with identity as they always have \u201cone foot in history and one foot in the present,\u201d Pulliam said. \u201cWarrior Society\u201d depicts fierce defenders in Oglala Lakota history who were also among the most generous people of the tribe, proving they were equally valuable in times of peace as they were in war. Pulliam hopes his art inspires the return of those values to society while additionally calling injustices to light, as he does in another piece inked on an 1892 Sheridan County land deed, to represent government-ignored treaties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While his great-great-uncle used present-day ledgers for his creations, Pulliam scours the internet, antique shops, thrift stores and yard sales in search of ledgers to use in his work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe search is always on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pulliam is also active in social justice issues and is a supporter of the White Clay Maker Space, an effort to provide economic sustainability to Lakota living in the area. A recovering alcoholic, Pulliam said while the maker space\u2019s business-aspect is important, he is more focused on empowering himself and his people through art and providing the healing he finds in the creative process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This ledger art drawing of the Battle of Little Big Horn was done by Amos Bad Heart Bull.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This ledger art creation by Joe Pulliam is produced on an 1897 Sheridan County land deed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joe Pulliam shows a visitor to the Mari Sandoz Center a book of ledger art pieces by the Cheyenne Dog Soldiers, some of the premier Native American ledger artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the left, Joe Pulliam\u2019s Warrior Society ledger art creation is contrasted with his work on the right, drawn on a sheet of music. \u201cWhen I look at music, I see art,\u201d Pulliam said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/discovernwnebraska.com\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG_7015.jpg\")
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