A Lakota Artist in Pursuit of “Artivism”

By Sydney Dondes, Audrey Ferrer and Jasper Mercy

In a studio nestled on a quiet corner near the Denver Art Museum, Danielle Seewalker, a proud member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North Dakota, stands amidst a whirlwind of color.

Half-painted canvases, jars of dyed porcupine quills and scattered paint brushes fill the small room. Her hands, leggings and apron are covered in bright splotches of paint, stark contrasts against the buffalo hide rug and the white walls of what was once a classroom.

“I think that if I grew up being inspired by Native artists from my community and culture, I might have had more self-esteem or more drive,” Danielle SeeWalker said, reflecting on her upbringing.

Born into a family of creatives, SeeWalker’s art has always been inextricable from her identity. She wields her paintbrush with intention, each work she creates functioning as a means to bolster Native representation.

Through her multifaceted approach to providing Native people with meaningful visibility through her art, she has quickly become a well-known artist across Colorado, and beyond. SeeWalker’s vibrant murals and immersive exhibits and galleries can be found at some of the Centennial State’s most iconic locations, such as Denver International Airport, Empower Field at Mile High Stadium, Denver Indian Center and Denver Central Marketplace.

SeeWalker recently completed her third mural on the University of Colorado Boulder campus, honoring her mission of bringing Native art to historically underrepresented areas. CU Boulder’s undergraduate student body is roughly two-thirds white and the Native student population amounts to a mere 1.5%.

“I want people in universities or schools or communities that are very dominated by white culture to be exposed to something different,” SeeWalker said in reference to her piece at the Miramontes Baca Education Building, a representation of passing knowledge from older generations to younger.

Just as SeeWalker aims to provide representation to Native people, she also focuses on including them throughout her creative process. Following a mural tour and artist’s talk at the CU Boulder campus, she stressed the importance of providing opportunities and visibility for Native artists.

Collaboration has served SeeWalker as an opportunity to pay it forward.

“I try to engage other Native artists as much as I can to give them a platform and create opportunities,” she said.

However, the underrepresentation of Native people does not stop in student demographics or Native artists. It exists within art education as well.

“There’s so much work to be done,” SeeWalker said. “I don’t think people realize that over 70% of Native people live off the reservation and in urban areas. [We] are just trying to have a voice here.”

Having grown up on a reservation, SeeWalker knew that attending a high school off the reservation gave her a different perspective on her identity. Oftentimes, she felt singled out by racism and bullying, noting that her home state of North Dakota lacked racial and ethnic diversity.

“[Native artists] were not taught in school… and so I started to self-educate,” SeeWalker recalls, describing how classic European artists such as Van Gogh and Picasso were favored over Native artists in her curriculum.

For SeeWalker, her art is more than a form of expression. It is an act of resilience and cultural preservation. Like many Native artists before her, SeeWalker utilizes symbolism within her work representing Native cultures. From the medicine wheel to buffalo, elk teeth and more, SeeWalker intentionally weaves her culture into her art.

Some symbols are better known by the general population than others. SeeWalker, however, does not mind if it flies over some people’s heads.

“I want kids in schools to be like… I know what that symbol means. And you know, my peers might not know, but I know,” SeeWalker said. “I hope Native people walk by [my work] and I hope they see it and I hope they feel seen and heard and represented.”