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Aspen Deckard links Salish language, ledger art and bison history in Missoula gallery talk
Summary
Artist and Salish-language speaker Aspen Deckard described the history of ledger art, Salish language features and a multi‑generation buffalo story during a gallery program in Missoula. The talk connected artworks on display to removal, the Dawes Act and local efforts to present Indigenous history in public art.
Aspen Deckard, an artist and fluent Salish speaker, traced the history of Salish ledger art, language and the tribe’s buffalo herds during a public gallery talk in Missoula on the final week of the current exhibition. Deckard placed her own contemporary ledger pieces in the context of 19th‑century ledger art traditions and the early reservation era, and she told an extended traditional story about efforts to preserve bison on the reservation.
Deckard said ledger art is less about European‑style portraiture and more about family and group identity: “The faces aren't seen in ledger art because unlike more European portraiture art, it's more about identity being tied to your family design.” She explained how artists…
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