Mona Smith (artist) facts for kids

Mona Smith is a talented Native American artist, storyteller, and producer of documentaries. She uses her art to share important stories about Native American culture and history.

Early Life and Learning

Mona Smith is a member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, a Native American tribe. Their reservation is in South Dakota. Mona's mother left the reservation at 17 years old. She had a scholarship to a two-year college in Kentucky.

Mona grew up in Red Wing, Minnesota. She went to a boarding school called Villa Maria Academy for Girls. Later, she attended Webster College in St. Louis, Missouri. She studied women's issues when she was a college student at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

While there, she took her first video-making workshop. This sparked her interest in making films. She started working with Nan Toskey, who became a guide and partner for her early projects. Mona decided to make filmmaking her career. For a while, she made commercials, documentaries, and educational videos to support herself.

Exploring Her Artistic Career

Mona Smith made her first short film about Native culture in 1986. It was called "Heartbeat Drumbeat." She made it for the Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center.

Films on Native Culture and Health

Smith directed several short films. These films explored Native culture and health topics. They include Her Giveaway: A Spiritual Journey with AIDS (1988) and Honored by the Moon (1990).

Her Giveaway is a 45-minute film. It tells the story of Carole Lafavor. She shares her life as an Ojibwe woman living with HIV. Smith thought the film would only be seen by a few local tribes. However, it reached many more people. This was because "Carole's story was one that people of all kinds could connect with."

Honored by the Moon is a 15-minute documentary. It looks at the place of gay and lesbian people in tribal communities. The film shares modern stories of people coming out. It also includes historical views.

Art Installations and Exhibitions

From 2004 to 2005, Smith's project "Cloudy Waters: Dakota Reflections on the River" was shown. It was featured at the Minnesota History Center. This art piece showed the Mississippi River from the Dakota people's point of view. It used water, sounds, videos, and pictures to create the experience.

The sound part of "Cloudy Waters" is now always at the Mill City Museum in Minneapolis. This art piece has also been shown in other places. These include Virginia Tech (2010), Galway, Ireland, and the Science Museum of Minnesota.

In 2006, Smith's "City Indians" exhibit explored the Dakota people's place in Minnesota's Twin Cities. Smith noted that Minneapolis, especially where the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers meet, "is where the Dakota people began."

Smith also created a self-portrait called "Between." It was part of the "Hokah!" exhibition at the Ancient Traders Gallery. This show featured portraits from 27 Native American artists. Smith's piece showed a face that looked like it was squeezed between two rocks. It also had the date 2012. This date marked 150 years since the Dakota wars. These wars ended her people's independence.

The shores of Bde Maka Ska (renamed from Lake Calhoun in 2020) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Smith helped create a public art installation here, honoring the history of Native settlement along the lake shore.

Interactive Maps and Community Projects

In 2012, Smith created the Bdote Memory Map. This is an online map that you can interact with. It shows Bdóte, a very special area for the Dakota people. This area is centered where the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers meet.

The Minnesota Humanities Center helped produce this project. It features Minnesota sites like Fort Snelling, Coldwater Spring, and Pike Island. Smith combined stories, videos, and images of these areas. This created an informative map about the sites.

Smith also helped start the Healing Place Collaborative. This group includes activists, environmentalists, policy-makers, and artists. They are all interested in the Mississippi River. The group wants to help people working on history, language, and water issues. They aim to find common goals. They especially want to heal the relationship between Native people and the lands around Bdóte. Smith often asks, "What would our work look like if we put the Indigenous perspective first?"

Bde Maka Ska Art Project

In 2018, Smith worked with artists Sandy Spieler and Angela Two Stars. They were asked to create a public art installation. This art is on the shores of Bde Maka Ska (formerly Lake Calhoun) in Minneapolis. It marks the lake getting its Dakota name back.

The project's theme is "Story Awakening." It honors the history of Dakota people who lived by the lake before they were moved. The project recognizes a Native community called Ḣeyata Ọtuŋwe. This means "Village to the Side" or "Village Set Back (from the shore)." Its leader was Maḣpiya Wicạ ṡṭa (Cloud Man). This village existed by the lake shore in the 1830s.

The three artists each added different things to the installation. It has a circle of stones and a walking path. The path has a railing with pictures of plants important to the villagers. Smith was very involved in creating a website for the project. The website has pictures of the art and the site. It also has historical information and video interviews with modern Dakota people.

Notable Works

• Her Giveaway: A Spiritual Journey with AIDS (1988), short film.
• Honored by the Moon (1990), short film.
• Cloudy Waters: Dakota Reflections on the River (2004), public art installation.
• City Indians (2006): art exhibition.
• Bdote Memory Map (2012): interactive map.
• Bde Maka Ska Public Art Project (2020 and beyond): public art installation at Bde Maka Ska.