[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 74 (Wednesday, May 4, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2328-S2329]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               TRIBUTE TO WALLACE ``BUTCH'' THUNDER HAWK

 Mr. CRAMER. Madam President, I want to honor today the 
distinguished career of a remarkable North Dakota educator and artist 
who is retiring from teaching this month.
  Wallace ``Butch'' Thunder Hawk is an internationally renowned artist 
who has been a Tribal art teacher at United Tribes Technical College in 
Bismarck for 49 years. He has helped hundreds of students grow their 
artistic talent and appreciate traditional Native American art and 
traditions.
  Beyond his classroom in Bismarck, the impact of Butch's passion for 
creating and teaching Native American art has been felt around the 
world. A Hunkpapa Lakota Teton Sioux, he was raised in the community of 
Cannonball on the Standing Rock Reservation. Butch was influenced by 
the work of his grandparents and mother, who created traditional art 
including beadwork, warbonnets, and tools. Ledger art has become one of 
Butch's great interests, and he has created hand-carved horse effigies, 
horse memorial sticks, war shields, and traditional weaponry.
  His artwork can be seen in homes and museums around the region and 
world. He was instrumental in establishing the Indian Hall exhibit at 
Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, helping to recreate art similar to what 
Lewis and Clark would have collected during their famous expedition in 
the early 1800s. Working with Harvard University's Peabody Museum of 
Archaelogy and Ethnology, he and his students created several pieces 
for Monticello's Indian Hall, including clubs, lances, arrows, shields, 
pipes, and a quiver and bowcase. Later, following several years as a 
visiting scholar at Harvard, he was a curator of an exhibit at the 
Peabody Museum on Lakota images of the West. One of his horse memorial 
effigy replicas is in the permanent collection at the Nelson Atkins 
Museum in Kansas City, and two major art pieces are on display at the 
James Monroe House in Charlottesville, VA. One of his ornaments 
featuring a bison was displayed on the White House Christmas Tree in 
2008.
  He has said creating art and teaching honors his ancestors, his 
family, his students, and other artist friends. He considers it a 
privilege to share Lakota traditions with students and help them grow 
their appreciation of this art.
  When I heard the news that Butch Thunder Hawk was retiring from 
teaching, I smiled. In previous positions I held that included 
promoting all that is good about North Dakota, Butch was at the very 
top of the list of our State's most treasured cultural ambassadors. A 
humble, personable,

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and honorable man, he was generous in sharing his talents and work. 
Butch embodies all that is good about North Dakota and the rich 
traditions of the Tribal nations located in our State. His work and 
influence will resonate in his students for generations to come. On 
behalf of the people of North Dakota, I thank him for his years of 
teaching. And I wish him the best in his retirement, which I am certain 
will include creating more art and influencing many more 
people.

                          ____________________