Blackfeet Culture Camp | Lodgepole Gallery and Tipi Village
Darrell Norman – A Blackfeet Artist
Darrell has been an active artist for the past thirty years, specializing in Blackfeet tribal art forms, both contemporary and traditional, based on Blackfeet design, imagery, and symbolism. Darrell learned traditional art forms, drums, rattles, shields, and par fleche work from Blackfeet elders and artists. He was a member of the traditional Blackfeet Thunder Pipe Society and the Crazy Dog Society. In 1981, Darrell received his formal art degree from North Seattle Community College in Seattle, Washington. After 36 years in Seattle, Darrell returned to the reservation in 1991 and, in 1993, began the Lodgepole Gallery and Tipi Village in Browning.
In 2002, he was awarded the Community Spirit Award from the First Peoples Fund. In 2004, he received the Artists in Business Leadership Award (First Peoples Fund); in 2007, the Outstanding Alumni Award from North Seattle Community College; and in 2009, a second Artists in Business Leadership Award from the First Peoples Fund. In recognition of artistic excellence and contribution to the preservation of Montana’s cultural heritage, Darrell was inducted into Montana’s Circle of American Masters in Visual Folk & Traditional Arts by the Montana Arts Council in 2012.
In addition to these awards, Darrell was an artistic consultant for the American Indian Museum in Washington, D.C. and has been a consultant on many projects concerning Blackfeet Heritage for Books and films. In 2004, his CD Return of the Buffalo Horse, produced by Ramon Kramer of Hamburg, Germany, was on the Grammy Award entry list in 2002. The CD Buffalo Sky, produced by Tom Bee from Soar Records, was nominated for a Native American Music Award.
Darrell Norman died in November 2020 in Great Falls, Montana.
Please read Darrell’s letter of introduction by Blackfeet Tribal Chairman
“My art reflects the beauty and tradition of my (Blackfeet) Pikuni heritage. I not only work in traditional materials and do traditional items, but I also do contemporary works in nontraditional materials based on Blackfeet designs and imagery. As art is an integrated part of our lives as Blackfeet, I immerse myself in all aspects of it: Dancing, singing, ceremony, storytelling and visual arts. All of these things help me express myself in the arts. To me this is all carrying on traditions, which should be shared and passed on to upcoming generations. It is preserving our culture and our nation. I do this through teaching both children and adults as well as representing artists in my gallery and hosting an international clientele at my tipicamp.”
