The Stories of a Generation

Meet Danielle SeeWalker, a Denver-based Lakota artist, whose work tells the stories of the modern Native American experience

By Katherine Owen

In the mid to late 1800s, Oglala Lakota leader Tȟašúŋke Witkó (Crazy Horse) spoke of a coming day when a new generation of Native Americans would rise up, with the wisdom and duty to begin healing a sick world, overcoming generations of oppression and harm:

“The red nation shall rise again, and it shall be a blessing for a sick world; a world filled with broken promises, selfishness and separations; a world longing for light again. I see a time of seven generations when all the colors of mankind will gather under the sacred tree of life and the whole earth will become one circle again.” 

Lakota artist, writer and activist Danielle SeeWalker, a citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota, says we are amidst the rise of that seventh generation today. 

“Part of that prophecy is that Natives are going to go through a lot of turmoil, a lot of heartbreak and a lot of detriment, but then there’s going to be this seventh generation that’s going to rise. We’re going to have a voice again, and we’re going to be able to have that circle be full again,” she explains. “I do believe that we are in that seventh generation because my generation is the first where we’re able to legally have rights that any other American has, and it is our responsibility as a generation to speak up and take action for our people.” 

Through her work as an artist, writer, community leader and activist, SeeWalker is telling that generation’s story—and that of all the heartbreak and turmoil that led to it. 

The Red Road Project, a multi-media storytelling collaboration between photographer Carlotta Cardana and SeeWalker documents these stories, offering a “platform for Native American people to tell their stories of past, present and future through their own voices and words.” 

“I have a voice, and I feel like I have a responsibility to speak up, rise and take action, and to be able to do this without the fear of being shut down, like our parents [experienced] during the civil rights eras and into the ‘90s,” she says. “If I don’t use my voice or take action, I’m not doing what I’m supposed to be doing. And so, the project is just one part of the many things that I do to uplift and put Native Americans in a different light and to have our voices heard.”

SeeWalker’s titles and projects are indeed many, spanning continents and mediums. In addition to co-founding The Red Road Project, she’s the author of the book “Still Here: A Past to Present Insight of Native American People & Culture.” She serves as City Commissioner for the Denver American Indian Commission and is one of the founders of Creative Nations, a “permanent establishment for Indigenous artists” in Boulder’s Dairy Arts Center. 

The creation of Creative Nations started with a land acknowledgment in 2020 at the Dairy Arts Center and grew into a permanent, dedicated space for Native artists. Executive director, Melissa Fathman, reached out to artists representing the Hunkpapa Lakota from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Diné, Oglala Lakota, Mnicoujou Lakota band of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Southern Ute, Pyramid Lake Paiute and Duckwater Shoshone. 

By 2022, the collective officially opened “Sacred Space,” a dedicated environment accommodating everything from exhibitions and rehearsals to readings, workshops and more.

SeeWalker also uses her own platform as an artist to explore and introduce the modern experience of Native Americans to the public, incorporating traditional Native materials and stories into murals, acrylic paintings and colorful beadwork. 

For residents of the Front Range, her work may be a familiar sight, occupying large walls around downtown Denver and beyond. In downtown RiNo, one wall of the Denver Central Market parking lot showcases SeeWalker’s “Still Here” mural, a larger-than-life depiction of Kiowa, Choctaw, Lakota, Diné, Seminole, Yakama and Pawnee people, set against an eye-catching backdrop of hot pink and cheetah print.  

“I love creating imagery of Native Americans in the present. You’re never going to see me creating an image of a Native with a headdress on a horse,” SeeWalker says. “I like to bring it into today. I wanted to do something that celebrates people that I know that are existing and living today and contributing in healthy, good and successful ways to our community.”

Whether she’s painting acrylic on canvas, creating outdoor murals or crafting beadwork, it’s all connected in SeeWalker’s eyes. 

“I’m highlighting a lot of topics in different ways, but I do all the different outlets. I work with state senators and local representatives during different legislation sessions. I’m doing commission work, I’m doing artwork, I’m doing murals, I’m working on The Red Road Project,” she says. “It’s all tapping into different audiences. I feel like there’s a lot to say, but if I’m just standing in an art gallery, that’s only going to get one type of audience. If I’m in the capitol building talking to the senators, that’s going to be a different audience. But it’s all related, and it all works together and it’s all about getting in front of as many people as I can.”

Learn more about SeeWalker’s work at seewalker.com. Visit thedairy.org to explore Creative Nations and view upcoming events.