the art of
Marlena Myles
digital artist + animator + fabric/fashion designer + book illustrator
Book Illustrations & Book Covers
Kikta wo / kikta ye!
Illustrated for the Lower Sioux Community in Minnesota, this book is in Dakota with English subtitles. It features two stories by Tasunka Wakinyan Watogla (Ryan Dixon) and Sna Sna Win (Vanessa Goodthunder) of children attending school and visiting the clinic, both located on the Lower Sioux Reservation. Created in celebration of the opening of the first Dakota head start C̣aƞṡayapi Waḳaƞyeża Owayawa Oṭi.
Thanku Poems of Gratitude
This poetry anthology, edited by Miranda Paul, explores a wide range of ways to be grateful (from gratitude for a puppy to gratitude for family to gratitude for the sky) with poems by a diverse group of contributors, including Joseph Bruchac, Margarita Engle, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Naomi Shihab Nye, Charles Waters, and Jane Yolen.
Indian No More
In this moving middle-grade novel drawing upon Umpqua author Charlene Willing McManis’s own tribal history, Regina must find out: Who is Regina Petit? Is she Indian, American, or both? And will she and her family ever be okay? Book by Charlene Willing McManis and Traci Sorell.
PLANTS OF HEMNICAN – FREE COLORING BOOK
In 1861, the year before his death, Henry David Thoreau took a month long trip to the midwest and explored the area around the Twin Cities with his friend Horace Mann, Jr. This coloring book of Dakota plants of Ȟemníčhaŋ is inspired by his writings which I have illustrated using the floral artistic-style of Dakota people to create something that together combines our connections to Nature.
“The common misconception with Native art is that it’s traditional — it’s stuck in the past. But the truth is that Native people have always been innovative. So, to use Illustrator is just a continuation of what my ancestors already did.”
Bde Óta Othúŋwe & Imnížaska Othúŋwe
Minneapolis & St. Paul, Minnesota (Twin Cities)
Dakhóta Thamákhočhe
(Dakota Land Maps)
These maps illustrate the story of the past, present and future of Dakota people and our language in our traditional homelands. Visit the project page to download free posters, purchase larger maps and learn more about the lands Dakota have called home for generations upon generations.
Thíŋta Wíta – Ȟemníčhaŋ Othúŋwe Wašté – Winúŋna
Prairie Island, Red Wing & Winona, Minnesota
