Indigenous Art, Indigenous Minds Speaker Series

Title: Stories from the Plains: Painted Hides, Ledger, and Cowboy Culture

Speaker: Miah Chalfant

Join Miah Chalfant, Open AIR Indigenous Initiatives Coordinator and artist, for a virtual discussion about the connections between cowboy culture and indigenous arts.

When: Wednesday, May 13, 2026 at Noon
Where: Online
Cost: Free

Register Here for the online event: https://form.jotform.com/252436280155050
Upon registration, a meeting link will be sent to you.

About the Artist:
Miah Chalfant— also known as Heóvá’é’e (Yellow Hair Woman) — is a contemporary artist, storyteller, and rancher whose work bridges the worlds of her ancestors and the present day. An enrolled member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, she was raised in the rolling plains and Wolf Mountains of her southeastern Montana homelands.

She studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she deepened her knowledge of traditional designs rooted in ledger art and painted hides. Through her work, she carries forward these visual traditions, blending them with contemporary color and ideas to create a dialogue between past and present.

Drawing inspiration from ranch life, cowboying, kinship, and the strength of her culture, Chalfant’s work honors her ancestors while sharing the lived experiences of a young Indigenous woman. Through each piece, she uplifts her community and explores new possibilities for Indigenous art in the contemporary world.