You Will Be Missed...
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Ruth Yellowhawk
Taho Kahwoka Win
(Woman who's voice is in the air)
Circle of Support
The Circle
Everything in the natural world moves in a circle -- day and night, the roll of seasons we see in plants and animals, our breath, the passages of life and death, the circle of the earth around the sun, the ebb and flow of moon time and tides, theswirling constellations.The circle is an ancient and enduring symbol. It represents and is the natural process of life, growth, change and transition; it offers ways of feeling, thinking, assessing and organizing behavior.
Please join the Dawson and Yellowhawk family in this Sacred Circle.
Ruth (Dawson) Yellowhawk was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer that then moved to her brain, back and adrenals. Ruth Succumbed to her battle Saturday, Aug 7, 2010, at her home surrounded by the beauty of the Black Hills.
Ruthie had just turned 50 on March 25, 2010, celebrating her 50th Birthday in Nelson, New Zealand with her brother, John. She was able to spend the last six months in New Zealand with her Husband Jim and her son Gabe, sharing culture, dancing, relaxing, working with the local natives and enjoying time with her brother. At the end of her stay she began to feel something was amiss with her health. She returned to her home in the Black Hills of South Dakota and on the recommendation of a doctor went in to the emergency room in Rapid City to be further checked out. This is where she began extensive testing and scans, only to receive this heartbreaking diagnosis.
Ruth always lived her life in a way that served others, both spiritually and physically. She was a strong- willed, health-conscious woman who will faught this battle like the warrior that she was!
Ruthie came from a strong family of ten children, all of whom cared for her,and continue to care for Jim and Gabe very deeply. Jim and Ruth have touched so many lives in their work and everyday actions. It is time for all of us to widen the circle to allow us to encompass the Yellowhawk family and their needs at this time.
This is where the Circle of Support begins:
Ruth Yellowhawk Donation Fund
23213 Black Forest Place Rapid City,
SD 57702
FOR TRANSFER OF INTERNATIONAL FUNDS USE ACCOUNT: international;swift; WFBIUS6S
Donations can also be made at any Wells Fargo Bank Payable to:
Ruth Yellowhawk Donation Fund
Ruth Yellowhawk is co-director of the Indigenous Issues Forums, made of a team of folks in solid relationships who dedicate themselves to creating safe and respectful family centered environments to talk through tough issues. A mediator/trainer, she writes discussion guides and curriculum for films, books, and other community based forums.
An Ohio Native of Huron/Wyandot/German ancestry, she currently lives in the Black Hills with her husband Jim, a Lakota/Iroquois artist, and their son Gabriel.
Ruth works often with Harley Eagle (Dakota) to design and facilitate restorative justice workshops that go beyond a mechanical nuts and bolts understanding of restorative practices. They are working to recall and reclaim indigenous understandings and life ways that can allow people to walk in balance today and for future generations. Both believe that in order to facilitate justice, one must first practice where it matters most -- within us and within our families.
Ruth and Harley have conducted workshops with the Center for Restorative Justice and Peacemaking in Minnesota, with a Tribal Judges Symposium in Montana, with the Black Feet Tribal Courts, with the Sicangu Lakota community at Sinte Gleska University on the Rosebud Reservation, with the Center of Restorative Justice in Rapid City, and many other organizations who invite them to co-journey.
Jim Yellowhawk
The art I create is rooted in my relationships. I portray traditional symbols, the eagle, the buffalo, and the circle, for which I hold strong beliefs. Many of my compositions are circular, and evocative of Lakota star knowledge. I often draw my relatives, my immediate family and my tiospaye (kinship ties). Through my art, I also celebrate the place of Native People in the family of all our relations. My art is comprised of diverse media forms. I tend to see most anything as a possible canvas and have experimented with various media such as neon light, mixed media, airbrush, bark paper, and collages. Umbrellas, motorcycles and abandoned satellite dishes have all made ready canvases for my expressions. Most of my technique involves working with acrylics. I incorporate beadwork, collage and other media into my paintings. My techniques vary according to the feel of each piece. I like to experiment and challenge myself. My goal is to inspire Native children to achieve their full potential. I would like to leave my mark as an artist in a way serves Native people. I have been drawn to the arts since my youth and I have been encouraged to pursue this interest by my family. My grandmother was well known for her intricate Lakota beadwork and my father paints scenes from the memory of his own boyhood on the Cheyenne River Reserve in Green Grass, South Dakota. 2006 was a special year as I was awarded a Smithsonian Fellowship with the National American Indian Museum and a month long residency at the Vermont Studio Center. I am an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Lakota Sioux Tribe; I am also Onondoga/Iroquois on my mother's side. I grew up in South Dakota, and earned my Bachelor of Science degree in Art from Marion College in Marion, Indiana in 1981. In addition to creating art, I enjoy doing many things with my family, including riding motorcycles, running, and dancing. I live in the beautiful He Sapa Black Hills with my wife Ruth and our son, Gabe.
Gabe Yellowhawk
Gabe Yellowhawk doesn’t spend much time thinking about his journey. After all, he’s just a typical teenager. But that doesn’t mean he’s unaware of the importance of his Native American heritage and the Lakota legacy that is being passed down to him through his father and grandfather. “I guess it’s pretty cool,” says the 15-year-old, who attends High School in Hill City. While he may not remember it specifically, Gabe started dancing with his father and grandfather when he was only three years old.
The circle is a symbol in Native tradition, and dancing alongside his father and grandfather, Gabe, representing the youth of the next generation of Lakotans, adds a richness and poignancy to the dance that otherwise would not exist.
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