Storytellers: The Blackfeet Nation and Charles Russell Tour

Storytellers: The Blackfeet Nation and Charles M. Russell features over 80 artworks including oil paintings, watercolors, and bronzes by Charles M. Russell and ancestral artworks from the Blackfoot Confederacy (Nitsitapii), especially the Kainai (Blood Tribe) and Amskaapii Pikanii (Blackfeet or South Peigan), from the late-19th to mid-20th centuries.

This milestone presentation is made possible by a landmark gift of masterworks from the collection of Tom and Jane Petrie, which significantly expands the DAM’s western American art holdings. The gift includes some of Russell’s most celebrated masterworks, both paintings and sculptures.

Storytellers puts ancestral Nitsitapii works from the museum’s collection into dialogue with Russell’s representations of Blackfeet art and culture. Through these comparisons, the exhibition explores the deep spiritual connection to bison and the vital contributions of Blackfeet women, including excellent examples of beadwork, hide-tanning, and saddle making. Other areas focus on the roles of Blackfeet men as warriors and medicine men, revealing how Russell’s famous “Old West” scenes were built upon the real-world knowledge of his Indigenous mentors.