Alvin Pipe On Head
Lakota Crafts
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Apprentice
Calvin Renteria, left, with Alvin Pipe On Head. Alvin is holding a
beaded Deer Dance stick he made. |
Alvin Pipe On Head, an Oglala Lakota from the Pine Ridge
Reservation, began doing beadwork about 15 years ago, learning from his mother
and sisters. With a degree in Lakota Studies from Oglala Lakota College in Kyle,
he now works at the Heritage Center at Red Cloud Indian School, cataloging and
caring for their extensive collection of Native American art and artifacts.
Alvin makes dance sticks, dolls, buffalo horn spoons and
all kinds of beaded items. The first time he participated in the Northern Plains
Tribal Arts show in Sioux Falls in 2002, he received an honorable mention in the
mixed media-tribal arts category for a piece that incorporated beadwork, antlers
and a horn spoon.
His apprentice for 2001-2002, Calvin Renteria, was a student at Red Cloud
with a budding interest in traditional crafts. They worked on loom weaving,
peyote stitch, lazy stitch and appliqué beadwork, and Calvin made several
pieces. One was a beaded buffalo horn spoon that won a ribbon at a Native high
school art competition. Another was a beaded eagle feather that Calvin wore to
his high school graduation.
Now attending college in Nebraska, Calvin has little time
for beadwork, but he feels it is a skill he can carry with him for the rest of
his life, and come back to at any time.
Alvin Pipe On Head is a master of many Lakota crafts—beadwork, woodwork,
buffalo horn carving— and is generous in sharing his knowledge. For the
2004-2005 apprenticeship he worked with two of his nieces, Ashley and Shelly
Two Bulls of Pine Ridge. The girls each picked colors and designs for beaded
pieces for their dance outfits—moccasins, leggings, hair ties, chokers—and
learned beadwork techniques such as peyote stitch, lazy stitch, appliquÈ and
loom work. They also made a beaded crown for their sister Cecilia, who was the
Manderson Tribal Princess. Alvin also had them help with making wooden horses
and buffalo horn spoons.
Wooden horses made by Alvin Pipe On Head and his apprentices. |
Alvin Pipe On Head’s work table with buffalo horn spoons in various stages
of completion. |
Beaded moccasins designed and made by Ashley Two Bulls. |
Ashley Two Bulls, Shelly Two Bulls and Alvin Pipe On Head |
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