For Native American artist Juanita Growing Thunder, art is a family tradition and responsibility. Renowned for her traditional Plains Indians beaded artwork, she was born into a world where beaded belt buckles, shoes, and clothing were as common as milk and eggs. The daughter of a Sisituwan/Wahpetuwan Dakota and Wadopana Tuwa Nakoda (Assiniboine) mother, Growing Thunder says some of her first memories are of being surrounded by art and watching her mother weave colorful little beads into patterns that had meaning for her tribe.
“I remember my mother doing beadwork in the car when we traveled all over the West to go to art shows and museums,” Growing Thunder says. “I think that if you grow up this way, and you see someone doing this every day, and
