For Christ Sake, pastel on paper

1991, 24" x 18"

 

Ernie Pepion (Blackfeet) received his Masters of Fine Arts degree from Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. After he was paralyzed in a car accident, he began painting with the help of a special hand/forearm brace and with a custom-made motorized easel. Ernie Pepion received the 2005 Montana Governor's Award for the Arts in January, 2005.  He passed away two weeks later.

 

Ernie Pepion's drawing For Christ Sake captures the irony of an American culture dominated both by Christianity and capitalist greed. The work deals with the sad turn of events done for “Christ's sake.” Christianity, the religion forced upon Native Americans by early European missionaries, is based on charity and sacrifice, yet it was in Christ's name that generations of Native American children suffered unspeakable cruelty in religious based boarding schools.

 

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