Tony Long Wolf's smile is as warm as the sun on the South Dakota plains, and his voice still carries the lilt of his first language, Lakota. But when he speaks about art, his face becomes quietly intense.
"Value, composition, shading - those terms were all new to me," said Long Wolf, describing his first art class last year at Lake Tahoe Community College. "My teacher gave me a crash course by explaining them, and suggested I practice seven or eight hours a day."
Practice he did, working as much as 16 hours a day straight and surprising himself and others with the results. "My teacher said I had this knack," he said.
His portfolio speaks for itself, showing a progression from simple objects - a bottle, a rock - to the nuanced colors and patterns of a faded Indian blanket hanging in a summer window. Many of the images reflect pride in his heritage as a member of the Lakota Tribe.
In addition to his new-found skills with ink, pencil, and gouache, he is adept at horsehair weaving, a traditional art form taught to him by his father. "At first, my fingers were clumsy, not nimble," he recalls. "It was time-consuming to clean the tail and pluck the hair. But the first hat-band I made was beautiful. And I realized my father was teaching me patience."
Born on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1951, Long Wolf was sent away to a Bureau of Indian Affairs-run boarding school at the age of 6. There, like many members of his generation, he was forced to learn English through pure "intimidation and humiliation."
"If you couldn't say at least a few words of English, they made you stand on a wooden box with a sign reading 'I'm a dumb Indian,'" he recalls. Even at that young age, however, Long Wolf was a fighter. With a few friends, he snuck into the school building late one night, and the humiliating sign mysteriously disappeared.
Long Wolf dropped out of school after eighth grade and drifted through the tumultuous '70s among a hard-living, hard-drinking crowd. "I was walking in darkness," he said of that period. Now sober for more than 20 years, Long Wolf is taking courses towards his associates of arts degree. He hopes to use his own life experience and his art to help other Native Americans struggling with drugs, alcohol, and depression.
Long Wolf found the courage to exhibit his paintings recently at the Markleeville Library, after nearly a year of encouragement from a friend who had seen his work. He hopes some day to market his work, perhaps through lithographed prints.
Always a fighter, Long Wolf is struggling now with recent health challenges and the on-going challenge of affording expensive art supplies. Still, he hopes the coming year will bring him an opportunity to continue formal art training. "When I finish a piece, it is a delight," he smiles.
n Karen Dustman is a Markleeville resident and freelance writer.
