About the Artist

O'Siyo,
Earth creation art began at my mother's knee. We collected clay from the riverbeds of Arizona to make our pots and Story Tellers. I was born in Fort Huachuca, Arizona and raised in the ways of the traditional United Keetoowah Band of the Oklahoma Cherokees.  As a Cherokee I have an obligation to illustrate those things which are important to the Cherokee women in our roles as historical recorders and leaders.  I typically invent my own scenes based on actual accounts of reservation life and powwows, or a vague remembrance of a graphic narrative I once heard the Elders speak about. 
My personal Indian Ledger Art is about relationships and people making sacrifices for one another to preserve both the unity of the tribe and the integrity of our culture. It's about making a personal sacrifice, as warriors do, to protect their people. It's about survival, not ideology or pipelines that hurt the very earth that has been placed in our hands to care for.

Wado'

Denise Bonnie Milinovich