Nellie Star Boy Menard
A middle-aged Lakota woman, looking downward, wearing a dark blouse
Nellie Star Boy Menard, from a 1968 newspaper
Born
Nellie Zelda Star Boy

June 3, 1910
Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota
DiedSeptember 23, 2001 (aged 91)
Occupation(s)Quiltmaker, educator

Nellie Zelda Star Boy Menard (June 3, 1910 – September 23, 2001) was an American quiltmaker and educator. In 1995, she received a National Heritage Fellowship.

Early life

Nellie Zelda Star Boy was born on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, the daughter of Burton (Bert) Star Boy and Grace Jane Long Warrior.[1] She was a member of the Sicangu Lakota (or Brulé) people.[2] She graduated from the Flandreau Indian School.[3][4]

Career

Menard worked as an educator at the Flandreau as a young woman. During World War II, she operated the Rosebud Arts and Crafts Store in South Dakota and the Northern Plains Arts and Crafts Store in Browning, Montana. In 1941, she was one of four Native American artists invited to participate in an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, where she met First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.[5] She worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Rapid City for 30 years,[3][6] assisting Dorothy Field as director of the Rapid City Museum, among other responsibilities.[7][8]

Menard became known as a community quiltmaker in the Northern Plains style,[9] which involves one large colorful star made of diamond-shaped fabric pieces.[3][10] She worked with the Michigan Traditional Arts Program at Michigan State University. In 1995, she received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts,[4][11][12] and the South Dakota Living Indian Treasure Award.[13]

Personal life and legacy

Star Boy married Clarence Menard. They had children Jack, Martina, D'Arcy, William, and Luther, and raised a number of other children. Her husband died in 1989, and she died in 2001, aged 91 years.[14] Her quilts are in the collections of the National Museum of the American Indian,[15] South Dakota Art Museum, Michigan State University, and the New England Quilt Museum.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Rosebud woman honored; Nellie Star Boy Menard cited for her quiltmaking". Rapid City Journal. 1995-09-21. p. 13. Retrieved 2022-08-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ Bol, Marsha C.; Star Boy Menard, Nellie Z. (2000-01-01). ""I Saw All That": A Lakota Girl's Puberty Ceremony". American Indian Culture and Research Journal. 24 (1): 25–42. doi:10.17953/aicr.24.1.a57v547704g4985g. ISSN 0161-6463. PMID 17722369.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Congdon, Kristin G.; Hallmark, Kara Kelley (2012). American Folk Art: A Regional Reference. ABC-CLIO. p. 421. ISBN 978-0-313-34936-2.
  4. 1 2 "Nellie Star Boy Menard". National Endowment for the Arts. Retrieved 2022-08-03.
  5. ↑ Gidley, Mick (2020-02-01). The Grass Shall Grow: Helen Post Photographs the Native American West. U of Nebraska Press. pp. 95–96. ISBN 978-1-4962-1620-5.
  6. ↑ "Pioneer Relics to be Housed at Halley Park Museum--Open May 13". Rapid City Journal. 1956-05-06. p. 3. Retrieved 2022-08-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Indian Arts Head Named for Dakotas". Rapid City Journal. 1954-09-16. p. 9. Retrieved 2022-08-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Preserving American Heritage; Indian Craftsmen at Work". Havre Daily News. March 22, 1968. p. 2. Retrieved August 3, 2022 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  9. ↑ MacDowell, Marsha; Dewhurst, C. Kurt; Museum of New Mexico; Press; Michigan State University; Museum (1997). To honor and comfort: native quilting traditions. ISBN 978-0-89013-316-3. OCLC 37261019.
  10. ↑ Bol, Marsha C. (1998-05-01). North, South, East, West: American Indians and the Natural World. Roberts Rinehart. ISBN 978-1-4617-3345-4.
  11. ↑ "Folk-Art Award Winners Are Honored". The New York Times. 1995-09-28. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  12. ↑ Himes, Geoffrey (1995-10-03). "NEA Fellowships Honor Folk Artists". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  13. ↑ "Awards". Sioux City Journal. 1995-09-24. p. 6. Retrieved 2022-08-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Nellie Star Boy Menard". Rapid City Journal. 2001-09-30. p. 38. Retrieved 2022-08-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ Menard, Nellie Star Boy (1997). "Quilt". National Museum of the American Indian. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
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