Art and History Converge

McCook Neb. – This Friday, June 13th, the Buffalo Commons Storytelling and Music Festival offers a unique opportunity to delve into significant moments of American history, combining a visit to a historic battlefield with an encounter with the powerful art of the late John Thein.

The "Last Battle on the Plains" tour, running from 8:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., promises a journey through the events leading up to the final major intertribal battle between the Sioux and the Pawnee. Participants will first travel to the historic Massacre Canyon site at Trenton, a site of the final major intertribal battle between the Sioux and the Pawnee. Experts including Matt Reed, Pawnee Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Tom Baker, and Cathy Upton, will guide attendees, sharing stories and artifacts of this pivotal historical day.

Following the visit to Massacre Canyon, the tour will return to the ArtBank in McCook. Here, the focus shifts to John Thein's extensive "Wounded Knee" collection, offering a profound artistic reflection on another tragic chapter in American history. While Massacre Canyon highlights a significant intertribal conflict, Thein's work confronts a different, yet equally devastating, moment in the complex history of Native American relations with the expanding United States.

John Thein (1942-2023), a dedicated art professor, devoted two decades of his life to creating this powerful series. In an interview last October, his widow, Jeanne Jarouch, shared the deeply personal inspiration behind his monumental undertaking. "He had a big show in New York," Jarouch recalled, "and he came away from that, and he said, 'You know, I'm not a New Yorker, I'm a Midwesterner, and I'm going to find a narrative that works for me.' And I'd been reading 'Black Elk Speaks,' and it's such a great book, and he was reading it too. And then he said, 'I'm going to do a narrative on this, because it's such a horrible wound in American history.'"

Thein's art directly confronts the grim realities of the Wounded Knee Massacre on December 29, 1890, where U.S. soldiers opened fire on Lakota men, women, and children. Jarouch spoke with immense pride about her husband's commitment. The permanent housing of his work in McCook's ArtBank ensures that this potent message will continue to resonate for generations. As Jarouch proudly noted, "It's such an unexpected thing to see here [in McCook]!"

The "Last Battle on the Plains" tour, with its journey from Massacre Canyon to the ArtBank's exhibition of Thein's "Wounded Knee" collection, promises a particularly moving and insightful experience, bridging historical understanding with profound artistic interpretation.

Tickets to the tour can be found at https://buffalocommons.org/tickets

The depth of Thein's work is perhaps best understood through the insights of his widow, Jeanne Jarouch.

Photo: I had the distinct opportunity to visit Jeanne Jarouch, the late John Thein's wife, last October. Her insights into John's vision and dedication further underscored the profound importance of this body of work.