Kite

For several years, Kite has utilized the Lakȟóta Shape Kit (LSK), a geometric visual language informed by Lakȟóta semiotics found in beadwork and quillwork imagery, to create patterns that interpret stories, personal dreams, and the dreams of others. 

In Iron Road, the artist collaborates with members of her extended family to examine their intimate and ancestral relationships with stones and the stories they carry. This stone arrangement interprets the story of the artist’s great-great-great-grandmother, Iron Road, and her escape from the Wounded Knee Massacre (1890). The geometric shapes recount the journey of a teenage girl fleeing on foot, hiding along a creekside bank with other escapees, and subsequently walking along railroad tracks toward the neighbouring Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The resulting stone composition serves as both a sculptural work and a score through which familial history can be carried across generations.

A short film accompanies the stone sculpture, featuring conversations with Kite’s cousin, Corey Stover, and aunt, Becky Red Bow. The film shares three stories: Iron Road’s escape from Wounded Knee, as recounted by the artist’s family; Becky Red Bow’s relationship with a family stone representing Blue Lighting Woman; and Corey Stover’s experience with a spirit rock that finds him. Collectively, these stories underscore the significance of stones, dreams, and relationships with non-human entities within the family.