Native gift store paves way for artists

Gatewall Mall provides space for Indigenous creatives

Bill Brien discovered art in an unconventional way. He first began sketching floral designs on his computer while sitting next to his wife, Gery Rei Brien, who had been undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer.

“She exhibited that strong Native, warrior woman spirit, and that really opened something in me,” he said. “I just started sketching.” Brien keeps her memory alive in “hope through art,” and her inspiration blooms on the Bountiful Rei’s website.

Today, Brien is among 48 artists who sell their art on consignment with Star Gifts, an art-based store located in Gateway Mall in Bismarck, N.D. The retail space is filled with scores of Native-made products, including ledger art, lamps, ribbon skirts, handbags, beaded medallions, and dentalium shell earrings. And must-have items, such as sage, patchouli oil, and seed beads are also sold in-house.

Owner Dave Johnson, Hopi and Anishinaabe, opened Star Gifts in November 2019. The entrepreneur describes the store as a “one-stop-shop for everything Native made and Native inspired.” Johnson takes pride in bringing artists’ work to a retail audience.

“The store created so many opportunities for vendors to connect,” Johnson said. The Star Gifts logo consists of a star-quilt pattern with points that come together in the middle, a symbol that represents his goal for the shop, a place for everyone to unite.

Johnson said it’s important to not only connect with artists but to collaborate with the community. He recently leased the mall space next to Star Gifts so future shoppers can sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee. Plans also are in the works to expand a portion of Star Gifts for sewing, crafts, and storytelling.

Wallace “Butch” Thunder Hawk Jr. counts himself among the Indigenous artists who have found a spot to sell his work with Star Gifts. He is well known for a nearly 50-year teaching career at the United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck as the tribal arts instructor and the college’s cultural center director.

He recently retired to focus on his art. Thunder Hawk Jr.’s pieces have found a place on the walls of art exhibits and museums, including an exhibit at the Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology at Harvard University in 2000 and 2004. 

“I’ve always loved artwork as part of my life and always wanted to continue in this life with other artists,” Thunder Hawk Jr. told Buffalo’s Fire. “It’s healing; it’s meditation. It’s part of my life. So I want to continue with that. You feel good by sharing the work.”

Since retirement, Thunder Hawk Jr. has dedicated his time to creating art that encompasses multiple mediums like canvas, ledgers, and stained glass. He appreciates the platform Star Gifts has created for him. “Star Gifts was good for me,” he said. “It’s another venue I can use to promote my art and share with people.”

Annie High Elk, Star Gifts general manager, is ready to help in the growth and expansion of the Gateway Mall store, where two other Native businesses are thriving. She’s thankful to see her brother-in-law Bill Brien sell his work at Gateway Mall. It sparks business and fond remembrances of her late sister. Customers often visit the shop in search of new Bountiful Rei’s products.

Many customers share stories about her sister, Gery Rei Brien. “I’m so happy to talk about her every day,” High Elk, Minnicojou Lakota, said. “So, with him sharing the story, it keeps me remembering my sister as well.”

One of Brien’s ledger-art style paintings, titled “Gentle Mother,” reveals a vibrant, well-recognized Chippewa and Ojibwa floral design, a theme that’s seen in many of his other creations. He remembers days sitting with his ailing wife. He was filled with emotion.

“I felt I wanted to create,” Brien told Buffalo’s Fire. “I couldn’t because I wasn’t at home. I googled a free art app on my phone, and I downloaded the first one that I saw. I just started doodling and sketching with it, and I fell in love with it. I could create anywhere, anytime.” Brien hopes to continue the legacy of his wife through art. “I knew that I needed to share it and share the story of her,” he said. “But then it evolved into just sharing the story of life because we all go through loss and trials and tribulations.”

Dateline:

Bismarck, N.D.