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I made this image in collaboration with National Geographic Photographer Aaron Huey in support of www.honorthetreaties.org and their efforts to educate the public about Native American Treaty rights.   This is our third project together and was built directly off of the mural we did on the Baracudda wall on Melrose last Fall.  See the full installation here.   Our first poster project went up in a dozen American cities in 2011.

You can see more of Aaron’s 7 year documentary of the Pine RIdge Indian Reservation in the cover story of National Geographic magazine this month  and an extended essay on his website.

-Shepard Fairey

18 x 24 inch Screen Print signed by Aaron Huey and Shepard Fairey.  Numbered edition of 450.  $60.  Photograph by Aaron Huey

To hear the whole story check out Aaron’s 2010 TED talk on the Lakota and their fight to get back the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Release Date: 7/26/12 at two random times during the day (PST)

A few facts about the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation:

In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled upon the longest running court case in US History, the United States vs Sioux Nation. The court determined that the treaties with the Sioux had been violated when they were resettled onto P.O.W. camps, and 7 million acres of their land were opened up to prospectors and homesteaders. These camps are now called “reservations”.

The grim statistics on Native Reservations today are the equivalent to that of a 3rd world country, revealing the legacy of colonization and treaty violations. Unemployment on the Reservation fluctuates between 80-90%. Many are homeless, and those with homes are packed into rotting buildings with up to 5 families. More than 90% of the population lives below the federal poverty line. The life expectancy for men is 47 years old – roughly the same as Afghanistan and Somalia.

Aaron’s ever-evolving Pine Ridge project gives voice to social injustice and a forgotten history. It empowers the Lakota and other tribes who fight for recognition of the past in order to help give them a chance to move forward.

The sales of this print will go directly to pay for a campaign to educate the American public about the issues that face not only the Lakota, but every indigenous tribe in the US.  Your involvement will help raise the visibility of these images by paying for printing and advertising that will take the story straight to the public—to city walls, subway tunnels, and billboards, ultimately benefiting grassroots non-profits working on Reservations across the US.  Help remind the world that the Lakota and other Native people are still here and demand to be heard.  With your help the message will be so loud that it cannot be ignored.