March 2023

Artist Nathaniel Ruleaux leads a community project called “To See If I Could Go Home: A True History Paste-Up” at The Union for Contemporary Art in Omaha on Thursday, March 2, 2023. His son, Luca, 3, walks away after handing him a print to demonstrate with. A member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, Ruleaux often uses his art to bring attention and activism to Native stories. “I go in wanting to be punk and get people riled up, but the more I learn and get into it, the more I realize how heavy and traumatic a lot of these stories are,” Ruleaux said. “But I use this as a chance for art as a form of therapy and healing.” For this piece, Ruleaux asked members of the community to help paste images of his great-great grandfather, Nicholas Ruleau, who attended the Carlisle Indian Boarding School, over the phrase “Kill the Indian, Save the Man”, a propagandist motto used by the school.

Rebecca Chen, of Omaha, helps in a community project lead by artist Nathaniel Ruleaux called “To See If I Could Go Home: A True History Paste-Up” at The Union for Contemporary Art in Omaha on Thursday, March 2, 2023. A member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, Ruleaux often uses his art to bring attention and activism to Native stories. “I go in wanting to be punk and get people riled up, but the more I learn and get into it, the more I realize how heavy and traumatic a lot of these stories are,” Ruleaux said. “But I use this as a chance for art as a form of therapy and healing.” For this piece, Ruleaux asked members of the community to help paste images of his great-great grandfather, Nicholas Ruleau, who attended the Carlisle Indian Boarding School, over the phrase “Kill the Indian, Save the Man”, a propagandist motto used by the school.