FEE: Free

Wiwahokichiyapi: They Promised Things to Each Other

April 25, 2026 – February 7, 2027 | Plains Art Museum, Fargo, ND

Treaties are living documents that continue to serve as legally binding agreements shaping the political relationship between Native Nations and the United States government. These agreements established land boundaries, resource rights, and reservations; they determine Tribal Nation citizenship and outline mutual obligations. The influence of treaties, and the policies surrounding them, has had a profound impact on traditional and contemporary Indigenous life, art, and ways of making and knowing.

By pairing treaties with historical and contemporary images and art objects, this exhibition explores how treaties continue to impact Native people and reverberate through Native creativity and expression.

Wiwahokichiyapi: They Promised Things to Each Other provides an overview of treaties in the United States, with a focus on those connected to our region. The exhibition was developed in collaboration with the National Museum of the American Indian and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. Plains Art Museum partnered with Lakȟóta Archeologist Tyrel Iron Eyes and the Giiwedinong Treaty Rights & Culture Museum team, including Logan Monroe, Don Wedll, and Winona LaDuke, whose research and expertise helped shape the exhibition. Students from Concordia College’s Digital Design class also contributed to the exhibition panel design.

This exhibition, and all exhibitions at Plains Art Museum, are free and open to the public.