PAINTING

Description: CHROME-TANNED DEER HIDE LACED TO WOODEN FRAME WITH LEATHER THONG. PORTRAIT IN ACRYLIC OF NELSON SMALL LEGS JR. IN PROFILE. TITLED: "COCO" "NELSON SMALL LEGS JR." SIGNED BY WILLY LITTLE PLUME.

History: ARTIST & SUBJECT ARE PIIKANI, THE LATTER IS DECEASED (FILE ATTACHED) *UPDATE* IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF ART OBJECTS. SHE FOUND THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHY OF THE PAINTING'S SUBJECT, NELSON LUKE SMALL LEGS JR., IN THE PERMANENT FILE: "NELSON SMALL LEGS WAS BORN ON DECEMBER 18, 1952 ON THE PEIGAN RESERVATION IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA. THE LAST YEARS OF HIS LIFE WERE SPENT AS AN ADVOCATE OF INDIAN ISSUES. MUCH FRUSTRATION AND INTERNAL TURMOIL WAS FELT BY NELSON IN HIS ATTEMPT TO HAVE HIS INDIAN PEOPLE VIEWED AS CITIZENS WITH RIGHTS THAT REQUIRED RECOGNITION. ON THE SUNDAY AFTERNOON OF MAY 16, 1976, NELSON COMMITTED SUICIDE, GIVING HIS LIFE FOR THIS CAUSE. IN ABIDING BY HIS REQUEST, HE IS BURIED ON A HUGE HILL OVER-LOOKING HIS PEIGAN RESERVE AT BROCKET, ALBERTA." THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ON THE ARTIST, ADAM WILLIAM LITTLE PLUME JR., WAS FOUND IN HIS LETHBRIDGE HERALD OBITUARY: LITTLE PLUME WAS BORN ON JULY 28, 1953 AND LIVED AND WORKED AS AN ARTIST ON THE PEIGAN RESERVE IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA. HIS ARTWORK DEPICTS THE SPIRITUAL ESSENCE AND UNITY OF NATIVE CULTURE AND LIFESTYLE. LITTLE PLUME PASSED AWAY ON MARCH 6, 2007 IN CALGARY.