National Endowment for the Arts Honors Lakota Artist and Educator Steven Tamayo with Heritage Fellowship
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has recognized Steven Tamayo, a traditional Lakota artist and educator, as a recipient of the 2025 NEA Heritage Fellowship, the nation's highest honor in folk and traditional arts. Tamayo, born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, is a Sicangu Lakota artist whose family originates from the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. He is renowned for his work with buffalo robes, a process that involves brain tanning hides and painting them with natural pigments. Tamayo's art archives the history of the Lakota people, tells stories of everyday life, and shares culture and tradition. As an educator, he has been involved with the Nebraska Arts Council, the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, and his own Bluebird Cultural Initiative.
