Jackie Parsons

As a visual and traditional Blackfeet artist, Jackie Parsons says her art medium "consists of any material in my project that allows me to express what I intend the piece to portray."

This has included hand-tanned buckskin, seed beads, sweet grass, wood, clay, paint, feathers, shells, bone and wool in the dresses, vests, war bonnets, dolls and other traditional items of the Blackfeet.

She is a life-long resident of the Blackfeet Nation in Browning and says, "My goal became to preserve the past traditional art and intertwine it with modern techniques, thus preserving the past and solidifying the future of our traditional art."

Cinda Holt, fellow member of the Montana Arts Council (where Parsons serves as chair) who nominated her for the Community Spirit Awards said, "Jackie is a teacher and source of wisdom and comfort for four generations of Blackfeet women, girls and young men. She has spent a lifetime supporting her community through art and other service to combat the effects of poverty and to build bridges between the Indian and non-Indiana worlds in Montana."