Entertainment · Books & Arts · 6 hrs ago
Cannupa Hanska Luger’s Exhibition Examines the History of Bison Slaughter
Native artist Cannupa Hanska Luger’s exhibition American Traditional is on view at a New York gallery.
The show brings together wood, ink and archival material, moving away from the participatory, ceramics-heavy projects he is best known for.
One work places an abstract black bison on a blackened version of a 19th-century American dining table.
The exhibition recalls how European settlers used horses, guns and railroads to make bison hunting industrial in scale.
For Plains Indigenous nations, buffalo were kin and a vital source of food, shelter, clothing and fuel.
The destruction of the buffalo also deepened trauma for Plains Indigenous peoples.
Historical accounts cited in the exhibition’s review describe military leaders supporting the slaughter as a way to weaken Indigenous resistance.
Cannupa Hanska Luger’s exhibition American Traditional examines the history of the slaughter of bison and its impact on Plains Indigenous peoples.
The exhibition is at Garth Greenan Gallery in New York’s Soho neighborhood.
Luger combines wood, ink and archival material in works that address the destruction of bison.
The article describes bison as kin and a source of food, clothing, shelter and fuel for Plains nations.
- Who
- Native artist Cannupa Hanska Luger.
- What
- His exhibition American Traditional examines bison slaughter and its effects on Plains Indigenous peoples.
- When
- The exhibition is described in an article published October 16, 2026.
- Where
- Garth Greenan Gallery in Soho, New York.
- Why
- The exhibition addresses the history of bison destruction and the loss and trauma it brought to Plains Indigenous peoples.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
General Philip H. Sheridan objected to a proposed Texas bill to protect bison, according to John R. Cook.
Mari Sandoz’s The Buffalo Hunters: The Story of the Hide Men was first published.
Luger’s exhibition American Traditional was shown at Garth Greenan Gallery.
- Artist
- Cannupa Hanska Luger
- Exhibition
- American Traditional
- Gallery
- Garth Greenan Gallery, Soho, New York
- Exhibition year
- 2026
- Article publication
- October 16, 2026
- Materials
- Wood, ink and archival material
What people are saying
every buffalo dead is an Indian gone
Send them powder and lead if you will, but for the sake of a lasting peace let them kill, skin and sell until the buffalo are exterminated.