09/24/2026
Greetings cards now available at Traditions Goft Shop!
Artist: MJ Designs
Title: Wéetes 'Áayat (Earth Woman)
Description: Ledger Painting Painting Done on an Antique Sheet of 1880 Idaho Territory (County of Nez Perce) Ledger Paper. Painted with Watercolor Base, 24k Gold & Outlined in a Fine Tip Sable Marker.
Artist: MJ Designs
Title: 'linim tim'íne (You Are My Heart)
Description: Ledger Painting Pictorial & Geometric Designs Ledger Painting, Painted with Watercolor, Painted on a Ledger Sheet from France. Sheet Size 15"x20"
Artist: MJ Designs
Title: hinmatóoyalahtqit (Thunder Rolling Over the Mountain) "Chief Joseph”
Description: Painted on a 1910 Sheet Lumber & Building Materials Ledger, Painted with Water Color Based Paint & 24k Gold Paint.
Page Dimensions - 13 - 7/8" L x 8 - 1/2" W
Name: Nakia Cloud
Title: wiyáakaaˀawn
Description: This ledger art is inspired by ledger drawings done by past Nez Perce artists in cash books that were took from the bodies of soldiers after they were killed in various engagements during the Nez Perce War of 1877. There are many drawings which illustrate fighting and things of that nature, but there are other illustrations that depict sacred and religious iconography that is distinct to Nez Perce and Sahaptien beliefs on the Columbia Plateau. These illustrations were to show and describe the foundations of Nez Perce life and belief system that defines who a true Nez Perce is and their purpose on this land. For the Nez Perce, religion is not a word we use to describe our spirituality or beliefs because our teachings and laws must be lived by every day and not just on Sunday. These sacred laws have been placed on this earth in the beginning of time, and many were founded by Coyote and other great legendary animals of the “Legend Days”. There are sacred symbols that are meant to guide our lives on this land which have been left by creation and the animal people, who prepared this land for the human beings and cleared the evil that once covered this earth. Similarly, through beadwork, quillwork, pictographs, and other forms of art or communication are to be reminders of these sacred symbols in the land and sky. These designs were not originally meant for aesthetic purposes, but to be something someone could read like a book and to have a similar function as the symbols in the land and sky. The symbolism in this ledger drawing is to show our connection to the land and sky and how our lives revolve around all of creation and the roles of men and women to understand the balance of life. The sun, moon, and star have always been sacred symbols to all Sahaptien people on the Plateau for generations and it represents our cosmos and how life is always slowly changing forever. There is a lot of Plateau beadwork which contains these symbols, and all have a similar meaning, even across generations.
