New Exhibit exploring memory and landscape

The Memorial Union Gallery is proud to present a new exhibition titled (Un)Disturbed Use and Occupation featuring the work of photographer and NDSU alumni Tyrel Iron Eyes.

(Un)Disturbed Use and Occupation is a project that draws from the language in Article II of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty between the United States and bands of the Lakota in the wake of the Powder River War, primarily the clause which states that the lands described shall be “set aside for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation of the Indians herein named.” That undisturbed use lasted for roughly six years, when the US Army entered the Black Hills searching for gold, and officially ended with the 1877 Sell or Starve Bill, opening the lands up for homesteaders and gold prospectors. People who came and put their hopes and dreams for a better life than the one they had into the earth, where they often turned to dust. Every abandoned farm, home, or life on the prairie in the pursuit of Westward Expansion came at the expense of the Indigenous peoples who had to be displaced, and were often built on lies started by those with something to gain from the failures of others. The photos in this series focus on but sometimes extend beyond Treaty territory and encompass Oceti Sakowin Ancestral Territory. The exhibition is curated by NDSU Public History Undergraduate Joseph Stern. A reception will be held on October 13, 2026 from 5-7pm, all are welcome.

Artist Tyrel Iron Eyes says “This project is simultaneously a snapshot of a decade-long photographic journey, while also acting as a foundation for another decade and more of this same project. Many of the places and scenes caught in these photos have already changed, were momentary events, or are facing the threat of change. Every day another field is plowed, another structure goes up, the land is in constant flux because of human intervention. Each of these photos could only exist at the moment it was taken. Despite the constant change of the world, there are things that persist. The land may be constantly in threat of being altered, but much of it remains similar if not identical to what my ancestors saw 200 years ago. The way of life my ancestors fought and died to keep alive, there are people who still carry those traditions forward. I hope this project is both a fitting memory for those who came before me, and a starting point of sorts for those who come next. While these photos are my present, the next generation will see these as part of their collective past. I hope it means something to them.” Tyrel belongs to the Standing Rock Lakota and Dakota Nation, spending his life within Oceti Sakowin territory. His photography focuses on Lakota/Dakota histories within his people’s homelands, emphasizing the Treaties, their implications, and their ongoing violations. As a photographer, an archaeologist, a hunter, and a Lakota, his identity is tied inextricably to the land.

For more information on this exhibition, please visit the Memorial Union Gallery on the second floor of NDSU’s Memorial Union or email ndsu.mugallery@ndsu.edu. The Gallery is open 9:00am-5:00pm, Monday through Friday or by appointment.

This project is supported in part by a grant from the North Dakota Council on the Arts, which receives funding from the state legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.