Each steer skull is hand carved from cow bone and water buffalo horn then hand painted. Hanging from a black rhodium sterling silver chain with an adjustable length of 19 or 21 inches. Named after the Sioux God of the Great Mystery.  Wakonda is the great Creator power of the Osage, Omaha, and Ponca tribes. Wakonda is an abstract, omnipresent creative force who is never personified in traditional Siouan legends. Wakonda did not even have a gender before the introduction of English with its gender-specific pronouns.

During the first several months of the pandemic my boyfriend and I quarantined in Bakersfield, California at his families ranch. Bakersfield is considered the Texas of California. The valley is flanked with citrus trees and small batch cattle ranches pushing up against golden grass hills winding through backroads littered with vintage oil rigs and farming equipment. 

The highlight of each day was our morning hike through the rocky meadow, land that was once inhabited by the Yokut Indians. Along our hike we would comb the landscape for animal skeletons, wild flowers and perfectly formed round rocks. Inspired by our treasure hunts I found myself once again, in the "creative cave". Mixing together the the colors of the wild flowers and seasonal change along with the element of bone and horn produced this limited addition wearable totem.