U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service Gulf of Mexico OCS Region

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) Gulf of Mexico OCS Regional Office in New Orleans acknowledges November as National American Indian Heritage Month by presenting the artwork of Native American artist Jim Yellowhawk.  A piece of his artwork titled “Sacred Hoop” is on display in honor of the month’s observances.  Mr. Yellowhawk is an internationally recognized artist who has won numerous awards for his detailed Plains warriors and contemporary acrylics.  He is of the Lakota and Iroquois tribes and grew up in South Dakota.  He received his Bachelor of Science degree in art from Marion College in Marion, Indiana in 1981.  He has also served as a panelist for many prestigious art shows including the Columbus Arts Festival and Intertribal Arts Experience in Dayton, Ohio.  He has been drawn to the arts since his youth and has been encouraged by his family.  His grandmother was well known for her intricate Lakota beadwork and his father paints scenes from the memory of his own boyhood on the Cheyenne River Reserve in Eagle Butte, South Dakota.  The theme for this month is “Four Directions - A Time for Unity.”  The theme calls attention to the many significant contributions American Indian and Alaskan Natives have made to our society.  From all four directions of our country, they have enriched us beyond measure with the strength provided by their closely knit families and proud, united communities.  MMS is the Federal agency that manages the Nation’s natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf; and collects, accounts for, and disburses about $4 billion in revenues each year from Federal offshore mineral leases and from onshore mineral leases on Federal and Indian lands.