MISSION, South Dakota -- In 1997, Sicangu Lakota artist and full-time mother and grandmother Linda Szabo, started on the path to realize her dream to start a business that would benefit northern plains Indian artists from the Rosebud reservation and throughout this region.

She completed a business plan and secured a $10,000 loan from a regional foundation that provided working capital to Indian entrepreneurs on four separate reservations, including the Rosebud Sioux Reservation. Today Linda has grown her business - Soldier Woman Gallery www.soliderwomangallery.com, into a successful 1500 square foot gallery only a few feet away from her home in Mission, South Dakota. Linda’s gallery represents nearly 300 Native artists, and her customers range from local tribal schools to European markets.

Linda and her husband, silversmith Paul Szabo, continue to practice their art full time. They travel outside of the state several times a year to some of the largest Indian art markets, including the Santa Fe Indian Market, the Indian Market at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, and, closer to home, the Northern Plains Indian Market in Sioux Falls.

Linda and Paul personify the true spirit of First Peoples Fund and its mission to honor and support the creative community-centered First Peoples artists, and nurture the collective spirit1 that allows them to sustain their peoples. First Peoples Fund honors and celebrates native artists like Linda and Paul who exemplify indigenous values of generosity, wisdom, respect, integrity, strength, fortitude and humility through three flagship programs (see sidebar): Community Spirit Awards (CSA), Artists in Business Leadership (ABL) and Cultural Capital (CC).

(Read more in the Summer 2008 issue…)