To understand Prairie Star Gallery better, it's helpful to know
more about the city in which we're located. The mural above, by
James Starkey, might be a good place to start. James painted it
in the main hallway of Killian Community College. Founder Tom
Killian is at top right. The mural, drawn in seven panels to
suggest the historical Indigenous Seven Councils, depicts the
substance and spirit of Sioux Falls. Beginning at top left, the
buffalo hide painting recalls the land we call Dakota as it was
200 or 500 years ago, before the mapping expedition by Lewis and
Clark. The Plains were alive with buffalo; warriors protected
their land and occasionally encroached upon that of their
rivals. The mobile tipi allowed the bands or tribes (some
comprised of as many as 10,000 people) to move place to place on
the vast northern plains, as necessary to accommodate the
changing seasons and varying sources of food. The Lakota are the
namesake of the Falls of the Sioux River, shown spilling over
the quartzite, or that ser