John Isaiah Pepion is offering giclée prints of his signature Plains Indian Graphic Art.
"Still Holding On" - This piece is powerful—a raw, unapologetic truth-telling that cuts to the core of internalized colonialism and lateral violence within Indigenous communities. It acknowledges the painful divisions that have been seeded and nurtured by centuries of colonization, and how those divisions are often weaponized against one another in ways that fracture community, identity, and solidarity.
This piece is describing what so many are afraid to say out loud: the way respectability politics, authenticity contests, and pain hierarchies have taken root even among those who are supposed to be kin. Who is “Indian enough” becomes the constant drumbeat, drowning out the unity that’s so urgently needed—especially when women, particularly Indigenous women, have long been the backbone of resistance, survival, and culture.
The line "Us against us. It’s working too" hits like a gut punch, because it's true. The colonizer’s playbook always depended on division—on making people believe they had to fight each other for scraps instead of joining forces to reclaim what was stolen. And when that strategy succeeds, it delays healing. It delays liberation.
But by calling it out, as this reflection does, you're also lighting the path forward. Recognition is the first step toward breaking the cycle. This is medicine—hard to swallow, but necessary.
Within his artwork John uses ink and color pencil on antique documents.
- Giclee Fine Art Print
- 8" x 12"
- Aquarelle
- Packaged and shipped flat
