We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
Makenzie Davis, Teller at the Wells Fargo branch in Chinook, studies the winter scene, set in Mission Canyon, that Clarence Cuts The Rope painted for the Bank of Montana, a predecessor of Wells Fargo in 1982. Since the branch is now closed, a number of locals are working with Wells Fargo to have the painting donated to be displayed in Hays, where the artist did the work.
A number of locals, including the son of famed Hays-based artist Clarence Cuts The Rope, have asked Wells Fargo executives to donate a large painting, done by Cuts The Rope, to be hung in the new Hays community center when it is completed. The painting was one of two commissioned by the bank in 1982 (it was Bank of Montana at that time). Clarence Cuts The Rope died in 2000.
Ada Brekke, of Chinook, was a bank employee at the time. She said, "Clarence did two paintings, one of a buffalo hunt, and the other a winter scene set in Mission Canyon. Because there wasn't room for both painting to be displayed on the ground floor, the hunting scene went upstairs and the winter scene was hung on the east wall of the main lobby." The winter scene was still there when the branch closed last week.
Brekke said in the early 1990's a bank manager asked Clarence Cuts The Rope if he would trade the painting of the buffalo hunt for two smaller paintings that could be hung in the manager's office on the ground floor. Clarence agreed and the painting of the hunt was taken to be displayed in a tribal building at the Fort Belknap Agency. Two smaller paintings were still in the manager's office when the branch closed.
Clarence's son, Catcher Cuts The Rope, heard of the branch closing and began efforts to keep the winter scene painting in Blaine County. He believed, "When bank officials were discussing the closing of the Chinook branch they weren't thinking about what they would do with the large winter painting in the lobby." Tara Overcast, the Lead Teller who had been overseeing the branch for the last few months it operated, said she understood that there were plans to crate the painting and send it to St. Louis for storage. Brekke and other locals got involved in the effort to help Catcher keep the painting in the area.
Written requests are made
Catcher said, "The bank people asked me to make a written request to keep the painting in the area. That's when I wrote the first letter that is typed." (See undated typed letter as part of story). In the letter Catcher expresses his appreciation to people of the region "for your love of art and your support to an Indian artist and his family." He also thanked the bank employees for "remembering and respecting the art of Clarence Cuts The Rope."
The letter goes on to describe the history of the connection of Clarence Cuts The Rope to the native people and the land portrayed in his art work. Catcher specifically explains the winter camp scene in the large painting still in the bank lobby, how the area depicted is holy to the native people and ways the area is currently used in native celebrations. Referring to the winter scene, Catcher notes, "He (Clarence) honored all our ancestors by painting them on that old artist's easel in Mom's kitchen, where the light was best."
After receiving the first typed letter, bank officials asked Catcher to write a more specific request, which he did in longhand (see hand written letter dated May 12, 2017). The handwritten letter makes a pointed appeal for the winter scene painting to be "donated to the Aaniih and Nakoda Nations of Hays on the Fort Belknap Indian Rez." Catcher laid out the plan to temporarily hang the painting in the Kills at Night Center which is currently used as the community center in Hays. When the painting is received "the Pipe Ceremony and traditional feed to honor our ancestors will be held at The Kills at Night Center." This letter was also presented to Wells Fargo representatives.
On the day the Chinook branch bank closed Ada Brekke and Catcher Cuts The Rope spoke by conference call with Wells Fargo representatives about the desire of locals to keep the winter scene painting in Blaine County. Brekke said she got the sense there was an interest to honor the request but there were questions about how to formalize the donation. Cuts The Rope said, "I think the bank people in Montana get the reasons we are asking for the painting. I think the resistance is with 'the brass,' wherever they are." Both Brekke and Cuts The Rope are hopeful and fairly confident the donation will happen.
Asked how readers might help assure the request becomes a reality, Cuts The Rope said, "I'm very grateful for the way people have honored and protected Dad's art. He really wanted to be recognized as an artist and, especially, by the people in the area where he lived. He would be appreciative to have his art displayed in the area where he did it." And when the painting is finally brought to Hays for display, Catcher added, "I hope everyone will come for the celebration." In short, he asked that people "keep on doing what they've been doing," continue to honor and protect Clarence Cuts The Rope's art.
