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Pow-Wow this weekend at Fredericksburg Fairgrounds combines entertainment, education and the art of Spotsylvania's Stacey Leigh Littledeer Date published: 11/2/2004 By MICHAEL ZITZ METICULOUSLY, LOVINGLY, tirelessly, Stacey Leigh Little- deer is sculpting a future for herself and her young son out of the raw material that is the Cherokee Nation's past. Littledeer, a 36-year-old Spotsylvania resident, is part Cherokee and part Mattaponi; an American Indian artist whose riveting clay sculptures, bold paintings and one-of-a-kind traditional Cherokee medicine masks will be on display at the 10th annual Fredericksburg Pow-Wow this Friday through Sunday at the Fredericksburg Fairgrounds. She is now featuring art cards and handmade Cherokee Medicine Women sculptures. "The strength of women, the spirituality of our culture," are major themes in her work, said Littledeer, a single mother. To support her 8-year-old son, Noah Long, who is acutely bipolar and has Tourette's syndrome, she also sells silver jewelry, leather works and pottery--some made by friends and family. Bipolar disorder can involve severe mood swings, fits of rage and obsessive behavior. Tourette's is characterized by involuntary movements and sounds and compulsive rituals or behaviors. Undeterred, Noah is attending public school classes and is a highly precocious artist. He already has begun sculpting animals and painting symbols on spirit stones. And he will help his mother at the Fredericksburg Pow-Wow. In spite of--and, perhaps, in part because of--the difficulties with which Noah is confronted in life, he has great imagination, Littledeer said. Last year, he won first place for a painting entered in a Courthouse Elementary PTA fine-arts contest in Spotsylvania. His mother praises the school's principal, Mitchell McCrumb, for his understanding and his efforts to help Noah. Littledeer herself began creating such art at age 7, and became quite accomplished before taking a break after Noah's birth, partly because of his special needs. Pow-Wow Chairman Barry Richardson said, "Stacey's work encompasses contemporary and traditional Native American art." Richardson hopes the works of artists such as Littledeer inspire others to emulate them while also teaching mainstream America about Indian culture. "There will always be a need to teach our culture, because the mainstream systems--the schools and the media--do not give out enough information on Native Americans," Richardson said.
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