Who is Dora Brought Plenty

Brought Plenty is an Indigenous artist, speaker, author, fashion designer and educator based out of Dallas Tx. She is originally from South Dakota and is enrolled with the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, Turtle Clan. Brought Plenty is also an Indian Boarding School Survivor.

At age 6, Dora was forcefully taken from her family in South Dakota and made to attend Pierre Indian Boarding school hundreds of miles away from everything that she had known. There she was remanded to stay and endure the harsh realities and boarding school abuse until the age of 14. Labeled as unruly and non compliant, she was relocated at 10 years old to Eagle Butte Indian Boarding school where she quickly learned was a much harsher environment than the one she had previously resided. With no family or friends, Dora discovered her artistic endeavors would win her favor with the Catholic nuns. She escaped many beatings because they liked her art and drawings.

"The government, the organized religion, tried to and in some ways robbed me of my heritage, my culture, my dignity, my language, my spiritually, my innocence, my rights to be a native, an Indian, an indigenous person. Every time I come in contact with people, who share with me, they're native, not sure how much, but, native blood runs in their family tree, family ancestry, regardless of how much, they tell me, one drop, half, three quarters, I say, you are native. Let no one rob you of this, your dignity, your right to celebrate your native blood. It's your right, your privilege, your honor. Stand tall, stand proud, stand culturally grounded, culturally strong. It's your privilege. Let no one steal this from you.

I will continue to share my truths on growing up native within the Indian boarding schools, honor, recognize those who didn't make it out, and back home to their parents. I will continue to share the physical abuse we endured, the mental, verbal, spiritual, sexual, cultural, nutritional, emotional, abuse we all went through in these hell holes, these native child prisons where we were taken to, by force, stolen, trafficked into by the government and organized religions at that time.

My heart is heavy, with guilt, sorrow, pain for our native children who didn't make it out, and back home. I will continue to encourage those of us, who are but a drop, mixed blood, half, unsure how much. Remember, you are Native, you are Indian. Honor, rejoice, respect your being native. I'm proud of you, for Standing up recognizing who you are. " WE ARE STILL HERE " thank you. Stay safe, stay strong, stay culturally grounded within yourself, yourselves ourselves, us, we. 🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🐢" -Dora Brought Plenty

"Every piece of art I create is made with care, culture and love in hopes of a greater tomorrow. It is a spiritual and cultural practice. I sincerely hope that you can appreciate the dream catchers, medicine pouches, drums, jewelry, and native influenced garments that I create. They are all fragments of myself and are pieces of art that continue to heal not only myself but hopefully others. Art is an approach to healing our minds - It is something that we can all share. Let us create together. Let us heal together." - Dora Brought Plenty