What is Shepard Fairey’s piece called “The Black Hills Are Not For Sale”?

Artist Statement

I made this image in collaboration with National Geographic Photographer Aaron Huey in support of www.honorthetreaties.org and their efforts to educate the public about Native American Treaty rights. This is our third project together and was built directly off of the mural we did on the Baracudda wall on Melrose last Fall. See the full installation here. Our first poster project went up in a dozen American cities in 2011. You can see more of Aaron’s 7 year documentary of the Pine RIdge Indian Reservation in the cover story of National Geographic magazine this month and an extended essay on his website. Proceeds from this print go to fund the “Honor The Treaties” awareness campaign. We will be releasing a 24×36 offset print on thin paper to both sell as a signed print and to sell unsigned in packs of ten for public display of your choosing. More details soon. Thanks for caring. -Shepard Fairey 18 x 24 inch Screen Print signed by Aaron Huey and Shepard Fairey. Numbered edition of 450. $60. Photograph by Aaron Huey To hear the whole story check out Aaron’s 2010 TED talk on the Lakota and their fight to get back the Black Hills of South Dakota. Release Date: 7/26/12 at two random times during the day (PST)

Summary

The Black Hills Are Not For Sale is a 2012 screen print by Shepard Fairey, 18 x 24 inches in a numbered edition of 450, signed by Fairey and National Geographic photographer Aaron Huey, with photography by Huey. Released through Obey Giant at $60, it was made in support of the Honor The Treaties campaign to educate the public about Native American treaty rights, with proceeds funding that effort. The work builds on a Melrose mural and Huey's multi-year documentary of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, combining Fairey's graphic treatment with Huey's photograph to assert Lakota land rights to the Black Hills.

Why It Matters

This print is one of Fairey's most explicitly cause-driven collaborations, made with National Geographic photographer Aaron Huey in support of the Honor The Treaties campaign and Native American treaty rights, with proceeds funding that awareness effort. It marks the third project between Fairey and Huey and grew directly out of a mural on the Baracudda wall on Melrose, situating it within a sustained activist partnership rather than a one-off release. The subject, the Lakota fight to reclaim the Black Hills of South Dakota, connects the print to a documented advocacy effort that included Huey's seven-year documentary of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, a National Geographic cover story, and a TED talk, giving the work unusual real-world grounding. For collectors, the dual authorship by Fairey and a working photojournalist, the charitable purpose, and the specificity of the cause distinguish it from generic political imagery. As a numbered edition of 450 with both artists' signatures, it represents Fairey's practice of mobilizing his platform for Indigenous rights, making it a meaningful holding for those who value art tied to concrete justice campaigns and documentary photography.

Collector Perspective

This appeals to collectors drawn to socially engaged, cause-tied art and to the intersection of street art with documentary photojournalism. The dual signatures of Fairey and Aaron Huey, the Honor The Treaties charitable purpose, and the specific Lakota land-rights subject give it strong narrative depth for buyers who value provenance and meaning over pure scarcity. The edition of 450 keeps it accessible while the photographic base and human-rights message make it a distinctive centerpiece in a justice- or activism-themed collection. It pairs naturally with Fairey's other civil-rights and treaty-related prints and suits collectors building around his collaborative advocacy work.

Historical Context

Released in July 2012, this print is the third collaboration between Fairey and National Geographic photographer Aaron Huey, growing out of a Melrose mural and a poster campaign that appeared in a dozen American cities in 2011. It supports the Honor The Treaties campaign and draws on Huey's seven-year documentary of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, tied to a National Geographic cover story and a 2010 TED talk on the Lakota's fight for the Black Hills. Within Fairey's arc, it exemplifies his early-2010s turn toward sustained, partnership-based activism on Indigenous and human-rights issues, using signed editions to directly fund advocacy.

FAQ

Related Works

Alto Arizona2010 · Earlier immigrant- and Indigenous-rights cause print in the same activist vein.

Tyranny Has A Witness2011 · Civil-rights-and-justice work sharing the human-rights advocacy theme.

Wind Chases The Sun2011 · Civil-rights-themed print adjacent in subject and period.

Relief For Haiti2010 · Cause-driven, proceeds-supporting collaboration like this Honor The Treaties print.

Not One More2015 · Justice-campaign print in the same socially engaged strand.

Cornel West2010 · Portrait-collaboration tied to social-justice advocacy.