Native Americans are invited to illustrate the impact of commercial tobacco on Lakota culture, tradition and values through an art contest sponsored by the Black Hills Center for American Indian Health.

More than $1,700 in prize money will be awarded through the competition that is open to all Native American artists.

Winning artists will be announced at a Lakol Wicohan Wacipi "Ways of Life Powwow" scheduled for Friday, March 7, at Mother Butler Center, 221 Knollwood Drive in Rapid City. Doors will open at 4 p.m. The grand entry begins at 6 p.m.

"The whole campus will be tobacco free during the powwow," said Quincy Afraid of Lightning, a research assistant at the Center for American Indian Health.

Tobacco use was not a common practice among Native Americans until this century, according to Afraid of Lightning.

Tobacco was not used even in ceremonial pipes, he said.

"Even amongst some Native Americans, they don't know that when it came to that pipe, what was in the pipe was bark from the red willow tree," Afraid of Lightning said. "And it wasn't inhaled."

Smoking rates among Native Americans in the Northern Plains are higher than in other parts of the country, he said.

It is estimated that more than 51 percent of Rapid City's 12,000 Native American residents are active smokers, Afraid of Lightning said.

"We believe that 50 percent of Native American high school students smoke," he said.

The Black Hills Center for American Indian Health received a $99,000 grant last summer from the American Legacy Foundation to raise awareness about the risks associated with tobacco use.

The art show and powwow are intended to "plant a seed" and prompt Native Americans to examine the impact the tobacco industry has had on traditional culture, Afraid of Lightning said.

Art-show entries can be in a variety of media including drawings, paintings, graphic art, mixed media, collages, printmaking, relief sculpture and sculpture. Entries will be separated into adult (ages 19 and older) and youth categories.

Entries will be accepted Feb. 18-25.

For more information about the art sho,w call the Black Hills Center for American Indian Health at 348-6100, email rweathers@bhcaih.org, or stop by the office at 701 St. Joseph St., Suite 204.

The center hosts a Community Quit Smoking Class each Tuesday from noon to 1 p.m. at Mother Butler Center. Lunch is provided.

Contact Andrea Cook at 394-8423 or andrea.cook@rapidcityjournal.com