UTTC Graduate Belle Brings Plenty Wins 2025 Tribal College Blanket Design Competition With 'Journey' — A Memorial to Her Brother

Belle Brings Plenty (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe), a recent graduate of United Tribes Technical College (UTTC), has won the 2025 Tribal College Blanket Design Competition. Her design, Journey, was selected from 33 student submissions and will be produced by Pendleton Woolen Mills for the American Indian College Fund blanket collection.

The Pendleton–American Indian College Fund partnership has supported Native students for more than two decades; sales from the blanket collection contribute nearly $50,000 in scholarships each year, and Pendleton’s combined contributions to scholarships and an endowment exceed $2.5 million.

Brings Plenty earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from UTTC this spring. She said the concept for Journey began as a sketch on a pair of parfleche (rawhide) earrings and later grew into a blanket design crafted in memory of her younger brother, Cole Brings Plenty, who died in April 2024.

“I just want people to be able to connect with this blanket in their own ways. I hope people can be able to wrap themselves in this blanket and feel loved,” Brings Plenty said.

Every element of the blanket is intentionally chosen to provide comfort and connection. The geometric motifs draw from traditional Lakóta artwork; the central dragonfly symbolizes healing medicine and, shown as a traveler, is surrounded by stars that represent Star Nation. The border features patterns inspired by quillwork and beadwork to honor Brings Plenty’s family lineage of quill workers and beaders, while diamond motifs reference her experience creating parfleche art.

Color carries cultural meaning in the design: red and blue signify life and death, and the deep blue field specifically honors the Wakíyan Oyáte (Thunder Being Nation) in recognition of blessings for her people. Lakóta words identifying symbols and colors are woven into the design with cream-colored lettering that echoes the rawhide tone Brings Plenty favors; the Lakóta word for “journey,” Oómani, appears within the blanket’s ledger-art elements.

The Tribal College Blanket Design Competition is open each year to Native students enrolled at Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs). The contest aims to spotlight emerging Indigenous artists by providing scholarship opportunities, cash awards, and professional experience through collaboration with a globally recognized textile brand. Applications for the next competition open each November through the American Indian College Fund.

Journey is now available for purchase as part of Pendleton’s American Indian College Fund collection, with a portion of proceeds supporting scholarship funding for Native students.