The story behind the Metro Transit bus that honors Indigenous culture, and its first driver
MINNEAPOLIS -- A vibrant acknowledgment of the place we call home is cruising all across the Twin Cities.
Metro Transit now has a bus covered from front to back in Native American artwork that was created by a local Native artist.
The story behind the colors and figures serves as a cultural history lesson, while the story of the driver who first got behind the wheel serves as a beautiful twist of fate.
A Metro Transit bus passing by probably wouldn't have you doing a double take. They mostly look the same other than a variety of advertisements on the sides. That's all the more reason why the carrying an entire pallet of colors is turning heads.
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"I didn't want it to be too saturated, but also colorful enough so when people see it, they're like, 'whoa, I've never seen a pink and purple pastel bus in my life'," said Marlena Myles.
Myles is the Spirit Lake Dakota artist who turned public transportation into a moving mural with a message. In large letters on the side of the bus it states: "We are on Dakota land."
"I wanted to show that Dakota people, we're still here. We're a vibrant culture, the colors are to represent that," she said.
The art was originally designed for signage at Ramsey County Parks, but Myles happily obliged Metro Transit's request to have it wrapped on a bus.
"To Dakota people, we used to paint over our teepees and tell stories that wrapped around the tipi. So I figured, this is like a modern way of wrapping a design an object that we use every day," Myles said.
The stories here include connections to wildlife, such as horses to represent how Native Americans used to travel. There are flowers in reference to plants being medicine and a learning tool. Tipis symbolize neighborhoods, while collections of colors showcase the vibrancy of different ethnicities and cultures working together.
Several drivers steer those stories across town, but Kevin Montry was one of the first to do so.
"This happened just by chance that I got this bus," said Montry.
The bus was already sent out on a route that day in late spring, so he had to find it in St. Paul to make a swap.
"As soon as I drove up to it, it was this art and it was native and I... it just made me smile and touched me," he said before pausing as emotions made his voice tremble. "I just felt like, of course, it's me."
Montry is Lakota and Anishinaabe. He drove it to a celebration event for the bus where Myles was waiting. He happily told her of his indigenous roots.
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"And she said 'Of course you're the one who brought the bus.' Because in our Indian world ways, we don't believe in coincidence," he said.
Montry believes fate put him behind the wheel. It was an opportunity to honor his heritage that was a long time coming.
"I learned my (Native American) ways older in life. I never learned them as a kid because my mom and dad grew in the time to be ashamed of Indian and so it was time for me to have pride," he said.
Montry is also a proud sun dancer.
"It was good for me to know too that the person driving this bus is feeling empowered because of it," added Myles.
Her artwork combined with Montry's energy feels like a match made in heaven. Or in this case, on the land their ancestors once called home.
"It was like we're finally people that used to be invisible and now we're visible," he said through a smile.
If you want to see the bus, or learn which route it's on for the day, click here to see the tracker.
