Ernie Pepion, 61; Artist Overcame Quadriplegia

Ernie Pepion, 61, a Blackfeet Indian who overcame quadriplegia to paint American Indians and people with disabilities, died Thursday of natural causes in a Great Falls, Mont., hospital.

Pepion grew up in a ranching family and became a rodeo rider. Four years after serving in Vietnam, he lost the use of his arms and legs in a 1971 auto accident. He learned to paint while recovering at a veterans hospital, using a motorized easel and a brace for his hand and forearm.

The artist received the 2005 Montana Governor's Award for the Arts. In the early 1990s, he was profiled in a Native Voices Public Television Workshop documentary, "Ernie Pepion: The Art of Healing."

Pepion's paintings sent powerful messages. One, titled "They talk, but not to me," depicted a woman with a large mouth, and Pepion in a wheelchair in a corner.