Authentic American Indian Playing Cards (Northern Plains Collection I)

This deck featuring Native American courts was created by Sandy Ericson in Bismark, North Dakota. According to the accompanying explanatory cards, it was conceived in 1985 and completed in 1991 for American Creative Endeavors, Inc. The artwork is by John Beheler, also known as Mahed Wayanka (Looks Within), a college student at the time. Graphic artist Doug Yellow Bird brought it to life with Adobe Photoshop.

The courts, jokers, and Ace of Spades represent the culture of Northern Plains Native Americans. The extra cards explain the illustrations’ carefully chosen symbolism. Although the cards use the familiar rank abbreviations J, Q, and K, the ranks are referred to as Warrior, Princess, and Chief in the explanatory text . The jokers are coyote trickster deities popular in Native American mythology while the Ace of Spades features an eagle.

Authentic American Indian Playing Cards (Northern Plains Collection I) created by Sandy Ericson for American Creative Endeavors, Inc., 1991.

American Creative Endeavors published at least one other deck with different court cards; there may be others. This particular deck was used by the Prairie Knights Casino in Fort Yates, North Dakota and Sandia Resort & Casino in Albuquerque, New Mexico (there are hundreds of Native American casinos in the US, some of which have court cards showcasing Native American culture).