art HUM 2200

CHAPTER 2 “Native American Art: Tribal Styles”

The past half a century has witnessed an increasing awareness of

American Indian art develop among American people. Before then, the

only place where “primitive” art could be seen was in major museums of

natural history. The creative works of Native Americans were seen as

undeveloped forms, thus the term primitive.

Today, not only is the art seen as culturally oriented, there is now an

emphasis on the artistic qualities of the work. Little or no distinction was

made between objects that were artful and those created for everyday

use. American Indian art has also been collected seriously by enthusiasts

who appreciate the superior craft skills of Native Americans. The survival

of American art and culture requires a definition of what real Indian art is,

not clichés or stereotypes.

For thousands of years, Indians have been producing art that defines

their world. As you can see in the Rand Gallery of Native American Art at

the Montclair Art Museum (www.montclairartmuseum.org), the production

of everyday items illustrates a visual language of culture. As Native

American creative objects are redefined, we see them as fine art rather

than ethnographic curiosities. Acceptance of the art is also the result of

recent scholarship that shows that artists have often taken liberties with

their surroundings and have simplified what is important to them.

I had the opportunity to participate in a guided tour with Twig Johnson,

the curator of Native American Art at the museum. She emphasized that

Native Americans were often portrayed either as bloodthirsty savages or

as romantic, tragic and instinctual figures. Putting those extremes aside, it

was essential that their traditional culture in harmony with nature had to

be documented before its imminent disappearance. An interesting

catalog titled Affinities and Influences: American and Native American Art

is a commentary on the role of cultural diplomacy as a pathway to a life

of quality.

Norman Feder, the author of American Indian Art published by Harry

N. Abrams, Inc., tells us that none of the many Indian languages in over

300 tribes have a word for art although art is connected to their daily,

spiritual and social lives. Objects were created by largely anonymous

artists who are part of an historical legacy that continues to be passed

from one generation to the next. Differing from tribe to tribe, recognition

of unique designs of blankets, the ingenuity of beadwork and jewelry, the

skill of baskets, totems and pipes as well as the sophistication of pottery

and quill works has been long overdue.

In this lecture, we will attempt to construct the forces that have shaped

American art history as well as address some serious omissions including

the rich variety of meanings and purposes of Native American art. Each

culture retains an original technique or specialization and contact with

European traders and settlers expanded the range of materials. The

director of the American Indian Museum in Washington, Michael Janofsky,

stated that “art “is about who we are, what happened to us and how our

lives are effected.” You can read some of his other ideas in his June 2006

The New York Times article “The American Story Told Through Ideas and

Ideals.”

Through the lens of biography and through the lens of ideas, we can

see who we are as people and correct some misconceptions about

Native people. Many of us are unaware of the Indians’ plight as settlers

and government agents encroached on ancestral hunting grounds.

Conflict and subsequent relocation to reservations was detrimental to

Native artistic abilities. Pushed West, Native Americans became

dislocated peoples whose traditional cultures were erased by federal laws

that promoted assimilation.

Less than 150 years ago, many Indians still led a nomadic existence,

moving their teepees and horses from place to place and warriors used

bows and arrows as well as rifles. Reluctant to submit to the will of the

United States government and be confined to the limits of a reservation,

many Indians were hostile.

Indians fought for their homes, lands, traditions and families, yet after

the white man came, Indian power waned and vast preserves of woods

and valleys were taken over. It is to their art that we look to help save the

broken fragments of a lost world. As a stunning array of ceremonial and

utilitarian objects is increasingly recognized as examples of long-term

artistic traditions, they have been placed among the canonical works of

world cultures. Human clothing, saddle blankets, cradle boards,

moccasins and Kachina figures bring to light a fascinating and ultimately

sad chapter in American history.

The Navajo Nation is America’s largest native population. More than

250,000 Navajos or Dine (the people) live in Navajo land that covers

27,000 square miles over Arizona, part of New Mexico and Utah.

(www.nps.gov/nava). According to Navajo creation stories, before

settling here in the White or Glittering World, the first holy people passed

through three worlds---Black, Blue, and Yellow. Shortly after, they

established the four sacred mountains that mark the boundaries of the

Navajo homeland.

The Northern Pueblos are world-famous for their fine arts, which have

been passed on to present-day artists from many generations past. From

pottery, jewelry, painting, weaving, embroidery and drums each Pueblo

seems to have its specialty. The Northern Pueblos of New Mexico

represent eight of the 19 Pueblo tribes and are the oldest tribal

communities in the United States. Despite the loss of land to colonization

by the Spanish, Mexican and American governments, the Pueblos remain

on their original homelands to this day.

The growth of Native American activism in the late 1970s was

commonly known as the Red Power Movement and contemporary artists

like Roy Lichtenstein and Juane-Quick-to-See-Smith examined the myths

and stereotypes of American Indian life. Lichtenstein, best known for the

signature Pop style he developed, looked at art work by Indians in order

to challenge clichés of the life of the first Americans. For example, in his

painting “Little Landscape, he used iconic signs and symbols excerpted

from specific works of “Amerind” art to explore the visual means by which

culture has defined itself. The symbols---thunderbird, animal tracks,

teepee, clouds, cactus, feathers, mountains---show his fascination with

American Indian imagery and subject matter.

Juane-Quick-to-See-Smith was inspired by the long trips she took with

her father, a horse trader, trainer and rodeo rider. She was also

influenced by her father’s collection of beadworks, Charles Russell prints

and Navajo saddle blankets. From childhood, Juane-Quick-to-See-Smith

knew she wanted to be an artist. Born in the Flathead Reservation in

western Montana, she lived in bunkhouses, traveling the land. She

graduated from Framingham State College in Massachusetts where she

began her work that builds bridges between Native American and

contemporary American culture.

In her 1992 mixed media collage “War Shirt,” she uses clippings from

newspapers and magazines to address Native American identity in the

face of the cultural changes in the 21st century. Traditionally made to

honor an individual and his deeds, this ancient symbol of prestige is

thought to hold intrinsic power transferred to its owner. The war shirt is now

used to record the struggle of Native people to honor tribal traditions and

to survive. There is considerable concern that significant societal changes

and a loss of traditional languages, beliefs and ceremonial practices have

resulted in the production of artistic objects made to appeal to the

commercial market.

Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952) is the most widely collected photographer

in the world. Like most Americans of his day, believed that American

Indian people and their cultures would soon disappear. He devoted thirty

years to documenting the customs, beauty, lifestyle and spirituality of

more the eighty Native American tribes. In describing Curtis’ lithographs, it

has been said that “Never before have we seen the Indians of North

America so close to the origins of their humanity.” To read more see N.

Scott Momaday’s commentary in Edward S. Curtis: Coming To Light,

Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2002. He also took 50,000

photographs and one of his most prized images shows Chief Red Hawk,

the fierce warrior who was in twenty fights including the 1876 Battle of

Little Bighorn, George Armstrong Custer’s last stand.

(www.arenaeditions.com)

Inspired by his first encounter with Native Americans, Curtis’ images

convey the central aspects of their spirit. He began his life’s work soon

after the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, the last major

battle between the United States Army and Native Americans. Indians

watched as their ancestral hunting grounds were stolen by the white men.

Indians faced starvation as the buffalo herds on which they depended

disappeared with the encroachment of settlers and railroads.

Unlike many American painters who often depicted Native Americans

as enemies, George Catlin (1796-1872) painted sympathetic scenes of

Indian life depicting their customs in scenes like his “Buffalo Chase.” By

the end of the nineteenth century, the buffalo had become so rare that

when a small herd appeared near Pine Ridge Reservation in South

Dakota, several elderly tribesmen hugged, rather than killed, the animals.

In an effort that was intended to wipe out the primary food source of

American Indian Tribes in the West, the United States government had

massacred the great herds in the 1870s. Some orphaned bison calves

were rescued and buffalo herds in recent years have become a popular

way for tribes to reconnect with their history. They can be seen from afar

when traveling through the land, however, herds are maintained for

traditional purposes and are not accessible to visitors. With a sensitivity

rare among Americans, Catlin dedicated his career to preserving images

of American Indians and their unique heritage and created 500 paintings

that became vital records of Indian tribal life.

Charles Bird King (1785-1862) was a remarkable portraitist and he, too,

produced an important series of over 140 paintings of Native Americans

depicting them in colorful native costumes. His unforgettable images of

lifestyles that have passed forever into history tell stories of love and war,

grief, strength and dignity.