ANCESTRAL, HISTORICAL & LIVING ARTS by INDIGENOUS PEOPLES of the AMERICAS
FırstAmericanArt MAGAZINE
NO. 27, SUMMER 2020
NATIVE ART WORLD RESPONSE TO COVID-19
LENA SNOW AMASON
COMANCHE HOMECOMING PHOTO ESSAY
JASON GARCIA
SWAIA’S NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR PORCUPINE QUILL BOXES DISPLAY UNTIL OCT. 5, 2020
MARLOWE KATONEY COURTNEY M. LEONARD
TALOA UNDERWOOD
TALOA UNDERWOOD To Carry Sweet Things 63 x 53” Blanket To Carry Sweet Things 63 x 53” Blanket
JOANNA UNDERWOOD BLACKBURN JOANNA UNDERWOOD Yaakni’ Chokma’ (GoodBLACKBURN Earth)
Yaakni’ (Good Earth) 63Chokma’ x 53” Blanket 63 x 53” Blanket Mahotatextiles.com
Mahotatextiles.com
1 5 TH A N N U A L
CHEROKEE
ART MARKET O C TO B E R
10 & 11, 2020
“The Passing of a Generation” by Troy Jackson
Sequoyah Convention Center at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa cherokeeartmarket.com | 877.779.6977
Marlowe Katoney Navajo Textiles
Marlowe Katoney Navajo Textiles @marlowekat
chaikatoney@hotmail.com
VISUAL VOICES C O N T E M P O R A R Y C H I C K A S AW A R T
Lisa Hudson, Chickasaw Grace, 2017, Digital duotone print, 7.1 in. x 6.5 in.
MUSEUM OF THE SOUTHEAST AMERICAN INDIAN
BRISCOE WESTERN ART MUSEUM
March 2 – July 31, 2020
Sept. 24, 2020 – Jan. 18, 2021
1 University Place Pembroke, NC 28372 (910) 521-6282
210 West Market Street San Antonio, TX 78205 (210) 299-4499
Please call ahead to verify museum hours and public gathering protocols.
C H I C KASAWA RT I STS .CO M
issue no. 27, summer 2020
FEATURES
DEPARTMENTS
Native Art World Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic By various authors
18
Recent Developments
Point of Contact: The Art of Quillwork Then and Now By Matthew Ryan Smith, PhD
34
Seven Directions 14 Anya Montiel, PhD (Mestiza/ Tohono O'odham)
Returning Home: Comanche Homecoming at Sultan Park Photo essay by Ben Norberto III (Comanche), text by Juanita Pahdopony (Comanche)
40
SWAIA Selects Kim Peone to Be Executive Director: A New Chapter Begins for Both By RoseMary Diaz (Santa Clara Pueblo)
46
Collections: Minneapolis Institute of Art By Andrea L. Ferber, PhD
60
90
REVIEWS Exhibition Reviews
78
Book Review 82
48
IN MEMORIAM Rodslen Brown 94 (Cherokee Nation, 1960–2020) By America Meredith (Cherokee Nation)
ARTIST PROFILES Lena Snow Amason: 54 Alutiiq Carver By Matthew Ryan Smith, PhD Jason Garcia: Santa Clara Pueblo Clay Artist and Printmaker By Michelle J. Lanteri
Art+Literature 84 Joy Harjo: Mvskoke/Cherokee Poet, Musician, and Author By Matthew Ryan Smith, PhD Artwork by Daniel McCoy Jr. (Muscogee/Citizen Potawatomi) Spotlight: 88 Seal Vision: Shared Spirit By America Meredith (Cherokee Nation)
OPINION The Indian-on-Indian Art Plague: Intertribal Misappropriation By Nanette Kelley (Osage/Cherokee Nations)
54
10
66
60
David Shananaquet 95 (Little Traverse Odawa, 1955–2020) By America Meredith (Cherokee Nation)
Marlowe Katoney: 66 Navajo Textile Artist and Painter By Jill Ahlberg Yohe, PhD Courtney M. Leonard: 72 Shinnecock Ceramicist and Multimedia Artist By Jami Powell, PhD (Osage Nation)
72
cover Marlowe Katoney (Navajo), Mitten Buttes Monument Valley Eyedazzler, 2019, wool, vegetal dyes, commercial dyes, 15 × 24 in. Image courtesy of Yun Gee Park Gallery, Tucson, Arizona.
SUMMER 2020 | 7
info@coeartscenter.org • 505.983.6372
1590 B Pacheco Street, Santa Fe, NM 87505 Coe Center
Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts
issue no. 27, summer 2020 ISSN 2333-5548 (Print) • ISSN 2333-5556 (Online)
Leggings, c. 1880. NA1028. Artist Unknown (Ojibwe), Child’s
Publishing Editor: America Meredith (Cherokee Nation) Literary Editor: Matthew Ryan Smith, PhD (Euro-Canadian) Marketing Director: Barbara Harjo (Cherokee descent) Copy Editors: Rosa Cays (Chicana), Jo Ann Reece Proofreaders: Staci Golar, Travis D. Day, Jo Ann Reece, and Angela C. Villa (Chicana) Layout & Design: America Meredith (Cherokee Nation) Social Media: Staci Golar, Michelle J. Lanteri, America Meredith (Cherokee Nation), Jackie Sevier (Northern Arapaho), and Neebinnaukzhik Southall (Rama Chippewa)
Regional Representatives
Coe Center coeartscenter.org Art inspires, energizes, and challenges. being apart.
Being together while Visit us virtually… Find hope in the creativity that surrounds us. Experience the Coe Experience the Coe that surrounds us. Find hope in the creativity Visit us virtually… Being together while being apart. and challenges. Art inspires, energizes, coeartscenter.org
Coe Center
Great Basin: Melissa Melero-Moose (Northern Paiute/Modoc) Great Plains: Jackie Sevier (Northern Arapaho) Northeast: Kelly Church (Ottawa/Ojibwe/Pottawatomi) Northwest: Miranda Belarde-Lewis, PhD (Zuni/Tlingit) Southeast: Michole Eldred (Catawba/Eastern Cherokee) Southwest: Holly Coonsis (Zuni) and RoseMary Diaz (Santa Clara Pueblo)
Editorial Advisory Board heather ahtone, PhD (Choctaw/Chickasaw) Jonathan Batkin James T. Bialac, JD Cliff Fragua (Jemez Pueblo) Teri Greeves (Kiowa) Emily Haozous, PhD, RN (Chiricahua Fort Sill Apache) Linda Lomahaftewa, Hon. DHum (Hopi/Choctaw) Jami Powell, PhD (Osage Nation) Mary Jo Watson, PhD (Seminole) India Rael Young, PhD
Advertising Representative Barbara Harjo (Cherokee descent), barbara@firstamericanartmagazine.com International distribution is by Disticor Magazine Distribution Services. First American Art Magazine, LLC, is not responsible for the content of any article or for the statements of any advertiser. First American Art Magazine welcomes queries about editorial submissions. The magazine is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, or artwork. Copyright ©2020 by First American Art Magazine, LLC. Cover and contents are fully protected by copyright and may not be reproduced in whole or part by any method without written permission, except those specific images listed with Creative Commons licenses. Any errors or omissions will be corrected in subsequent editions. First American Art Magazine® is registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
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Artist Unknown (Ojibwe), Child’s Leggings, c. 1880. NA1028.
Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts
Coe Center 1590 B Pacheco Street, Santa Fe, NM 87505 info@coeartscenter.org • 505.983.6372
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EDITOR'S GREETING
T
HE SPRING 2020 ISSUE of First American Art Magazine (FAAM) marked the pandemic hitting the Americas with a force. Now we’re in a state of limbo. The United States leads the world in COVID-19 cases, followed by Brazil. Peru ranks 8th, Chile 12th, Mexico 14th, and Canada 17th.1 The Navajo Nation became one of the hardest-hit nations in the world.2 Cases are rising but many of our states are opening back up. Much more is now understood about the nature and treatment of the virus than was known three short months ago. What is known is that large gatherings, especially indoors, are dangerous and greatly increase the risk of the virus spreading, which means in-person art markets and conferences are done for the foreseeable future. Museums and galleries in different countries are cautiously reopening to test if social distancing can provide a safe art experience for the public. In March, the Native art world, like much of the rest of the world, turned to the internet. Museums and other art organizations hosted virtual lectures, exhibitions, and even art markets. While nothing fully replaces in-person events, these online experiences provide a valuable link to help keep us connected. In the face of this health crisis and our economic and social collapse, many within the Native art community have asked themselves how they could help people. Whether lending their artistic skills to craft personal protective equipment (PPE), creating artwork to capture the zeitgeist, or trying to create opportunities for artists whose sales venues have evaporated, the Native art world has responded swiftly and in force. FAAM editorial advisors and writers agreed that we need to document these
above Roy Boney Jr. (Cherokee Nation), ᎥᏳᎩ ᏗᎵᏍᏗᏍᎩ (Virus Fighter), 2020, ink, watercolor on paper, 9 × 12 in. Image courtesy of the artist. royboney.com
efforts and share some of the stories of these responses. Of course, there are so many we can’t capture them all, but we can share a sampling. The stories we recorded offer a glimpse into how our community has been looking out for each other and the broader public. Like so many other art organizations, FAAM also turned to the internet. Our writers interviewed Native artists from different regions about their experiences in quarantine, which are published on our blog. We launched our first-ever virtual art exhibition, Masked Heroes: Facial Coverings by Native Artists, and received coverage in publications from The New York Times and NMAI Magazine
to the Tofino-Ucluelet Westerly News. Most recently, we have partnered with the Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts in Santa Fe to host “Collections Spotlight,” a reoccurring Zoom conversation in which Native artists select different artworks from the Coe’s collections to discuss. We are thankful that we can continue to provide a service to the public during these times, and I’m so grateful to all the new subscribers FAAM has acquired in recent months. Thank you for your support, and I look forward to sharing better days ahead. —America Meredith (Cherokee Nation)
1. Center for Systems Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, “Confirmed Cases by Country/Region,” Coronavirus Resource Center, June 17, 2020, web. 2. Robert Klemko, “Coronavirus has been devastating to the Navajo Nation, and help for a complex fight has been slow,” Washington Post (May 11, 2020), web.
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SUMMER 2020 | 9