FırstAmericanArt ANCESTRAL, HISTORICAL & LIVING ARTS by INDIGENOUS PEOPLES of the AMERICAS
MAGAZINE
NO. 45, WINTER 2025
DISPLAY UNTIL APRIL 7, 2025
IROQUOIS REALIST SCHOOL SANTIAGO TLATELOLCO RELIEF ANCESTRAL CARVING PROJECT NOMADIC ART CAMP IN KYRGYZSTAN
JONAH HILL ALISON BREMNER CAROL EMARTHLE DOUGLAS JOHN MURIE
67TH ANNUAL HEARD MUSEUM GUILD
INDIAN FAIR + MARKET
MAR
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CC AR A AR OMER OO AR R OMER PANÛPÜNÜWÜGAI PANÛPÜNÜWÜGAI JANUARY 18–AUGUST 10, 10, 2025 JANUARY 18–AUGUST 2025
Celebrate the multiplicity, beauty, and resilience of Native American and and Celebrate the multiplicity, beauty, and resilience of Native American Indigenous experiences in Chemehuevi photographer Indigenous experiences in Chemehuevi photographer Cara Romero’s first major solo museum exhibition. Cara Romero’s first major solo museum exhibition. Cara Romero, Ha'ina 'ia mai, 2024, archival pigment print. © Cara Romero Cara Romero, Ha'ina 'ia mai, 2024, archival pigment print. © Cara Romero Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth 6 E Wheelock St, Hanover, NH 6 E Wheelock St, Hanover, NH hoodmuseum.dartmouth.edu hoodmuseum.dartmouth.edu
Image: Andrea Carlson, The Indifference of Fire, 2023. [detail] Oil, acrylic, gouache, ink, color pencil on paper, 46 x 182 inches (overall), Gochman Family Collection. ©Andrea Carlson, courtesy Bockley Gallery and JAMES FUENTES Image: Andrea Carlson, The Indifference of Fire, 2023. [detail] Oil, acrylic, gouache, ink, color pencil on paper, 46 x 182 inches (overall), Gochman Family Collection. ©Andrea Carlson, courtesy Bockley Gallery and JAMES FUENTES
Josef Albers • Rick Bartow • Frank Big Bear • Roy Boney • Rick • Frank•Big BearChurch • Roy Boney • Josef AndreaAlbers Carlson • Bartow Avis Charley Kelly • • Andrea Carlson • Avis Charley • Cyrette Kelly Church Woodrow "Woody” Crumbo • Nancy Fisher • Jim • Woodrow Crumbo •• Nancy Fisher Cyrette • Jim Denomie • "Woody” Jeffrey Gibson Teri Greeves • Denis Denomie •• Mark Jeffrey Gibson • Teri Greeves • Denis Lajimodiere LaRoque • Courtney M. Leonard • Lajimodiere • Mark LaRoque Courtney M. Leonard • Nora Moore Lloyd • Agnes Martin •• Wanesia Misquadace Nora Moore Lloyd • Agnes Martin • Wanesia • George Morrison • Barnett Newman • DaphneMisquadace Odjig • Virgil Ortiz Morrison • Chris Pappan • Cherish • John • George • Barnett NewmanParrish • Daphne Odjig • Pigeon Monica Rickert-Bolter • Sharon Virgil• Jason Ortiz •Quigno Chris • Pappan • Cherish Parrish • John Skolnick Telford • Jason Wesaw • Pigeon •• Skye JasonTafoya Quigno• •Lisa Monica Rickert-Bolter • Sharon JoeSkolnick Yazzie • •Debra Skye Yepa-Pappan Tafoya • Lisa Telford • Jason Wesaw • Joe Yazzie • Debra Yepa-Pappan
January 25 - July 13, 2025 JanuaryEvanston, 25 - July 13, 2025 Illinois Evanston, Illinois www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu
Image: Andrea Carlson, The Indifference of Fire, 2023. [detail] Oil, acrylic, gouache, ink, color pencil, and graphite on paper 46 x 182 inches (overall),Gochman Family Collection. ©Andrea Carlson, courtesy Bockley Gallery and JAMES FUENTES
Woven Being is part of Art Design Chicago, a citywide collaboration initiated by the Terra Foundation for American Art that highlights the city’s artistic heritage and creative communities. Lead support for Woven Being is provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Major support is provided by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, The Joyce Image:Arts. Andrea Carlson, in Thepart Indifference of Fire, 2023. [detail] Oil, acrylic, gouache, ink, Foundation, color pencil, the and Illinois graphite on paper 46 x 182 inches (overall),Gochman Family Collection. ©Andrea Carlson, courtesy Bockley Gallery and JAMES FUENTES Arts Council. Additional support is provided by the Sandra L. Riggs Publication Fund and the Alumnae of Northwestern University. Woven Being is part of Art Design Chicago, a citywide collaboration initiated by the Terra Foundation for American Art that highlights the city’s artistic heritage and creative communities. Lead support for Woven Being is provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Major support is provided by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, The Joyce Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council. Additional support is provided by the Sandra L. Riggs Publication Fund and the Alumnae of Northwestern University.
issue no. 45, winter 2025
DEPARTMENTS Recent Developments By Staci Golar and America Meredith (Cherokee Nation)
FEATURES 11
The Precarious Origins of the Iroquois Realist School By Matthew Ryan Smith, PhD
Recent Developments | In 18 Memoriam: Mary Ellen Meredith By Samonia Byford and America Meredith (both Cherokee Nation) Art+Lit | January Rogers: Mohawk/ 86 Tuscarora Author and Poet By Matthew Ryan Smith, PhD Spotlight | Eric-Paul Riege’s JAATŁOH4YE'IITSOH [17–18] + [][][][] By Sháńdíín Brown (Diné)
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Calendar
94
Indigenous Artistry, Intricate 30 Narratives: Considering a 17th-Century Relief of Santiago in Tlatelolco, Mexico City By Constanza Ontiveros Valdés, PhD 48
REVIEWS Exhibition Reviews
74
Music Review
82
Book Reviews
83
54
Hodinöšyö:nih Continuity | 36 Innovation | Resilience: Collaborating with a 17th-Century Ancestor By Jamie Jacobs (Tonawanda Seneca) and Kathryn Murano Santos Threads of Kinship: Bridging 42 Global Indigenous Communities Through Art in Kyrgyzstan By Clementine Bordeaux, PhD (Sicangu/Oglala Lakota), and Heidi K. Brandow (Diné/Kānaka Maoli)
ARTIST PROFILES
MEMORIALS Kerri Dick (Kwakwaka'wakw/ Haida/Kootenay, 1983–2024) By Christy Hanson (Diné)
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David John Dragonfly (Blackfeet/ 91 Assiniboine, 1956–2024) By Matt Jarvis (Osage) Thelma Forrest (Cherokee 92 Nation, 1940–2024) By Lisa Rutherford (Cherokee Nation)
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Virginia Stroud (Keetoowah 93 Cherokee/Muscogee, 1951–2024) By Tahnee Ahtone (Kiowa/Seminole/Mvskoki) cover Ganöndi:ye's “Charli Rae” Hill (Seneca Nation, Wolf clan) scatters milkweed seeds in the wind at Ganondagan State Historic Site. She wears the untitled ancestor comb, made from a 17th-century antler blank finished by Hayden Haynes (Seneca Nation), as well as his Celestial Tree Comb Earrings, 2024, elk antler, sterling silver, 4¼ × 1½ in. each.
Alison Bremner: Tlingit Painter, Collage Artist, and Carver By Kariel Galbraith (Tlingit)
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Carol Emarthle Douglas: Northern Arapaho/ Seminole Basket Weaver By Ruthanne Johnson
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Jonah Hill: Hopi/ Quechan Metalsmith By Stacy Pratt, PhD (Mvskoke)
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John Murie: Chippewa Cree/ Pawnee Beadwork Artist By America Meredith (Cherokee Nation)
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FIRST AMERICAN ART MAGAZINE NO. 45, WINTER 2025 | 7
issue no. 45, winter 2025 ISSN 2333-5548 (Print) • ISSN 2333-5556 (Digital) Publishing Editor: America Meredith (Cherokee Nation) Literary Editor: Matthew Ryan Smith, PhD (Euro-Canadian) Contributing Editor: Stacy Pratt, PhD (Mvskoke) Advertising Representatives: Barbara Harjo and Nicole Emmons (Citizen Potawatomi) Circulation Manager: Amy D. Bergseth, PhD Copy Editors: Rosa Cays (Chicana) and Angela C. Villa (Chicana) Proofreaders: Rosa Cays (Chicana), Staci Golar, Angela C. Villa (Chicana), and Travis D. Day Layout and Design: America Meredith (Cherokee Nation) Social Media: Staci Golar, America Meredith (Cherokee Nation), and Jackie Sevier (Northern Arapaho) Interns: Liam Hart and Abby Mikalauskas
Regional Representatives
Great Basin: Melissa Melero-Moose (Northern Paiute/Modoc) Great Plains: Jackie Sevier (Northern Arapaho) Northeast: Kelly Church (Gun Lake Pottawatomi/Ottawa/Ojibwe) Northwest: Nadia Jackinsky-Sethi, PhD (Alutiiq) Southeast: Michole Eldred (Catawba/Eastern Cherokee descent) Southwest: Holly Coonsis (Zuni) and RoseMary Diaz (Santa Clara Pueblo)
Advisory Council
Miranda Belarde-Lewis, PhD (Zuni/Tlingit) Roy Boney Jr. (Cherokee Nation) Emily Haozous, PhD, RN (Chiricahua Fort Sill Apache) Linda Lomahaftewa, Hon. DHum (Hopi/Choctaw) Tatiana Lomahaftewa-Singer (Hopi/Choctaw) Leah Mata Fragua (yak tityu tityu yak tiłhini Chumash) Anya Montiel, PhD (Mestiza/Tohono O'odham descent) Denise Neil, PhD (Delaware Tribe/Cherokee Nation) Neebinnaukzhik Southall (Rama Chippewa) Mary Jo Watson, PhD (Seminole Nation) India Rael Young, PhD
Advertising Representative
West: Barbara Harjo, barbara@firstamericanartmagazine.com East: Nicole Emmons (Citizen Potawatomi), nicole@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.
MARWIN BEGAYE NEW PRINTS
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NEW EXHIBIT ROCHESTER, NY Hayden Haynes (Seneca, Deer Clan), Reinterpretation 1, 2023.
Curated by Jamie Jacobs (Tonawanda Seneca, Turtle Clan) The RMSC’s newest permanent exhibition is an immersive exploration into Hodinöšyö:nih artwork, past and present. Discover how contemporary Hodinöšyö:nih artists build on traditional art forms represented in the RMSC and Rock Foundation collections to express their identities and address modern issues.
Learn more at rmsc.org
EDITOR’S GREETING
I
NDIGENOUS FUTURISMS is a literary and artistic movement that projects images of possible futures combined with influences from the past and present. This follows our creation stories and oral histories—what my dad called “the unchanging truth”—that recount the past but also predict the future. While dystopian visions of the future dominate pop cultures, and honestly our news outlets as well, Indigenous visions of the future are often hopeful and beautiful. Does this come from escapist fantasies? Consider the history of beadwork: some of the most exquisite cradleboards and bandolier bags were sewn during some of the darkest times in Native history—times of sweeping epidemics, starvation, warfare, forced relocation, imprisonment on reservations, and more. These artworks are prayers for protection for the human being who uses them. They are visions of better prospects ahead and invocations of forces greater than humans. Studying the past can allow us to know what humanity is capable of and
how others overcome seemingly insurmountable adversity. Indigenous peoples of the Americas are all post-apocalyptic peoples. We all benefit from understanding how people survived and persevered through devastating hardships. And visual arts, writing, music, and other creative expressions allow us insights into their innermost thoughts and their perspectives on the universe. During 9/11, I took some comfort in studying the violent Red Scare of 1917 to 1920. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I learned about the 1918 Great Influenza pandemic. Here in the United States, we are fed absurd notions that we are somehow immune to tragedies faced throughout the world and throughout time. Anyone outside of the mainstream, notably Native peoples, are keenly aware of the falseness of this illusion. In this issue of FAAM, we explore adaptations Indigenous artists made during historical upheaval while sustaining their communities. Circa 1610 Miguel Mauricio who lived at a time of
shocking change wrought by the Spanish invasion of the Aztec Empire, negotiated the imposed hegemony of Roman Catholicism through his wood carving. The Iroquois Realists used Western materials to express both an embrace of Christianity and a commitment to maintaining and sustaining their own Longhouse Religion and their medicine ways. Hayden Haynes (Seneca Nation) completes a carving begun in the 17th century. The Nomadic Art Camp in Kyrgyzstan shares how life-changing forging bonds with diverse cultures can be. Being present and mindful of our current experience is vitally important, especially when media and technology aim to sweep us away at every turn. But we can keep perspective by grounding ourselves in our lived reality while also considering what led us to this moment and what we want to leave for those who come after us. We are both small in the universe and large with our potential to shape the future we wish to see—to embody those prayers of protection for the living beings with whom we share the universe. —America Meredith (Cherokee Nation)
FIRST AMERICAN ART MAGAZINE NO. 45, WINTER 2025 | 9