I Stand in the Center of the Good
I Stand in the Center of the Good

Author: Lawrence Abbott

Publisher: U of Nebraska Press

Published: 1994-01-01

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 9780803210370

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What is Indian art? There have been many attempts to define it, but the so-called Santa Fe style of the 1930s?placid, two-dimensional depictions of traditional scenes?set the standard by which subsequent art by Native Americans would be judged. Art that radically challenged the stereotype?the work of Joe Herrera, Fritz Scholder, and T. C. Cannon, for example?met with resistance; questions were raised about its authenticity as Indian art. Today's Indian art has resoundingly overturned old preconceptions: here are cartoon figures in throbbing neon colors, "decorated" grocery bags, messages to America on the Spectacolor billboard in Times Square, delicate abstractions and cubist images, work that ranges from monotype and photography to mixed media and clay, from humor and biting commentary to quiet introspection. I Stand in the Center of Good, the first book of its kind, offers a forum for seventeen contemporary Native American artists to speak about the development of their art, their creative processes, how they define their art, and how it relates to their Indianness. The interviews are handsomely illustrated with works by the artists, who include Rick Glazer-Danay, Shan Goshorn, Hachivi Edgar Heap of Birds, Rick Hill, G. Peter Jemison, Michael Kabotie, Frank LaPena, Carm Little Turtle, Linda Lomahaftewa, George Longfish, Mario Martinez, Nora Naranjo-Morse, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Susan Stewart, Frank Tuttle, Kay WalkingStick, and Emmi Whitehorse.

Making History
Making History

Author: Institute of American Indian Arts

Publisher: University of New Mexico Press

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 0826362095

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Written by scholars actively producing Native art resources, this book guides readers--students, educators, collectors, and the public--in how to learn about Indigenous cultures as visualized in our creative endeavors.

The Shape of Power
The Shape of Power

Author: Karen Lemmey

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2024-11-12

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 0691261490

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"This catalogue accompanies an exhibition of the same name that will open at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in November 2024. Through offerings from ten scholars focusing on a selection of some eighty sculptures made between 1793 and 2023 in a wide range of media, The Shape of Power is a portal into nuanced and complex ideas about the enduring power of sculpture as a potent tool in the making and unmaking of race in the United States"--

Art for a New Understanding
Art for a New Understanding

Author: Mindy N. Besaw

Publisher: University of Arkansas Press

Published: 2018-10-01

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1610756541

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Art for a New Understanding, an exhibition from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art that opened in October 2018, seeks to radically expand and reposition the narrative of American art since 1950 by charting a history of the development of contemporary Indigenous art from the United States and Canada, beginning when artists moved from more regionally-based conversations and practices to national and international contemporary art contexts. This fully illustrated volume includes essays by art historians and historians and reflections by the artists included in the collection. Also included are key contemporary writings—from the 1950s onward—by artists, scholars, and critics, investigating the themes of transculturalism and pan-Indian identity, traditional practices conducted in radically new ways, displacement, forced migration, shadow histories, the role of personal mythologies as a means to reimagine the future, and much more. As both a survey of the development of Indigenous art from the 1950s to the present and a consideration of Native artists within contemporary art more broadly, Art for a New Understanding expands the definition of American art and sets the tone for future considerations of the subject. It is an essential publication for any institution or individual with an interest in contemporary Native American art, and an invaluable resource in ongoing scholarly considerations of the American contemporary art landscape at large.

Project 562
Project 562

Author: Matika Wilbur

Publisher: Ten Speed Press

Published: 2023-04-25

Total Pages: 417

ISBN-13: 1984859536

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A photographic and narrative celebration of contemporary Native American life and cultures, alongside an in-depth examination of issues that Native people face, by celebrated photographer and storyteller Matika Wilbur of the Swinomish and Tulalip Tribes. “This book is too important to miss. It is a vast, sprawling look at who we are as Indigenous people in these United States.”—Tommy Orange (Cheyenne and Arapaho), author of There There Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal In 2012, Matika Wilbur sold everything in her Seattle apartment and set out on a Kickstarter-funded pursuit to visit, engage, and photograph people from what were then the 562 federally recognized Native American Tribal Nations. Over the next decade, she traveled six hundred thousand miles across fifty states—from Seminole country (now known as the Everglades) to Inuit territory (now known as the Bering Sea)—to meet, interview, and photograph hundreds of Indigenous people. The body of work Wilbur created serves to counteract the one-dimensional and archaic stereotypes of Native people in mainstream media and offers justice to the richness, diversity, and lived experiences of Indian Country. The culmination of this decade-long art and storytelling endeavor, Project 562 is a peerless, sweeping, and moving love letter to Indigenous Americans, containing hundreds of stunning portraits and compelling personal narratives of contemporary Native people—all photographed in clothing, poses, and locations of their choosing. Their narratives touch on personal and cultural identity as well as issues of media representation, sovereignty, faith, family, the protection of sacred sites, subsistence living, traditional knowledge-keeping, land stewardship, language preservation, advocacy, education, the arts, and more. A vital contribution from an incomparable artist, Project 562 inspires, educates, and truly changes the way we see Native America.

The Origin of the Milky Way and Other Living Stories of the Cherokee
The Origin of the Milky Way and Other Living Stories of the Cherokee

Author: Barbara R. Duncan

Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press

Published: 2008-11-01

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 080788670X

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Cherokee people have lived in the Great Smoky Mountains for thousands of years. During all this time, they have told stories to each other to explain how things came to be, to pass on lessons about life, and to describe the mountains, animals, plants, and spirits around them. The Origin of the Milky Way and Other Living Stories of the Cherokee collects 27 stories that are great for kids and are still being told by storytellers today. Presented by members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in their own words, the stories appear in free-verse form, like poems on the page, so that if you read them aloud, you can hear the rhythm of the stories as they were originally told. Barbara R. Duncan provides a helpful introduction that describes Cherokee people's past and present ways of life and their storytelling traditions. The book also includes a glossary of key words from the stories, suggestions for further reading, and notes on the storytellers. For young readers, for parents to read aloud to young listeners, and for teachers and libraries, The Origin of the Milky Way provides an excellent introduction to Cherokee culture. (For readers age 9 and up.) Storytellers: Davy Arch Robert Bushyhead Edna Chekelelee Marie Junaluska Kathi Littlejohn Freeman Owle

In Our Hands
In Our Hands

Author: Jaida Grey Eagle

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2023-10-24

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 0300272162

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A groundbreaking exhibition catalogue of Native, First Nations, Metis, and Inuit photography from the nineteenth century to the present day Photographs of and by Native people have long been exhibited in museums. All too often, however, such exhibitions have misrepresented vital cultural and historical contexts, neglecting the depth of practice, supporting scholarship, and Native perspectives relevant to the work. By developing a broadly representative curatorial council of prominent academics and artists, more than half of whom represent Native communities in the United States and Canada, this book significantly expands the traditional discourses of photographic history. With incisive contributions by individual curatorial council members, In Our Hands presents Native photography in three thematic sections that underscore the following: Native people are present in all facets of American life; their role is transformative in the larger society; and their view of, and connections to, the land and all living things is holistic and fundamental. The publication features 130 photographic works by Native photographers from the late nineteenth century to the present, ranging from documentary photographs to family snapshots to conceptual works. Illustrated in full color, the photographs in this book offer diverse perspectives spanning geographic, chronological, and artistic experience, and shed new light on the extraordinary contributions of Native, First Nations, Metis, and Inuit artists to the art of the Americas. Distributed for the Minneapolis Institute of Art Exhibition Schedule: Minneapolis Institute of Art (October 22, 2023-January 14, 2024)

Cherokee Women in Charge
Cherokee Women in Charge

Author: Karen Coody Cooper

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2022-03-14

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 1476646384

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Cherokee women wielded significant power, and history demonstrates that in what is now America, indigenous women often bore the greater workload, both inside and outside the home. During the French and Indian War, Cherokee women resisted a chief's authority, owned family households, were skilled artisans, produced plentiful crops, mastered trade negotiations, and prepared chiefs' feasts. Cherokee culture was lost when the Cherokee Nation began imitating the American form of governance to gain political favor, and white colonists reduced indigenous women's power. This book recounts long-standing Cherokee traditions and their rich histories. It demonstrates Cherokee and indigenous women as independent and strong individuals through feminist and historical perspectives. Readers will find that these women were far ahead of their time and held their own in many remarkable ways.

Native American Women and the Burdens of Southern History
Native American Women and the Burdens of Southern History

Author: Daniel H. Usner, Jr.

Publisher: LSU Press

Published: 2023-09-20

Total Pages: 131

ISBN-13: 080718067X

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Though long neglected, the history and experiences of Indigenous women offer a deeper, more complex understanding of southern history and culture. In Native American Women and the Burdens of Southern History, Daniel H. Usner explores the dynamic role of Native American women in the South as they confronted waves of colonization, European imperial invasion, plantation encroachment, and post–Civil War racialization. In the process, he reveals the distinct form their means of adaptation and resistance took. While drawing attention to existing scholarship on Native American women, Usner also uses original research and diverse sources, including visual images and material culture, to advance a new line of inquiry. Focusing on women’s responses and initiatives across centuries, he shows how their agency shaped and reshaped their communities’ relations with non-Native southerners. Exploring basketry in the Lower Mississippi Valley and Gulf Coastal South, Usner emphasizes the essential role women played in ongoing efforts at resistance and survival, even in the face of epidemics, violence, and enslavement unleashed by early colonizers. Foods and medicines that Native women gathered, carried, stored, and peddled in baskets proved integral in forming the region’s frontier exchange economy. Later, as the plantation economy threatened to envelop their communities, Indigenous women adapted to change and resisted disappearance by perpetuating exchange with non-Native neighbors and preserving a deep attachment to the land. By the start of the twentieth century, facing a new round of lethal attacks on Indigenous territory, identity, and sovereignty in the Jim Crow South, Native women’s resilient and resourceful skill as makers of basketry became a crucial instrument in their nations’ political diplomacy. Overall, Usner’s work underscores how central Indigenous women have been in struggles for Native American territory and sovereignty throughout southern history.