This past week Congress approved the long-overdue Tribal Law and Order Act (more on this exciting new development later). It has inspired me to do a brief series on the contemporary American Indian--a complex and loaded phrase/idea/identity, so I'd love to hear your thoughts.
First post in the series, featuring the art of Fritz Scholder:
A member of the Luiseno tribe, artist Fritz Scholder (1937-2005) often said that he was "not Indian," and would never paint the Indian. But when his students had trouble painting the American Indian in an un-clichéd manner, he began his "Indian" series, painting the American Indian wearing flags, in cars, with beer cans in a pop-art style, becoming a major influence and subject of debate for later generations of Native art. His art, prolific and controversial, makes us think and rethink who the contemporary American Indian is.
At the National Museum of the American Museum in DC, I was introduced to Scholder's work and life last summer. I would often visit the exhibit after a long day's work. I was captured by the colors, unique perspective, and the use of distortion in the faces and figures. I am still amazed that for someone so ambivalent towards his heritage, Scholder moved its art tradition to brave, new places.
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Some riveting artwork there. Native Americans definitely got the short end of the stick on so many things throughout history--their common name coined by a lost explorer, their families ravaged by his diseases and greed. And that was just the beginning.
ReplyDeleteI think the "funny" thing about all this is that even though we're becoming a lot more revisionist about American history and being more candid about the wrongdoings that occurred in this country's history, it hasn't really led to any changes in our behavior. I don't see any of us moving out of this country because we feel like it was robbed from Native Americans.
I think I went on a tangent. But it's something I've thought about.
Definitely, I mean I think these days especially we have pundits and politicians spouting what it means to be American (be it guns and moose soup or otherwise), and that always makes me feel uneasy for the reasons that you said.
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