Tribalpedia

Honoring Indigenous People Every Day!

NATIONAL MUSEUM of the AMERICAN INDIAN

Ancestral Connections

Ongoing Exhibit
New York, NY

Ancestral Connections explores how ten contemporary artists draw on aspects of their heritage—sometimes combined with personal experiences or tribal history—to create new and compelling works of art. Some have been shaped by their traditional homelands and landscapes, while others draw on traditional worldviews, lifeways, and artistic traditions or remembered ancestors. As a whole, the works illustrate how connections to Native culture, tradition, and history serve as a catalyst for contemporary Native artistic expression.

Marvin Oliver (Quinault/Isleta Pueblo, b. 1946), Our River’s Ancestors, 2014. Glass, ink. NMAI purchase from the artist, 2015. (26/9630)

 

Jeri Redcorn (Caddo/Potawatomi, b. 1939), Caddo Head Pot, 2005. Pottery, pigments. NMAI purchase from the artist, 2005. (26/5161)

 

For Additional Information Visit The National Museum of the American Indian 

NOTE: Some of these are older exhibitions. Some may still be open to the public in 2023 please note the dates. They are all exquisite and timeless pieces of Native art. We love them!

NATIONAL MUSEUM of the AMERICAN INDIAN

Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight

January 28, 2022–January 29, 2023

Washington, DC

Preston Singletary (Tlingit American, b. 1963), White Raven (Dleit Yéil), 2018. Blown, hot-sculpted, and sand-carved glass; steel stand. Courtesy of the artist.

Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight features works from internationally acclaimed artist Preston Singletary (Tlingit American, b. 1963), and tells the story of Raven, the creator of the world and giver of the stars, moon, and sun.

Through an immersive, multi-sensory experience, Raven takes visitors on a journey of the transformation of darkness into light. In addition to Singletary’s striking glass pieces, the exhibition features storytelling paired with original music, coastal Pacific Northwest soundscapes, and projected images.

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Honoring Indigenous People Every Day!

L. J. Vargas was born in 1979 and is of Taino Indian and Puerto Rican ancestry. He is a prolific artist and Landscape Designer currently working in Massachusetts.

A fetish is an inanimate object treasured  because it is considered to be inhabited by an animal spirit, such as a wolf, badger, bear or eagle.  Some fetishes come with strength or health bundles attached.   The bundles may include herbs, leaves, arrow heads, rocks, and pieces of turquoise.  Traditionally, fetish carvers have been the Zuni people, however,  artists from other tribes have also created beautiful fetishes.

Bear  Fetish: The Bear represents healing and protection. He is associated with the color blue and he is known for his curative powers. Characteristics associated with the bear are strength, courage, healing, adaptability and spiritual communion.

Taíno Perseverance  NYC exhibit at National Museum of the American Indian

Taino Puerto Rican Indians in modern day.

“The Indigenous peoples of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean are not extinct and they never were. ‘Todavía estamos aquí (we are still here)’: this is the powerful message of the modern Taíno movement and the foundation of “Taíno: Native Heritage and Identity in the Caribbean,” a new exhibition presented by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian and the Smithsonian Latino Center.

“The term Taíno most directly refers to the diverse Arawak-speaking peoples of the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico) and their descendants.

Cubans reclaim their Taino Indian heritage. Smithsonian Magazine.

Though the Indigenous peoples’ numbers greatly dwindled upon contact with European colonizers, they survived disease, enslavement and brutality. Currently, a Native heritage movement involving Taíno descendants is growing throughout the Greater Antilles and in diasporic Caribbean communities in the United States, such as the region around New York City.

The Moxum family have mixed Native roots. Mr. Norman Moxum is of Arawak-descent, and his wife, Yolanda Moxum, comes from a Miskito community in Honduras. Photo Credit- John Homiak.

These diverse groups have established robust networks that continue the proud legacies of their Native ancestors, and “Taíno: Native Heritage and Identity in the Caribbean” provides a framework for understanding the growth of this movement in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean and the United States.”

The exhibition is presented in English and Spanish 

“Taíno: Native Heritage and Identity in the Caribbean” begins with an overview of Taíno cultures before European contact, where visitors encounter emblematic objects associated with aspects of Native political and spiritual life that would drastically change after European colonization. One particularly important series of objects identified in the exhibition are cemís. Considered living objects by Taíno peoples, cemís are stone, wooden or cotton artifacts used in ceremony to connect with deities, ancestors and forces of nature. In all, 31 objects from the museum’s collection serve as focal points for the exhibition, 19 of which date back to pre-contact (ca. A.D. 800–1500). The exhibition demonstrates how archaeological objects from the ancestral past inform and inspire the present-day Taíno movement.”

For more information, including associated events, visit The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian

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R.C. Gorman

(July 26, 1931 – November 3, 2005) was a  Native American artist of the Navajo Nation. Referred to as “the Picasso of American Indian artists” by  The New York Times. 

Navajo Velvet By R.C. Gorman

R.C. Gorman Navajo Gallery presents the largest collection of work by Navajo artist R.C. Gorman to be found anywhere. Although Gorman passed away in 2005, there remains a significant group of original oil pastel drawings, original lithographs, bronzes, paper castings, and giclees. His art legacy has continued through the generations.”

“R.C. Gorman was born in Chinle, Arizona, in 1931. This original lithograph, titled ‘Chinle Ruby Throated Hummingbird,’ is a tribute to the birthplace of the artist.

1989 Vintage R.C. GORMAN Navajo Artist By YOUSUF KARSH Duotone Photo Art 16×20

Follow the link to learn more about R.C. Gorman’s life and work in Taos.  https://rcgormannavajogallery.com/

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Maxine Noel

Maxine Noel (born 1946) is a Canadian First Nations artist from the Santee and Oglala heritage. She was given the Sioux name Ioyan Mani (“walk beyond”).

Not Forgotten By Maxine Noel

Summer Wind, By Maxine Noel

She was born on the Birdtail Reserve in southwestern Manitoba. A self-taught artist, she first worked as a legal secretary in Edmonton and Toronto before becoming a full-time artist in 1979. Her work has been exhibited in museums and galleries across Canada. She works with serigraphy, lithography, etching, painting and cast paper.

Her work is included in the collections of theCanadian Museum of History, the University of Western Ontario, the Canadian Native Arts Foundation in Toronto and the Whetung Ojibwa Centre. Read more about this wonderful Native artist wikipedia

Trinity, By Maxine Noel

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Dakota Modern: The Art of Oscar Howe,

Oct 29, 2022 – May 14, 2023

Oscar Howe, Dakota Medicine Man

ART: Oscar Howe’s modern art aesthetic opens in Portland, Sandra Hale Schulman, Special to ICT, September 30, 2022

“Swirling abstractionism marks the work of artist Oscar Howe. Now an exhibition of his works will introduce new generations to one of the 20th century’s most innovative Indigenous painters…Howe, Yanktonai Dakota, (1915–1983) had dedicated himself to art and the preservation, relevance, and deep visual expression of his culture. He created art that was simultaneously modern and embedded in customary Očhéthi Šakówiŋ culture and aesthetics…In the 1950s and 1960s, Howe challenged the art establishment’s preconceptions of how Native American painting should ‘look,’ energizing a movement among Native artists to express their visions rather than conform to an established style…Over a 40-year career, Howe earned honors and awards, and first prizes in national competitions. As a student in Santa Fe, Howe exhibited works internationally in New York, London and Paris and was represented in more than 50 solo shows.”

Oscar Howe, Eagle Dancer

Artist Oscar Howe, Yanktonai Dakota, sits in front of his paintings at South Dakota State University in March 1958. Howe, who died in 1983 at age 68, is considered one of the 20th century’s most innovative Indigenous painters. (Photo courtesy of the Portland Art Museum)

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Roger Sosakete Perkins

PowwowPop Art’ and Perseverance

Roger Sosakete Perkins, left, and his cousin Jack Martin sit in front of Sosakete Perkins’ Faith Keeper. (Photo courtesy of Sosakete Perkins)

-Bear Greeting- digital collage printed on canvas (Courtesy of R. Sosakete Perkins)

The artist best-known for his vivid “Powwow Pop Art” style — in which he “reclaims” old images of Native Americans that were once used in advertising — has kept working, creating new pieces that reflect his concern. But it hasn’t been easy.

‘It is a beautiful space, but no one will show up,’ he said…’So many of our families are now suffering terribly from unemployment, lack of food for elders, lack of computers for kids in school who need them in order to study from home,’ he said. ‘This area is one of the most expensive areas in the U.S. in which to live, so many of us are in survival mode. We need our community centers, health centers, and powwows to help us all survive and thrive.’

-Indn Star Wars- digital collage printed on canvas (Courtesy of R. Sosakete Perkins)

Sosakete Perkins graduated from the American Indian Institute of Arts, and relocated to Northern California in 2006. 

‘I use lots of imagery from companies and corporations who have used Native American images in order to sell their products,’ he said. ‘Basically, I am reclaiming our images that they expropriated without our permission, and reframing them in my own way.’

Sosakete Perkins’ artwork can be viewed on his Facebook page  

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Honoring Indigenous People…Every Day!

National Museum of the American Indian

November 16, 2019–Fall 2021

New York, NY

“Since 1940, many Native artists have pushed, pressed, and expanded beyond narrow, market-driven definitions of American Indian art. Drawing from the National Museum of the American Indian’s rich permanent collection, Stretching the Canvas presents nearly 40 paintings that transcend, represent, or subvert conventional ideas of authenticity.”

Tony Abeyta (navajo, b. 1965) Three Chanters, oil and mixed media on canvas

 

Acee Blue Eagle, Shield Dancer.

Artist- Judith Lowery

Dick West (1912–1996, Southern Cheyenne), Spatial Whorl, 1949–1950. Oil on canvas. Gift of Dwight D. Saunders, 2004. (26:5102)

 

G Peter Jemison Artist

Some Featured Artists:

Tony Abeyta (Navajo, b. 1965)

Rick Bartow (Mad River Wiyot, 1946–2016)

Acee Blue Eagle (Muscogee [Creek]/Pawnee, 1909–1959)

Julie Buffalohead (Ponca, b. 1972)

T.C. Cannon: At the Edge of America

New York, NY

One of the most influential, innovative, and talented Native American artists of the 20th-century, T.C. Cannon embodied the activism, cultural transition and creative expression that defined America in the 1960s and 1970s…At the Edge of America celebrates Cannon’s creative range and artistic legacy through numerous paintings and works on paper, as well as his poetry and music.

A Remembered Muse–By T.C. Cannon -Tosca-1978

Abbi of Bacabi (1978), among Cannon’s last and unfinished works-Harvard Magazine

T. C. Cannon (1946–1978, Caddo:Kiowa), Two Guns Arikara, 1974–77. Photo by Thosh Collins

Jeffrey Veregge: Of Gods and Heroes

New York, NY

Jeffrey Veregge, Mysterious Planet, 2017. Courtesy of Jeffrey Veregge.

This exhibition will feature a new narrative creation by the Salish artist known for his bold blend of Northwest Coast form line and pop-culture figures. This site-specific work will include an epic battle between Marvel characters and aliens invading the streets of New York City.