......starting around noon, I visited the art gallery at the Woolaroc property. The property itself is a sprawling celebration of the landscape and wildlife unique to this part of North America: there are herds of buffalo on the property although we did not get to see any when we arrived. I headed straight to the gallery, which is locally renowned for its collection of paintings from the Taos group. Many of the artists on display I had heard of before, and was eager to encounter first hand and was not disappointed. Although I relished the paintings themselves for their objective aesthetic beauty, I came away from the experience with profound mixed feelings about the way Native Americans have been appropriated for use as subjects by white artists.The objectification of Indians in European-American art parallels their subjugation as a people. Caldwell (n.d.) points out the "longstanding history and tradition of America's investment in 'othering' Native Americans." Even when the "othering" obviously indicates a potent sense of respect for the "other," the case remains that this is how European-Americans perceived the "others" they encountered, and not the voices of the Indians themselves. Berlo & Phillips (1998) also refer to the colonial appropriation of Native art, which although different from colonial interpretation of Native life, carries the same connotation. I would have appreciated a juxtaposition of art by Native Americans depicting the...
However, I wanted to first appreciate the work at face value: respecting that the artists featured in the gallery were constrained by their own cultural and historical milieu and its attendant biases.
American Indian Studies Native American Storytelling The group of people known as the Native Americans or American Indians are the native residents of the Northern and Southern American continents who are thought to have traveled across the Bering land bridge from Asia. When the new society and the already established, came together, years of imposed philosophy, domination and rebel warfare were begun. The great impediments of religion, ethics and world-views were the
Native American Culture The Native American people occupied the Americas before the arrival of the Europeans in the 15th century and have long been known as Indians because when Columbus reached the shores he believed he had landed in the Indies (Natives Pp). It is generally agreed by most scholars that the Native Americans came to the Western Hemisphere from Asia via the Bering Strait or along the North Pacific coast in
Native Americans Describe what is known of the tribe's pre-Columbian history, including settlement dates and any known cultural details. Before Columbus came to the "New World," the pre-Columbian era, the Cherokee occupied an area that today is western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee and northern Georgia (Waddington 2006). The Cherokee traveled even further past these areas, however, to hunt and to trade their wares. The Cherokee had occupied this area for a good
Although they reacted with sorrow, they also attempted to preserve their culture. For example, some even ground the bones of their ancestors and sewed them into their clothing (Watson 1999). A similar story of Native American's peaceful reactions that were exploited by force is the history of Chief Joseph. This early recruit to Christianity was the chief mediator of peace between whites and his tribe, the Nez Perce, but when
Their neutrality across time has granted them with a long-lasting and strong community. What is intriguing about the Zuni people is that their language does not resemble any other language of the neighboring Pueblos. Moreover, they are the only people in the world to speak the Zuni language. (Minnesota State University Mankato) The Pueblo society has usually been ruled in a theocratic manner, with the head of the tribe also being
Keeping Native American Language Alive: How to Save Them and Why This is a paper that deals with preserving the Native American Language. There are eight references used for this paper. The Native American Language is rapidly disappearing and there are numerous people and groups, including the United States government, working to revive and preserve this important part of American culture. The language differs from tribe to tribe and it's interesting to
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