Visual Nations Fall 2020

Indigenous Americans are in a particularly privileged position to spot the various effects of colonialism, environmental destruction, Indigenous solidarity, multiracial identity, humor, and pop culture. These themes and more are explored by Haskell Indian Nations University students in this issue of Visual Nation.

Artworks like these have the power to draw us deeper into the world, but also inward, where we find hints that the universe is even larger on the inside.

For more artwork, visit our Instagram page @hinuarts.

Cover image by Jesus (Jesse) Resendiz.

Justine Butterfield Navajo/Apache 2020 Lost and Never Found Shoe box, rose, fabric, acrylic paint Lost and Never Found is box that contains a wilted rose. The rose represents a missing daughter, sister, or mother, in a box that is tucked away, never to be found again. She is unable to escape, enclosed in darkness forever.

Even though it's simple it holds a powerful message. This piece was inspired by one of Natalie Ball's pieces – a box with red fabric inside. Hers is for repatriated bones, while mine represents the daily struggles/fears of Native women in the USA, their fears going missing, and fears for those who have been stolen.

Dominic Smith Athabaskan 2020 Is this how they all are?

Found internet images In the fourth grade I wrote an article for my town's newspaper about how LEGOs were the best toy for their gender inclusiveness. You had many sets that covered a large range of fun things and themes. Today I am still thinking about representation in LEGOs. This is just a snapshot of different LEGO characters available online today. In the center is a LEGO Native American Man. Of course, not all natives look like this, so this is one way representation and “inclusiveness� really promotes stereotypes and erasure.

Kyler Boyd Citizen of the Keetoowah Cherokee 2020 Indigenous acrylic paint on canvas This is a painting of my sister, Koley Boyd Princess, of the Keetoowah tribe. I painted her because I believe she is how many native women strive to be: bold like a star, blooming like a flower, mysterious like a native. The red hands surrounding her represent missing and murdered Indigenous women. The orange star behind her represents her nickname, Noxy, which is star in Cherokee. My Grandpa gave her that name as a child. The intention was to put as much meaning into the painting as possible.

Alexis Hoskins-Yellowhair Navajo 2020 Together Digital collage I made this piece by using a projector to position myself in place of the original figure. The aim was to bring together two different eras into one world – a world where we share our traditions with our children, family, and friends; a world where we carry our traditions with grace and use them in our daily lives, traditions that have brought us to where we are today as a community of strong, resilient people. In the collage, two different eras are interacting. The older woman represents our roots, our teachers, our mothers, our guides. I represent our new era with vibrance, determination, focus, optimism, and the strength of our ancestors.

Hayley Wells Choctaw 2020 I Spy Photography I sewed a traditional apron and staged a very specific portrait outside before my tobacco plants and the rest of my yard died for the winter.

Incredible artists like Erica Lord and Wendy Red Star, and thought-provoking writers like Natalie Diaz and Vine Deloria Jr. drive me to move and think deeper. The convoluted path of my life is often reflected in what I create, as is my Choctaw heritage. Truth be told I am messy, and it only makes sense that my creations are a little messy, too.

Damion Tsosie Navajo 2020 Chief Yoda Glass beads, deer hide Chief Yoda is the first beaded piece I have ever done and I'm honestly surprised at how well it turned out. Of course, I had some help from my mom.

She has been beading for a long time and she offered great insight and corrected me when I was doing something wrong. We started with the outline and got an idea of how big we wanted it. Then I chose the right colors for the beads and started beading. My mom showed me how to start and from there I picked up pretty fast. I made it for the same reason Steven Paul Judd makes his pieces that incorporate American pop culture. That is why I chose to do a beaded Baby Yoda: the ideology of the show and native people’s is the same in that children are seen as the future of the world and the key to bringing down any darkness that curses the world.

Kamryn Lane Yazzie Navajo 2020 This Is Who I Am Today Photography This is Who I Am Today is a photograph of a collection of objects from my Kinaalda. When a Navajo girl has her first period, she prepares for a Kinaalda or puberty ceremony that lets the holy people and the creators know that she has become a young lady and is not a child any more. The ceremony marks the start of her new life, the next big step. It lasts many days.

There is singing, dancing, the baking of a ceremonial corn cake in the ground, hair braiding by all the women in her family, and the medicine man will sing all night. The new woman is put to the test, and she must stay awake inside the Hogan during the entire ceremony, and then on the last day she must run far distances before she can return and share the food and gifts with her family and friends. This powerful ceremony made me the woman I am today, and I wanted to honor its memory with this photograph.

Lauren Patterson Yup’ik/Togiak 2020 Protection Crayon on construction paper I made a portrait of a woman sitting on her lawn surrounded by mushrooms and ‘Evil Eye’ protections that ward off evil spirits and the ill will of others. I chose to make this piece because I have been realizing more and more that there are people that wish bad on others and want to see them fail. These eyes are supposed to protect her from that negativity. I wanted to visualize my realization and also feel some type of protection myself.

Rebecca Jewel Estrin Haida 2020 Fictional Dreams of Pilot Bread & Onions Faux fur carpet, white canvas, faux plants and flowers, plant holders, box of sailor boy pilot bread, deer antler spray painted gold, onions, canvas board, acrylic.

This piece is inspired by the photographs of Wendy Red Star, where artificial materials are incorporated to communicate a bigger story. Fictional Dreams of Pilot Bread & Onions depicts the dreams of the many Native Americans who were not able to live out their goals as the result of colonialism.

The painting and fake plants represent the world around them that appears to be real, but it isn’t. The golden deer antler is a symbol; deer are very important to the Haida peoples, as they are to many tribes.

Sailor boy crackers are a staple in every Haida household and remind us of traditional foods that are no longer accessible to every tribal member. The onions point to the tears that many continue to shed.

Jeanetta Buzzard Cherokee/Oklahoma 2020 Multifaceted Woman Photography I used photography to capture women from the turn of the century to today.

Does thinking about one’s self from multiple angles shift our thinking about ourselves?

We all have multiple identities, whether it be with race, sexual orientation, gender, age, or occupation. We all wear different masks, depending on the day and situation. Overlapping identities at different times shows the ever-changing faces of a person. I wanted to explore how I am one person with different identities, connected to multiple eras and multiple cultures, to see all these versions of myself in one place.

Justin Curley Navajo 2020 Hozho Basketball, spray paint, acrylic paint This is my old basketball I use to play with all the time. I’ve had it for about five years. I never used any other ball to play with outside other than this one. I had to stop using it because the leather wore off completely and started to tear even more.

The ball ended up getting punctured by a sticker in the dirt and became flat all the time. While trying to figure out what to use for my project, I ended up finding my old ball and decided to put it to use. I created this piece because basketball means everything to me, especially this exact ball. I didn’t want to create just any artwork, I wanted to create one that I related to the most and for it to have meaning. “Hozho” comes from my Navajo language and culture, and it means peace, balance, beauty, and harmony.

Basketball represents Hozho to me. The four colors all come from the Navajo medicine wheel.

Marilyn Goodman Ponca 2020 What we are know for Acrylic Paint, Canvas What we are known for represents what the Ponca people are known for the most: farming. We see four women standing in a field of corn. The four women represent the North, East, South, and West. All the women are wearing camp dresses. These camp dresses all have a small printed floral pattern from the top to the bottom.

These women are also wearing special hair ties used to keep their hair out of their faces. I chose to paint the women farming because the women are very strong and outgoing and hold us together.

Madison “Baylee” Hargis Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma 2020 The Fall of Water Streamers and tissue paper on poster board The Fall of Water simulates the movement of water rushing down the falls. The water is falling onto rocks that have fallen over time due to earth's natural movements. The natural flow of water in this piece mimics the work “Waterfall VIII” by Truman Lowe. Lowe used minimal materials to create very meaningful artwork. His work inspired me to make a waterfall instead of just paint one. By making a waterfall I was able to better understand the movement of the water which I feel made my work more precise and meaningful. The waterfall also represents the process of letting go and moving on with your life. A Waterfalls is a symbol for a place that is often very sacred. Waterfalls can also be seen as having spiritual, cleansing powers.

Fetisha Johnson 2020 Safe Sex (detail) Condom wrapper, paper, tape Condoms help to prevent unwanted pregnancies, abortions, HIV, Herpes, STDs, the list goes on and on. This artwork is simple because the message is simple: being safe while having sex is really not difficult! The rates and numbers of certain diseases, unwanted pregnancies and abortions can be reduced so easily! As humans we can do better.

Tilda Hubbell Navajo 2020 CAUTION Wet floor sign, tape, spray paint A wet floor sign’s purpose is to make you aware of where you’re walking. When you see the word CAUTION it makes you extra careful and it also makes you think of handling something with care. I wrote You’re On Stolen Land, a well-known phrase that holds a lot of truth and trauma behind it. It’s a phrase that all indigenous people can relate to. Upon seeing this sign, I hope everyone proceeds more slowly and carefully. I was inspired by the way Edgar Heap-ofBirds uses text and popular signage to express important Indigenous messages.

Justin Rhoades Standing Rock Sioux Tribe 2020 Year 2020 Acrylic paint pens The year 2020 started with the fires in Australia. The checkerboard melting describes the forests and communities burning there, and also leads to the middle section which is basically talking about those random monoliths appearing around the world. It also references psychedelic art like Alex Grey’s “Eco Atlas,” which I really like right now. The blue and purple on the far-left side is talking about new birth and fatherhood and the end of 2020: my baby boy was born today!

(12/10/20) Justice Nez Sac and Fox Nation/Kickapoo 2020 Legacy Colored Pencil on Paper Legacy depicts a bear claw with a Louis Vuitton belt on while surrounded by two tribal emblems, the Sac and Fox and Kickapoo tribes. The bear claw represents my clan, and the Louis Vuitton belt represents my sense of style. My inspiration for this piece came from Teri Greeves's Sunboyz Women from 2011 that depicts two women, one young and one old, inside a large outline of a hand.

Jesus (Jesse) Resendiz Ponca, Cheyenne & Arapaho, and Mexican 2020 You Never Liked Me Anyway Ink, tears from a demon of AGI descent, colored pencil, paper This piece was inspired by the feeling of following a rabbit into the underworld, which was the feeling I got from looking at Oscar Howe’s work– not that his work is about the underworld, but just how he illustrates tunneling energy surrounding people and animals.

Each part of the drawing means something to me, but I also want viewers to make their own meaning. The upper portion of the piece is a direct reference to Howe’s Sioux Seed Player. The safety pin on my chest is double-edged representing a love I thought to be too good to be true and a political statement for people affected during the time Trump was in office. The ghosts within the piece are a reference to my Grandfather’s paintings. He would frequently paint spirits that allude to our Ponca people’s spirituality. The two ghosts also reference my own personalities. The other figures are my interpretation of two Grimes album covers: Miss Anthropocene and Visions.

Kenna Mathea Talgo San Carlos Apache Tribe 2020 Generational Adaptability Photography and music Generational Adaptability is a slideshow composed of a series of photographs with traditional Apache music in the background.

The story begins with a folding chair covered in a Pendleton blanket all by itself, outside next to some cacti. Then, a young woman sits in the chair. Next we see an elder sitting in the chair wearing a traditional outfit, with a woman wearing business casual, and the girl wearing a dinner dress. Although the mother and the daughter are not as “traditional” as the grandmother, they both wear jewelry related to the woven baskets the grandmother carries.

There is a large burden basket, a large woven tus (water basket), a medium woven tus, and a small beaded tus.

When the women come together, the picture resembles Cara Romero’s "Sisterhood is Sacred." Romero’s work was an bid inspiration for my creation.

The series of photographs aims to depict how newer generations can adapt to modern society and remain traditional with guidance from those who come before.

Alexyonna Zephier Citizen Yankton Sioux 2020 A Tale of Two Worlds Acrylic and Colored Pencil on Canvas I've grown up in the powwow arena and have danced since I could walk. A Tale of Two Worlds tells the story I am livening in now. The skyline represents the colonized version of me, but also that version of me in the world experiencing college and everything life has to offer. The reflection shows tipis which represent my homeland and how even though I am not home there will always be a piece of me connected to it. The design on top is my beadwork design which represents me, like a signature. It’s what I wear when I dance.

Delila Melanie Begay Dine 2020 Representation is not hard Digital Art Representation is not hard is a digital drawing of myself, a real indigenous women, as Disney’s Pocahontas. I dressed up as the Disney character and then drew my self in the Disney animation style.

I did this because there wasn't really any representation of a Native girl until Pocahontas, and Hollywood didn't get her story or appearance correct. Native people only exist in Hollywood as a stereotype. I wanted to change that, even just a little bit. My inspiration for this was Wendy Red Star, who plays with and draws attention to stereotypes.

Marcus Dogskin Spirit Lake Tribe 2020 Untitled Photographs/drops of paint My work comes from an appreciation of Nicholas Galanin’s work collaging powerful images together. I wanted to make and image that represented survivance through the battles we experienced as people, and the various forms of assimilation and oppression that occurred between the white man and Indigenous people. I wanted to reference burned edges and the erasing of indigenous peoples’ history with the before-and-after image of Tom Torlino at Carlisle. The background is a photograph of White US soldiers killing Native American people and putting them on display after the massacre at Wounded Knee.

With regards to existence, we won because we’re still here, alive and breathing, in spite of the oppression that was supposed to kill us. We exceeded expectations by thriving as Native American people. Remembering our histories is part of the significance of my artwork.

Michaela High Elk San Carlos Apache 2020 Two Spirits Acrylic on Canvas I was inspired by Hochunk artist Duane Slick because I love how he makes his subjects look like spirits and shadows. I painted two people dancing with their spirits and with each other because whenever I dance in either one of these ceremonies, I feel a closer connection to my ancestors, and a closer connection to spirituality. "Two Spirits" is a painting about my identity as a mixed-race person. It shows how two tribes (Pueblo and Apache) can coexist with each other. Two traditions are dancing with one another, telling the viewer that even though they are different, they dance in coexistence.

Dion Jerry, Navajo Tribe, 2020 Ghost LEGOs In my culture, masks are used during ceremonies that involved important dancing and singing. Tlinkit artist Nicholas Galanin inspired me to make a mask out of LEGOs. Galanin often makes masks out of nontraditional materials. First, I researched all kinds of different masks online and also watched LEGO YouTube videos. I knew that I wanted to make a mask out of LEGOs because nobody was doing it and I had a box of LEGOs already. When I was creating the mask, I had an image in my head of how I wanted the mask to look. To me, the mask means happiness, friendship, and joy.

Marlana Kent Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma 2020 Transformation into recreation Oil paint on paper This is my interpretation of part of Ebony Sea by the late Bob Ross (S2E3). He inspires me to paint, and I love all his quotes. I chose to paint Ebony Sea because the colors pop.

Hailey McLester Oneida Nation 2020 Untitled Mixed media on paper I collaged together a few clipart images of a faceless crowd to fill the page completely, and then in color I drew a realistic front view of a woman.

I was inspired by Wendy Red Star and the artificial backgrounds she uses in her work. I found her juxtaposition of real and fake to be very exciting and meaningful. I want my piece to be interpreted in many different ways, but along the lines of a relationship between the “real” and the “fake.”

Jacob Curtis Cherokee 2020 Silent Bird Stop-motion animation I didn't want to create something that made too much sense. I liked the way my old chest looked as the floor, and I used blue and green post-it notes as props and to make the origami characters. The bird’s beak is stapled shut by the end of the film. Even I don't fully know what I'm making and I won't until I finally feel finished with it.

Ethan Vasquez Prairie Band Potawatomi 2020 Untitled colored pencil I drew a bear whose torso is the medicine wheel with eagle wings.

Woodrow Crumbo inspired me to draw something that's symbolic and close to my roots. I started with a bear head because I am from the bear clan, and I chose the body of the bear to be a Medicine Wheel because my family and I closely follow it to create a balance in our lives and remain wise and humble. I attached wings to the medicine wheel to remember my grandma who passed away. She loved eagles and had paintings of eagles that she drew when she was younger. These wings also show how she kept the family afloat during hard times and kept us balanced like the Medicine Wheel.

Tia Tsosie Navajo 2020 Disturb the Comfortable Digital collage I took a picture of my younger sister dressed in her traditional attire, jewelry, and moccasins. I then collaged her image into images of other women from different tribes to represent our ancestors who protect and watch over us. Knowing that their daughters, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters are in danger is heartbreaking. The red hand on her face represents Missing Murdered Indigenous Women. Red is one of the only colors in the collage to catch people’s eye. I was also inspired by Arthur Amiotte's collages, where everything appears to perfectly fall into place.

Temitra Totsoni Navajo 2020 Untitled Acrylic paint, thread, fabric, sewing machine, photograph My grandmother and I decided to sew a skirt in red to honor Missing Murdered Indigenous Women. It took almost three weeks to sew the skirt. It was frustrating but I’ve learned patience. I also painted my face with a red hand print to symbolize the silence in the face of violence that affects Indigenous women across the United States, Canada and beyond. Our women face murder rates that are more than 10 times higher than the national average. In 2016, about 5,712 Native women went missing and murdered in the US. As a Native American woman, I want to raise awareness for these missing indigenous women/children. No more stolen sisters!

LaMia Vasquez Oglala Lakota 2020

Untitled Photography Cara Romero’s photography inspired me to be more involved with my native history. This is a picture of my closest friend. She’s a traditional jingle and fancy dancer, and she's been dancing her entire life. I chose to show off one of the moves she does when she dances. I want to keep our culture alive, and show there are still dancers keeping the culture alive. It's a connection between our generation and our ancestors. Also, dancing is a healing process. When she dances, she prays throughout. She prays for her family and friends. Anyone who needs prayers, she'll pray for them while she's dancing.

Erica Schull Miami Tribe of Oklahoma 2020 Alone Color pencil This is a drawing of wide-open space. It shows a large black moon rising over the hills into a sky filled with twinkling stars. It also shows a single teepee and fire in that wide-open space.

Sometimes I feel like the world is too big for a young native woman like myself. I took a leap and went out into the world, but I feel alone with nothing around except for stars and space.