Indigenous American student voices 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 student artists in this issue of Visual Nation.
For more artwork, visit our Instagram page @hinuarts. Cover image: Dania Wahwasuck, POCAHONTAS PANTIES (detail), mixed media, 2020.
Molly Adams Cherokee Very Accurate Norsemen Digital photography This series is inspired by Edward Curtis' work documenting the "vanishing Indian." Curtis was known to stage and edit his photos to promote his own version of Native Americans, and those images still influence us today. In this series, I, a Cherokee woman, entered an alternate timeline to document the "vanishing Norseman." These photos are of counterfeit Norsemen, doing whatever I think a Norseman should do to appear as Norse as possible while representing all Norse people and Norse history. When you think of a Norseman, I hope you'll be able to only think of these images I've created. They're as accurate as they need to be, regardless of the kangaroo skins the subjects are prominently displaying upon their chests.
Cecelia White Eagle Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe The New Natural U.S. currency, Kaw River Humanity once was in harmony with nature and the world was in balance. Taking U.S. currency and turning it into frogs through the art of Origami represents what I call The New Natural. The world is unbalanced by the greed for currency. Money dictates who gets better health care, education, and, in many of cases, overall wellness. The world today believes they need currency but in reality, you can’t take currency with you when you make the journey home.
Victoria Secondine Delaware Untitled Digital photograph Inspired by Meryl McMaster’s “Ancestral” photographs, I projected my great-grandpa’s photograph onto my face. I want to honor him, Henry A. Secondine, for the work he has done for our tribe. He created housing for the homeless, and also volunteered a lot of his time to other needs of our tribe. Now, it is my job to make a difference.
Meya Rojas White Earth Ojibwe Princess Sophie Photography My photo was inspired by Edward Curtis's very first photograph of a Native American, "Princess Angeline." The original photo was taken in 1896. Even though they are problematic, I have always been fond of old photos, the simplicity, the sepia-tone. I chose to copy Curtis and create my own version with my younger sister, Sophie, to show her natural beauty without skin touch ups. We set up an area outdoors for natural lighting with a homemade backdrop to keep the photo simple and as closely related to the original as possible.
Dania Wahwasuck Prairie Band Potawatomi POCAHONTAS PANTIES Mixed media Pocahontas was only a young girl when she was captured and raped, so I decided to do my own take on Jimmie Durham’s famous sculpture “Pocahontas’s underwear.” I used children’s undwerwear indead of red lingerie. I was also inspired by Lawrence Paul Yuxwelupten’s “Residential School Dirty Laundry,” which is a large, white crucifix on the floor made out of children’s underpants. My version includes multiple pairs of little girl underwear in the shape of a medicine wheel. Making medicine wheels help us heal, but I also use this symbol to bring attention to the sexual trauma and false history that is still felt across Indian Country.
Jakoby Stump Chippewa-Cree/Pyramid Lake Paiute Her Basket Colored Pencil, paper Inspired by Pop artist Steven Paul Judd’s drawing of an Indigenous women he held over the Statue of Liberty, I decided to hold up a design for The Stone Mother’s basket that sits on the northern shores of Pyramid Lake. I like imagining what her basket really looks like. In my tribe’s origin story, The Mother is forced to separate her fighting children and sit between them forever. Her endless tears form the lake itself, and her heart grows so cold she turns to stone. Because it is such a heartbreaking story, I wanted to add levity and positivity while remaining respectful. I added flowers because they are a representation of medicine and a continuing cycle of creation. Other than that, I left the basket empty because it is ultimately hers and she may fill it with whatever she pleases.
Sarah-Pearl Hall Blackfeet, Ft. Peck Sioux How resourceful Styrofoam, plastic bottles, duct tape, nail polish Quarantine found me with a lot of half drank bottles and useless Amazon package foam, so I combined these materials with the intent of making something purposefully ugly, strange, and without any one specific meaning. It was an experiment, and I became very interested in the way the nail polish caused a chemical breakdown of the foam.
Cheyenne Garrison Seminole-Choctaw The Unbreakable Stallion Colored pencil, Bible Ledger art is meaningful to me because it’s a way to create contemporary art out of objects that were meant to colonize Native Americans. I drew on a page from the center of the Bible because that book represents Europeans trying to colonize through religion. I was inspired by the ledger drawings of Chippewa Cree/Blackfeet artist Gordon Henry, specifically his “Spirit of the Horse.”
Sara Secondine Lanape I won’t assimilate for you Gouache, sharpie, embroidery thread on canvas This work is in response to ignorant comments about being a mixed Native that I have received over the years. I am Lenape (Oklahoma Delaware) and many types of European. I took inspiration from Erica Lord, who portrays a feeling of “cultural limbo” being part Finnish, Japanese, and Athabaskan. While viewing her “Tanning Project”, I felt a sense of familiarity. Where do I fit in? And so, I wanted to display that in my work too. Edgar Heap of Birds inspired some of the visuals of my painting. In many of his works, he paints rough-looking, allcaps English letters that seems to stimulate the fight response and send an urgent message to all who look at it. He also uses bright colors to attract the eye. I copied and twisted that look. In red thread, I stitched the word Nchitanìsi, which means ‘I am strong’ in Lenape. The background of my painting is supposed to simulate water and oil mixed together.
Hanna Koontz Comanche Nation White Painting Mixed media on canvas As a native person who does not fit into the standard idea of what native people are supposed to look like, I wanted to create an updated version of a Studio Style painting to go against what is traditionally considered “Indian Painting.� Crisp, outlined figures float in space, just like in traditional Studio Style painting, but I purposefully added colored shapes that have rough, unfinished edges, referencing color field painting and pure abstraction.
Zachary Arquette Yakama Átwana Kìwkiwlas Short film One of the biggest obstacles facing BIPOC communities is the militarization of the police; a product of systemic oppression. As a collective, we need to stand together and find our light. If that means standing on the front lines against mace and rubber bullets, using platforms to speak up, or taking time to breathe and find our inner lights, we need to connect and help each other in a multitude of ways. This short film expresses the process of introspection of find the light to continue, to not only survive, but also thrive. The song used, titled “Kisiskâciwanisîpiy kêyak” by Indigenous band Nêhiyawak, refers to a river flowing at the pace one walks. Átwana Kìwkiwlas (River Drum) parallels this idea. Although this motif is not extensively seen in the film, the idea of “flow” is deeply embedded. The beat of the drum – and our hearts – incite the flow within cycles; we walk, dance, sleep, and breathe in cycles. The circle represents our togetherness and ties us to the land. Colonization has deeply affected how we individually and collectively connect with each other. Yet, the idea of flow within the circle – sky, medicine wheel, ceremony – has persevered, much like we have. It is our responsibility as conscious beings to shed toxic cycles and breathe life into sacred ones. Over the course of three days; I wrote, shot and edited this film. 5 of the clips were from supplemental sources (militarized police, two protest videos, CC statue takedown, and the animals). I used a DSLR camera, projector, and minimal lighting fixtures.
James Benson Cherokee Nation Bio-Chromatic Water color on antique sheet music At Fort Marion in the 1870s, Native American prisoners of war drew masterpieces on pages taken from accounting ledgers. Like their work, this piece is a celebration of identity superimposed on existing media. As a Native American and a gay man, my people have suffered imprisonment, persecution and death for the crime of their birth. Therefore, I make this work in tribute to them and to Life and Love in all their wondrous variety. The base is a sheet of music from my childhood, drawn from Beethoven’s sonatas; over this, twisted strands of DNA shine in the colors of Pride. Life is music, a miraculous theme composed of unique voices joined in harmony. Love is a rainbow, a bridge of many colors uniting us body and soul. And DNA’s twin helices trace the continuum of human identity. As these strands of rainbow DNA twist together on the pages of a sonata, so Life with its spectrum of variation dances in time to the rhythm of Love. — For Janis
Sabrina Fourkiller Dakota Untitled Colored pencil on Pell Grant form These are images that come to me in dreams.
Lorenzo Dan
Acoma and Oglala The MMIW “Pin� Repurposed bowling pin, feather, yearn, acrylic paint. The bowling pin represents part of what it means to be an NDN today. The red hand print corresponds with the blood of indigenous women that has been spilled. I want to bring more attention to missing and murdered Indigenous women. I used the black yarn and feather to indigenize and further personify the bowling pin.
Kyree Dili San Carlos Apache Tribe Burden Basket Willow, cottonwood, leather, and aluminum metal sheet I made an Apache burden basket with mountain, feather, and diamond designs. The mountains represent mountain spirits known as the Gaans. The feathers are known as blessings and prayers to Apache people. They are also the items the Gaans carry with them. Finally, the diamonds represent the Gaans footprints. I made the basket because I am passionate about my culture and I wanted to learn how. I am excited to show people my culture and my knowledge of our tribal arts. To make of the basket, I first gathered a variety of willow and cottonwood branches by the river. The most important part of this process was the use of prayer, because before I could start the basket I had to pray for it, then while I went to gather the materials I also had to pray. This is because an Apache elder told me that baskets are living beings and we have to respect them.
Joseph McZegle Cherokee Canoe Pen on paper I’m inspired by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s series of “trade canoes.” The canoe is a powerful metaphor used to explore issues of survivance, cultural transmission, and history. Filled with animals, it also resonates with many stories and myths. I decided to fill my canoe with myself along with five animal friends. We are a team on a journey. I like to imagine a time when people and animals didn’t eat each other to survive, but instead worked together as a team. This drawing imagines the past, but also our true present state: we are all animals working together to move forward. Is it also a look into the future?