News
Page 10
Street Roots • Feb. 12-18, 2016
COURTESY OF BRENT LEARNED
On Nov. 29,1864, more than 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho, including many women and children, were brutally killed by more than 700 soldiers.
MEMORIALIZING A MASSACRE
Native American art exhibit gives voice back to people who were killed at Sand Creek in 1864
BY STEPHYN QUIRKE
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
n Saturday, the Clark County
Historical Museum in Vancouver,
Wash, will unveil an exhibit of Native
American artwork commemorating an
American massacre.
The exhibit, “One November Morning,”
features work by Cheyenne - Arapaho
artists Brent Learned, George Curtis Levi
and BJ Stepp, who are descended from
survivors of the Nov. 29,1864, massacre at
Sand Creek, Colo.
Levi, a Cheyenne ledger artist and an
illustrator of children’s books, says that
telling the story is part of a healing process
that gives a voice back to the people who
died at Sand Creek. Levi said he’s already
seen the powerful effect that the art has on
his audience at viewings in Colorado.
“This is a traditional art form amongst
us,” he said. “And it is just a beautiful way of
letting people know about our history, who
we are.”
For the opening reception, Learned and
Levi will host a screening of a PBS
documentary on Sand Creek before
introducing their art The two artists will
O
also engage the audience in a discussion
about how. the massacre at Sand Creek
informs and resonates with contemporary
issues.
The artists will conduct programs Feb.
14-21, including a mural painting by Learned
and Levi on Feb. 17 and a workshop with
the artists Feb. 20 that is free with
admission.
Although the works will be displayed only
at the Clark County Historical Museum,
related programming will take place at
Washington State University Vancouver and
Fort Vancouver. The Portland Art Museum
will host a related panel discussion from 10
a.m. to noon April 24 titled “Who controls
the Narrative: Visual Representations of
Native Histories,” moderated by Roben
White.
“One November Morning” has been
featured in the Denver Art Museum, Denver
University and Northwestern University.
John Evans, the governor of Colorado
Territory during the massacre, later founded
both Denver University and Northwestern -
a major reason those venues were selected.
Saturday’s show will be the first time “One
November Morning” is shown on the West
Coast, where similar historical legacies will
be examined. According to the National
Park Service, one of the original goals of
Fort Vancouver, Wash., was “to provide for
peaceful American settlement of the Oregon
Country, by battling and dispossessing the
Native American Indian inhabitants.”
Levi says ledger art
was one evolution of
‘ONE NOVEMBER MORNING'
the traditional
pictographic art
What: Art exhibit commemorating the
common to all Native survivors of the Sand Creek Massacre
American cultures.
When: Opens 4 p.m. Feb. 13; runs
As buffalo hides
through May 28
became scarce
because of the
Where: Clark County Historical Museum,
settlers’ eradication
1511 Main St., Vancouver, WA
program, which was
Information: www.cchmuseum.org/
designed to starve
one-november-morning/
Indians, the
traditional
pictographic art form became transferred to
paper acquired from traders - common
accounting paper from ledger books. Ledger
art became emblematic of the changes in
Plains Indian culture that resulted from
forced relocation to reservations. No matter
See SAND CREEK, page 11