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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 2011)
September 21, 2011 Minority & Small Business Week Mississippi Alberta North Portland Page 19 Vancouver East County Beaverton Art Honors the Ancestors Creator finds a home in Native American business by M indy C ooper T he P ortland O bserver One day, a coyote cam e across a village and asked the leader The Indian name Nixluidix is the name o f this Tsaglal if her village lived well. bronze mask created by Native American Lillian Pitt “Yes, we do’” said the leader. “We who was inspired by a story o th e r ancestors whom have have good houses, lots o f salmon lived in the Colombia River Gorge for over 12,00 0 years. and lots of berries. W hy do you ask?” Coyote said, “Changes are going to come. How will you watch your people?” But the leader said, photos by M indy C ooper /T he P ortland O bserver wanted to protect us.” first touched clay in 1981 at Mt. “I don’t know .” So with her re Today, however, Pitt said she Hood Com m unity College where sponse, the coyote turned her into is proud to be a Native-Am erican “it was love at first touch,” she a rock, where she has, and is, still artist, and she knows her parents said, smiling. watching everyone today. would be happy if they could see She remembers, however, when “You can still go see her,” said her art, which encapsulates the she first began working with the Lillian Pitt, a Pacific N orthw est traditions and culture, from bas m aterial and w asn’t sure what she Native-A m erican artist based in kets to legends, o f her fam ily’s was going to make. At the time, Portland. “She overlooks the vil people and the Colom bia River she said I co u ld n ’t throw clay on lage where my great-great grand Gorge. a wheel because o f a bad back. m other lived.” Now 67-years-old, Pitt has been “So I took my clay hom e, and The story o f Tsaglal can be a working artist for more than 29- looked at the wall, and I saw seen on a pictograph from the Colom bia River. “This story was the inspiration for my tradem ark piece,” Pitt said, pointing to a mask hanging on the wall in Q uintana Gallery, downtown. “H er name is Nixluidix.” Pitt acknow ledges the contri butions of her ancestors called the River People who have lived - Lillian Pitt, Pacific Northwest Native-American artist around the Colom bia R iver Gorge for more than 12,000 years. “At the time there was no years while living within the city. N orthw est clay m asks,” she said. W ashington or Oregon or delin Throughout her lifetim e she has “So I thought— I ’ll make a m ask!” eation o f the river,” she said. “We created thousands o f handm ade A lot o f her work, she said is were all related.” creations and public art sculp also draw n from rock paintings W hile growing up, Pitt said her tures through m ultiple medium , and carvings, which she consid parents, feeling the need to pro including silver and gold jew elry, ers to be a “true inspiration.” tect her from bigotry they experi print making, bronze sculpture and Although Pitt recognizes the enced as young N ative A m eri m asks, shadow spirits, and her struggles in becom ing a working cans, didn’t teach her the ways of favorite— clay. artist, she said she was very for her people. “They d id n ’t talk “Portland is a good place to be tunate to have had a lot o f sup about our history because there a N ative-A m erican artist,” she port, especially from Navajo artist was a lot of m istrust,” she said. Northwest Native American Lillian Pitt, 63, stands inside Quintana said. “But I was very lucky to be R.C. Gorm an, which she consid “T hey [her p aren ts] c o u ld n ’t Gallery, downtown, where her artwork rests on the walls amongst at the right place at the right tim e.” ers “a real blessing.” speak their language at school or the work o f various other Native American artists who share their Although she considers her continued ' y f on page 29 dress traditionally, so my dad culture and traditions through their diverse creations. self a late-bloom er, Pitt said she Portland is a good place to be a Native-American artist. But I was very lucky to be at the right place at the right time.
