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'Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce" By Cameron Blagg
Celebrating Indian Art
Voices are traditional and wholly new.
By Ron Karten
Auctions of Native American art suggest,
according to one art critic, "The days of
the million-dollar American Indian art
object cannot be far away." The National Mu
seum of the American Indian, an arm of the
Smithsonian, has passed its 10-year anniver
sary. The Forest Service has partnered with In
dian artists in Arizona's Oak Creek Overlook who
sell authentic Indian work to more than half a
million visitors to the Grand Canyon every year.
These are all among the signs of a growing re
spect for Indian art across the country.
Regionally, Indian Art Northwest returned to
Portland in August this year with Jammin' for
Salmon, a festival sponsored by the Columbia River
Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, representing Nez
Perce, Umatilla, Warm Springs, and Yakima Tribes.
Oregon entrepreneur, Dr. Robert B. Pamplin
Jr., counts an Indian art collection among his
wide-ranging and far-flung pursuits. One
source put the value at $4-5 million, but Pamplin
Indian art curator Bonnie Kahn would only say,
"it is considered one of the top private Native
American collections in the country."
The collection, housed in a Pamplin museum
in Virginia, includes plateau and plains pieces
from early 19th Century to contemporary work.
"He wants to convey the idea that these cultures
are still producing and creating," said Kahn. The
collection includes work by Lillian Pitt, who also
is associated with Kahn, Pat Gold, a Wasco In
dian working in basketry, Maynard Whiteowl
Lavadour, associated with Pendleton, Cayuse
and Nez Perce Tribes, and Sophie George of
Wenatchi-pumWascoCowlitz ancestry, both
known for their beadwork.
The Portland Art Museum has introduced its
latest Native American Exhibit, July 13 De
cember 1 "Beyond Beads and Feathers Re
cent Work by Six Contemporary Native Ameri
can Artists."
"In every instance the individuals participat
ing in this exhibition are formally trained and
articulate artists who happen to be Native
American rather than Native Americans who
happen to be artists," said Bill Mercer, Curator
of Native American Art for the museum.
The inspiration for this work ranges from tra
ditional Lakota cosmology (Colleen Cutschall) to
environmental and Native land rights issues
(Laurence Paul Yuxweluptun).
Thanks in part to grants from the Grand Ronde
Tribe's Spirit Mountain Community Fund, the
museum's permanent Native American collection
the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Cen
ter for Native American Art is home to 3,500
Indian art objects making it the second largest
collection area in the museum.
Mercer sees two strands of Indian art today:
contemporary Indian artists using non-traditional
(for Indians) media like painting and
bronze sculpture, that are more in the western
European tradition. Some are working outside
traditional Indian art models, but he said, "the
majority still have some heritage in their work,
because it is so personal to them."
The other strand includes "those who continue
to work in traditional modes with beads, bas
kets, and pottery but many are quite innova
tive while pushing the traditions forward." He
named Pat Courtney Gold of Scapoose as an
example. She made for the museum a "Wasco
style cylinder basket but with images reflective
of the 21st Century."
In some quarters, discussion continues over
the ethics of selling Indian artifacts and such
spoils of war as a pair of Indian moccasins cap
tured by white soldiers, but Mercer said that in
20 years of studying Indian art, he has never
run across a documented instance.
Indians with a heritage devastated by years
of forced relocation, recognition, termination,
and restoration have produced a body of work
reflective of the enduring strength of the Indian
peoples. From photo-realistic to wildly abstract
forms, these artists are giving new voice to the
American Indian, and many are as accessible
as the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde's
Annual Pow-wow.
Here, Smoke Signals honors a few of these
voices working in a range of disciplines from
clothing and pottery to film and video, music,
painting, design, and sculpture. Enjoy.