Katrina Mitten (born 1962, Huntington, Indiana) is a Native American artist. She is enrolled in the

Miami Tribe of Oklahoma The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma ( mia, myaamionki noošonke siipionki, ''meaning: "Miami homelands along the Neosho River'') is the only federally recognized Native American tribe of Miami Indians in the United States.Koenig, PamelaMiami.''Oklahom ...

. Mitten is beadwork artist, whose embroidery style of beadwork has earned her numerous awards and has been featured in major metropolitan museums.

Biography

Mitten is a descendant of one of the five

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

families who were allowed to stay after the establishment of the Indian Removal Act by

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

. This act allowed him to relocate access to relocate Native people from their ancestral homelands. Those who were not relocated were encouraged to assimilate into Westernized civilization. Instead, they tried to pass on as much of their culture as possible At the age of twelve, Mitten learned beading from her grandmother Josephine. Josephine influenced a large portion of Mitten's works, including her 1950s handbag, which she has stated represents her family heritage. Mitten made this handbag collaborating with her granddaughter Saiyer Miller and teaching her using the same methods as her grandmother. Mitten also learned more about her tribe by visiting museums and studying her families' heirlooms. She is active on the

powwow A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native American and First Nations communities. Powwows today allow Indigenous people to socialize, dance, sing, and honor their cultures. Powwows may be private or pu ...

circuit. She has created utilitarian works, such as ''The Cradle Board,'' as well as necklaces, bracelets, and beaded handbags. Other influences in her art include the geometric designs found in

ribbonwork Ribbon work is an appliqué technique for clothing and dance regalia among Prairie and Great Lakes Native American tribes. Deb Haaland wore a ribbon skirt made by Agnes Woodward for her 2021 swearing in ceremony as US Interior Secretary. History ...

and the floral patterns depicted throughout the Great Lakes tribal beadwork. She incorporates personal and family stories into her art pieces and uses her art as a means of story telling. In 2016 Mitten collaborated with Native American artists Katy Strass and Angela Ellsworth to create a painting of the states on a fiberglass statue of a bison. Two of her pieces, ''MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women)'' and ''Ten Original Clans of the Myaamia'', were acquired by the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

as part of the

Renwick Gallery The Renwick Gallery is a branch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum located in Washington, D.C. that displays American craft and decorative arts from the 19th to 21st century. The gallery is housed in a National Historic Landmark building that ...

's 50th Anniversary Campaign.

Select artworks

* ''Cradle Board'' * ''"I have been waiting for you" outfit'' * ''1950's Handbag'' * ''1940s-styled bag''

Exhibitions

* Native Art Market at the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C. (2014) * Myaamia Heritage Museum & Archive (2018) *

Santa Fe Indian Market The Santa Fe Indian Market is an annual art market held in Santa Fe, New Mexico on the weekend following the third Thursday in August. The event draws an estimated 150,000 people to the city from around the world. The Southwestern Association for ...

Collections

Mitten's artwork is held in the permanent collections of: * Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art * Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian * Smithsonian American Art Museum

References

External links

Native Daughter: Katrina Mitten
video from Journey Indiana {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitten, Katrina Artists from Indiana Miami people 1962 births Living people Native American women artists 20th-century American artists 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American artists 21st-century American women artists 20th-century Native American artists 21st-century Native American artists 20th-century Native American women 21st-century Native American women Native American people from Indiana Native American beadworkers American beadworkers Women beadworkers