Native American women in the arts are women who are from Indigenous peoples from what is now the mainland United States who are visual art professionals. Women in Native American communities have been producing art intertwined with spirituality, life, and beauty for centuries. Women have worked to produce traditional art, passing these crafts down generation by generation, as well as contemporary art in the form of

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proces ...

, and

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

.Farris, Phoebe. (2005). Contemporary Native American women artists: visual expressions of feminism, the environment, and identity. ''Feminist Studies'', 31(1), 95-109.

19th century

Edmonia Lewis Mary Edmonia Lewis, also known as "Wildfire" (c. July 4, 1844 – September 17, 1907), was an American sculptor. Born in Upstate New York of mixed African-American and Native American ( Mississauga Ojibwe) heritage, she worked for most of her ...

, an

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

sculptor during the mid-1800s, began her studies at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

, a college known as the first in the United States to admit African American students. It was there that Lewis changed her Ojibwe name Wildfire due to discrimination and pressure she felt from the community."Noted women sculptor: works of miss Edmonia Lewis adorn homes of British nobility." (April 17, 1909). ''Detroit Informer'' She began to study under the guidance of popular sculptor Edward Augustus Brackett after moving to Boston in 1863, and there she created a bust of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the commander of the African American 54th Regiment. This work drew great praise from the community, including that from fellow sculptor

Harriet Hosmer Harriet Goodhue Hosmer (October 9, 1830 – February 21, 1908) was a neoclassical sculptor, considered the most distinguished female sculptor in America during the 19th century. She is known as the first female professional sculptor. Among other ...

King, W. (2006). ''The essence of liberty: free black women during the slave era''. Missouri: University of Missouri. and the Shaw family, who offered to buy the bust.Wolfe, R. (2001). ''Edmonia Lewis: wildfire in marble''. New Jersey: Muse Wood Press. With the payments she received from Shaw's likeness Lewis was able to fund her trip to

Rome, Italy Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in 1865. There she expanded her arts in the neoclassical realm and became the first American woman to seek training in neoclassical sculpture.Sherwood, D. (1991). ''Harriet Hosmer, American sculptor, 1830–1908''. Missouri: University of Missouri Press. In Rome, Lewis shared a space, the studio of 18th-century Italian sculptor

Antonio Canova Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italians, Italian Neoclassical sculpture, Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was ins ...

, with fellow sculptor

Anne Whitney Anne Whitney (September 2, 1821 – January 23, 1915) was an American sculptor and poet. She made full-length and bust sculptures of prominent political and historical figures, and her works are in major museums in the United States. She received ...

.Cleveland-Peck, P. (2007). Casting the first stone. ''History Today'', 57(10), 13-19. Lewis began to carve in marble to avoid accusations some would make of fellow artists that their work was done by studio stone cutters.May, S. (1996). The object at hand. ''Smithsonian'', 27(6), 16. She found inspiration in her dual ancestry, the abolitionist fight, and the civil war. Another great inspiration of hers was the work of

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include the poems " Paul Revere's Ride", '' The Song of Hiawatha'', and '' Evangeline''. He was the first American to comp ...

and his poem, ''

The Song of Hiawatha ''The Song of Hiawatha'' is an 1855 epic poem in trochaic tetrameter by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow which features Native American characters. The epic relates the fictional adventures of an Ojibwe warrior named Hiawatha and the tragedy of his lo ...

'', and she sculpted a bust in his honor due to her admiration. As described by Anne Whitney, "Mr L. sat to her & they think it is now quite a creditable performance, better I think than many likenesses of him." Another well-known sculpture of hers, ''Forever Free'', stands in white marble. Inspired by the

Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War. The Proclamation had the eff ...

,African American Registry. ''Edmonia Lewis, an artist with African with Native American roots''. Retrieved from http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/edmonia-lewis-artist-african-and-native-american-roots it depicts a man with his hand raised with a broken chain and shackle. Beside the man is a woman on her knees praying. In 1876, Lewis' work was shown at the

Philadelphia Centennial Exposition The Centennial International Exhibition, officially the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876. It was the first official wo ...

. Lewis's epic work, ''The Death of Cleopatra'', was presented for the occasion. In this piece she portrayed the

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

ian queen in a vulnerable state, which was unprecedented for the time. Artist William J. Clark commented at the time:

this Cleopatra ... resembled the real heroine of history ... Miss Lewis' Cleopatra, like the figures sculpted by Story and Gould, is seated in a chair; the poison of the asp has done its work, and the Queen is dead. The effects of death are represented with such skill as to be absolutely repellent—and it is a question whether a statue of the ghastly characteristics of this one does not overstep the bounds of legitimate art. Apart from all questions of taste, however, the striking qualities of the work are undeniable, and it could only have been reproduced by a sculptor of very genuine endowments.Woods, N. (2008). An African queen at the Philadelphia centennial exposition 1876: Edmonia Lewis's the death of Cleopatra. ''Meridians'', 9(1), 62-82.

In the late 1800s

Angel De Cora Angel De Cora Dietz (1871–1919) was a Winnebago painter, illustrator, Native American rights advocate, and teacher at Carlisle Indian School. She was a well-known Native American artist before World War I. Background Angel De Cora, also writ ...

(

Ho-chunk The Ho-Chunk, also known as Hocąk, Hoocągra, or Winnebago are a Siouan languages, Siouan-speaking Native Americans in the United States, Native American people whose historic territory includes parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois ...

) was a painter and writer who contributed to art as a Native American who had been assimilated through a

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an or ...

put forth by President Grant. Her earliest paintings appeared with her own stories, ''The Sick Child'' and ''The Grey Wolf's Daughter'', in ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...

''. In her writing De Cora sought to change attitudes about Native Americans and described situations everyone could relate to. De Cora had a talent with combining a mix of Native American painting style with the mainstream European American style popular at the time, otherwise described as

transculturation Transculturation is a term coined by Cuban anthropologist Fernando Ortiz in 1940 to describe the phenomenon of merging and converging cultures. Transculturation encompasses more than transition from one culture to another; it does not consist me ...

, and reflected the emotions from her stories in her art. Her success with her stories in ''Harper's'' helped her start a career in illustrating books about Native Americans for children. Though she had other interests in art, she was encouraged by her professors to pursue Native American influenced art because of their idea that art and ethnicity were linked.Hutchinson, E. (2001). Modern Native American art: Angel De Cora's transcultural aesthetics. ''The Art Bulletin'', 83(4), pg. 740-756. Though De Cora flourished as an artist, she was still torn between two identities that were placed on her: one the

noble savage In Western anthropology, Western philosophy, philosophy, and European literature, literature, the Myth of the Noble savage refers to a stock character who is uncorrupted by civilization. As such, the "noble" savage symbolizes the innate goodness a ...

, the other a product of successful assimilation, and though ''Harper's'' had published her work, it described her as a "naive ... Indian girl,"As quoted in a ''Harper's'' press release in A Native American literature. (1899, December). ''Red Man'', 15(10), pg. 8. and one of her mentors only had this to say about her: "Unfortunately she was a woman and still more unfortunately an American Indian."Curtis, N. (January 20, 1920). An American Indian artist. ''Outlook'', pg. 64-66. In 1900 De Cora was given the opportunity to design the

frontispiece Frontispiece may refer to: * Frontispiece (books), a decorative illustration facing a book's title page * Frontispiece (architecture) In architecture, the term frontispiece is used to describe the Façade, principal face of the building, usually ...

for

ethnologist Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Scien ...

Francis LaFlesche's book, ''The Middle Five'', and soon after won a contest to also design the book's cover. On the cover she created her own typography with its own Native American influence and illustrated it with the simplistic style that was popular at the time. Not long after De Cora became a professor of Native Indian Art at the

Carlisle Indian Industrial School The United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, generally known as Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from its founding in 1879 to 1918. It was based in the histo ...

in 1906 and was invested in building an appreciation for Native American art and history with the idea in mind to bring Native American art into mainstream culture.Proulx, A. (June 25, 2005). Saturday review: essay: how the west was spun: the image of the cowboy as a noble pioneer taming a savage land still has a powerful hold. ''The Guardian'', Guardian Saturday Pages, pg. 4. De Cora felt art was central to the economic survival and preservation of Native American cultureHutchinson, E. (2009). ''The Indian craze: primitivism, modernism, and transculturation in American art, 1890–1915.'' North Carolina: Duke University Press Books. and encouraged her students to combine their Native American art into modern art to produce marketable items that could be used in home design.Peyer, B. (2007). ''American Indian nonfiction: an anthology of writings, 1760s-1930s.'' Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. By doing so, De Cora enabled a trend toward art. She knew Native Americans would eventually leave certain aspects of their culture behind in time, but she also felt art would be one of the things to create a united community and help Native Americans to be proud of their heritage. "He may shed his outer skin, but his markings lie below that and should show up only the brighter," she said of Native Americans during a speech in a 1911 proceeding of the

Society of American Indians A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

.De Cora, A. (1911). "American Indian Art." (1911). ''Report of the executive council on the proceedings of the society of American Indians''. Washington, DC: Society of American Indians. Datsolalee

Though the history of Dat So La Lee is slightly of a mythic quality, what is known of her is her discovery as a washerwoman by Amy and

Abe Cohn Abraham Jerome Cohn (June 27, 1897 – October 23, 1970) was an American football and basketball player, coach and official. He played football and basketball at the University of Michigan from 1917 to 1920. He coached football and basketball at W ...

in 1895, who found her baskets incredibly intriguing. The Cohns began selling her baskets in their shop in 1899 to tourists of

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; Washo language, Washo: ''dáʔaw'') is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the Western United States, straddling the border between California and Nevada. Lying at above sea level, Lake Tahoe is the largest a ...

.Moreno, R. (Ed.)(1998). ''The historical Nevada Magazine: outstanding historical features from the pages of Nevada Magazine.'' Las Vegas: University of Nevada Press. Though her basketry was revered, like many Native Americans of the day Dat So La Lee was presented by Amy Cohn as the noble savage through her lectures. "To the whole audience there was no incongruity in having a white woman explain the basket's symbols, while the weaver herself remained silent."Cohodas, M. (1998). In R. Moreno (Ed.), ''The historical Nevada Magazine: outstanding historical features from the pages of Nevada Magazine'' (pg. 91). Las Vegas: University of Nevada Press. Further, Dat So La Lee's image was displayed on flyers as a simple-minded, unattractive native who Abe Cohn had to put up with. The Cohns fabricated much of her life for their own advertising purposes. It was Dat So La Lee who created the ''degikup'' style of basket weaving, though Amy Cohn preferred to boast in lectures this was of the native "pre-contamination" past (that is, before European settlers had appeared). During this time much appropriation and romanticization of Native American culture was popular, and this was not necessarily out of place: Amy Cohn would dress in native regalia for her lectures. Eventually, as a ploy to raise the demand for baskets, the Cohns announced that baskets would be made less and less due to Dat So La Lee's oncoming blindness,Berlo, J.C. (1992). ''The early years of Native American art history: the politics of scholarship and collecting''. Seattle: University of Washington Press. though a reporter at the time who interviewed Abe Cohn blamed the decrease on alcoholism.Van Loan, C.E. (September 16, 1906). ''$1,500 asked for one basket made by Washoe Indian squaw''. Los Angeles Examiner, pg. 5. Whether either of these claims are true is undocumented.

20th century

Photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

was a new medium at the turn of the century and women quickly added it to their repertoire, finding ways to send powerful messages about identity through their images.

These photographers portray their cultures not as vanishing, but as part of a lively, assertive group of people confident about the importance of their cultures in the past, their importance to the present and their influence on the future. They sometimes use images identified with Indian cultures, but these images are not used as emblems of a generic unified past. Instead the images carry specific messages or stories about how individual artists interpret family and tribal histories, how they experience the present, or what they project for the future.Jensen, J. (1998). ''Native American women photographers as storytellers.'' Retrieved from http://www.cla.purdue.edu/waaw/Jensen/NAW.html

Jennie Ross Cobb Jennie Ross Cobb (Cherokee, 1881–1959) is the first known Native Americans in the United States, Native American woman photographer in the United States. She began taking pictures of her Cherokee community in the late 19th century. The Oklahoma ...

(

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

) began to break stereotypes about Native Americans by presenting

women who were "poised, self-assured, fashionable, confident carriers of two cultures and extremely proud of their Cherokee heritage." Cobb, the great-granddaughter of Cherokee chief John Ross, began photography as a child in

Tahlequah, Oklahoma Tahlequah ( ; , ) is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma located at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It is part of the Green Country region of Oklahoma and was established as a capital of the 19th-century Cherokee Nation in 1839, as p ...

after receiving a camera from her father.Tsinhnahjinnie, H, & Passalacqua, V. (Eds.) (2006). ''Our people, our land, our images: international Indigenous photographers.'' California: Heyday Books. Though formal poses were more traditional at the time, Cobb insisted on taking photographs of women as they did daily activities. Through her photography Cobb was able to capture women with the care that no other photographer could have brought to the medium. This was attributed to Cobb's close connection to her subjects and the ability to, as

Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie (born 1954) is a Navajo Nation photographer, museum director, curator, and professor. She is living in Davis, California. She serves as the director of the Gorman Museum of Native American Art and teaches at University o ...

puts it, "truly (imagine) Native American women with love and a humanizing eye."Tsinhnahjinnie, H. (2003). When is a photograph worth a thousand words? In C. Pinney & N. Peterson (Eds.), ''Photography's other histories.'' North Carolina: Duke University Press Books. As a child

Mabel McKay Mabel McKay (1907–1993) was a member of the Long Valley Cache Creek Pomo Indians and was of Patwin descent. She was the last dreamer of the Pomo people and was renowned for her basket weaving. She sat on California's first Native American Heri ...

(

Pomo The Pomo are a Indigenous peoples of California, Native American people of California. Historical Pomo territory in Northern California was large, bordered by the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to ...

) had

dreams A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5–20 minutes, althou ...

that foresaw her roles of a sucking doctor and

basket weaver Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets ...

. During these dreams she learned to weave baskets as young as six years old and was inspired for designs and their special uses.Sarris, G. (1994). ''Mabel McKay: weaving the dream.'' Berkeley: University of California Press. McKay believed "baskets are living entities, not just pretty objects to look at, and each basket has a particular purpose." She connected baskets with her healing as a doctor and would give a patient a basket of their own. McKay began holding classes to share her basket weaving skills and helped to introduce traditional basket weaving to those outside of the Native American community. During the 1950s and 1960s McKay also made public-speaking engagements at universities and museums in California on Native American culture and the art of basket weaving.Bibby, B. (1996). ''The fine art of California Indian basketry.'' California: Heyday Books. By 1975, McKay was known as the last remaining spiritual adviser of the Pomoans. McKay said of her basket weaving, "It's no such thing art. I only follow my dream. That's how I learn." By 1920 an interest was growing for Native American art, either made by or influenced by Native Americans. Pop Chalee, who originally came from

Taos Pueblo Taos Pueblo (or Pueblo de Taos) is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos language, Taos-speaking (Tiwa languages, Tiwa) Native American tribe of Puebloan peoples, Puebloan people. It lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico. T ...

, ended up running away from her mother's home in Utah when she was only sixteen years old. She and her family settled in Taos Pueblo where, for the most part, she felt like an outsider. These clashing feelings made Chalee and her family decide to move back to Utah. Chalee began attending the

Santa Fe Indian School Santa Fe Indian School (SFIS) is a tribal boarding secondary school in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is affiliated with the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). History The Federal Government established the Santa Fe Indian School (SFIS) to educate Nat ...

in 1930 as a student of

Dorothy Dunn Dorothy Dunn Kramer (December 2, 1903 – July 5, 1992) was an American art instructor who created The Studio School at the Santa Fe Indian School. Background Dunn was born on 2 December 1903 in Pottawatomie County, Kansas and educated in Ch ...

. Chalee was taught in a specific design which would come to be associated with the '' Kiowa Movement.'' At Dunn's studio, Native American students were encouraged for the first time to pursue a career in art.Farris, P. (Ed.), ''Women artists of color: a bio-critical sourcebook to 20th century artists in the Americas.'' Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. In 1936 one of Chalee's paintings was purchased by Disney as an inspiration for ''

Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American Animated film, animated Coming of age, coming-of-age drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Loosely based on Felix Salten's 1923 novel ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'', the ...

''. After graduating Chalee was commissioned to paint a mural for Maisel's Trading Post along with fellow artists of the time:

Awa Tsireh Awa Tsireh (February 1, 1898 – March 30, 1955), also known as Alfonso Roybal and Cattail Bird, was a San Ildefonso Pueblo Painting, painter and artist in several genres including metalwork. He was part of the art movement known as the San ...

, Joe H. Herrera, Pablita Velarde,

Harrison Begay Harrison Begay, also known as Haashké yah Níyá (meaning "Warrior Who Walked Up to His Enemy" or "Wandering Boy") (November 15, 1914 or 1917 – August 18, 2012) was a renowned Diné ( Navajo) painter, printmaker, and illustrator. Begay specia ...

, and Popovi Da. Chalee, and continued to paint murals which included sites such as the

Albuquerque Airport Albuquerque International Sunport , locally known as the Sunport, is the primary international airport serving the U.S. state of New Mexico, particularly the Albuquerque metropolitan area and the larger Albuquerque–Santa Fe–Los Alamos comb ...

and the

Santa Fe Railroad The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at variou ...

. Chalee was not just a visual artist. She also performed while promoting the film version of ''

Annie Get Your Gun Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (Malayalam actress) (born 1975), Indian actress who works in Malayalam-language films * ...

'', telling stories, lecturing, and even singing while wearing native dress and elaborate accessories.Heller, J. (1995). ''North American women artists of the twentieth century: a biographical dictionary.'' London: Taylor & Francis Routledge. Around the same time as Pop Chalee was gaining popularity, another artist, Ellen Neel, was taking risks in Canada by taking part in

potlatch A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States,Harkin, Michael E., 2001, Potlatch in Anthropology, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Scienc ...

.Palmer, C.B. (2008). Renegotiating identity: "primitivism" in 20th-century art as family narrative. ''Frontiers: a journal of women studies'', 29(2&3), pgs. 186-223. This was banned by both the United States and Canada, who saw it as a "useless custom."Cole, D. and Chaikin, I. (1990). ''An iron hand upon the people: the law against the potlatch on the northwest coast'' Seattle: University of Washington Press Neel ( Kwakwaka'wakw) was a

totem A totem (from or ''doodem'') is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage (anthropology), lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan system. While the word ...

woodcarver who was the first to transfer elements of her totem designs to paper and fabricTownsend-Gault, C. (1994). Northwest coast art: the culture of the land claims. ''American Indian Quarterly'', 18(4), pgs. 445-467. and carved miniature poles for tourists. In 1946 Neel opened Totem Arts Studios and began her work in a former World War II bunker. During this time she also worked on repairing and restoring older poles for the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

, but this work proved tedious and time-consuming, and she eventually returned to work on her own art.Kramer, P. (2008). ''Totem poles''. British Columbia: Heritage House Publishing. In 1955 Neel carved five totem poles for

Woodward's Woodward's Stores Ltd. was a department store chain that operated in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada, for 101 years, before its sale to the Hudson's Bay Company. History Charles Woodward established the first Woodward store at the corner o ...

department store.Stewart, H. (1993). ''Looking at totem poles''. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. In her history, Neel also carved major poles for Stratford, Ontario, and the Museum of Copenhagen in Denmark. "In spite of the fact that she predated (

Mungo Martin Chief Mungo Martin or ''Nakapenkem'' (lit. ''Potlatch chief "ten times over"''), ''Datsa'' (lit. ''"grandfather"''), was an important figure in Northwest Coast style art, specifically that of the Kwakwaka'wakw Aboriginal people who live in the ...

) and acted as his mentor, Canadian Council turned down a request to fund her totem pole projects as late as 1960." She would die six years later. As Ellen Neel was becoming nationally renowned for her carving work,

Jaune Quick-To-See Smith Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (January 15, 1940 – January 24, 2025) was a Native Americans in the United States, Native American visual artist and curator. She was an enrolled citizen of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and was also of M� ...

( Flathead Salish) was still in high school, completing a correspondence art course from

Famous Artists School Famous Artists School is an art correspondence course institution, in operation since 1948. The school was founded by members of the New York Society of Illustrators, principally Albert Dorne and Norman Rockwell. History The Famous Artists ...

. Born in 1940, Quick-To-See Smith did not have an entirely stable childhood. As a daughter of a migrant worker, her family was constantly moving, and she lived in foster homes intermittently. Her father would later inspire Quick-To-See Smith's art in the area of aesthetics,Lippard, L.R. (2000). ''Mixed blessings: new art in a multicultural America.'' Canada: The New Press. and by 1978 Quick-To-See Smith would display her paintings in her first solo art show before she had even completed her M.F.A. at

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

. Quick-To-See Smith's "art responds to art's historical misappropriations of Native cultures' symbols,"Ohnesorge, K. (2008). Uneasy Terrain: image, text, landscape, and contemporary Indigenous artists in the United States. ''American Indian Quarterly'', 32(1), 43. with horses, buffalos, and

petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

as constants. Jaune said in 1994 about her work:

My paintings are expressing my feelings about particular things. They are not generic works ... Each painting is a kind of story about something that I'm thinking about. And if I can't relate to it personally, if it doesn't have meaning for me ... then how can I make a painting about it?Abbott, L. (1994). ''I stand in the center of the good: interviews with contemporary Native American artists.'' Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

Other concerns that influence Quick-To-See Smith's work are racism, sexism, and environmental issues. Quick-To-See Smith is a member of

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

and has organized protests over land rights, and uses natural art products.

Artwork

File:Hiawatha MET DP371840.jpg, ''

Hiawatha Hiawatha ( , also : ), also known as Ayenwatha or Aiionwatha, was a precolonial Native American leader and cofounder of the Iroquois Confederacy. He was a leader of the Onondaga people, the Mohawk people, or both. According to some accounts, he ...

'', marble, 1868, by

. File:Yellow Star5.jpg, File:CherokeeSeminary.png, Photograph by

, circa 1900. File:Basketmaking, P Velarde.jpg, ''Basketmaking'', circa 1940, by Pablita Velarde File:RSLife.jpg, "For Life in all Directions," bronze, by

Roxanne Swentzell Roxanne Swentzell (born December 9, 1962) is a Santa Clara Tewa Native American sculptor, ceramic artist, Indigenous food activist, and gallerist. Her artworks are in major public collections and she has won numerous awards. Swentzell's work ...

File:Kenojuak Fenster (Oakville).jpg, Window at John Bell Chapel of Appleby College by

Kenojuak Ashevak Kenojuak Ashevak, (Inuktitut: ᕿᓐᓄᐊᔪᐊᖅ ᐋᓯᕙᒃ, Qinnuajuaq Aasivak) was a Canadian Inuk artist. She was born on October 3, 1927 at Camp Kerrasak on southern Baffin Island, and died on January 8, 2013 in Cape Dorset, Nunavut. ...

References

External links

Native Women in the Arts

Pablita Velarde Museum of Indian Women in the Arts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Native American women American contemporary art *

19th century

20th century

Artwork

See also

References

External links