AHTR Playing "Indian": Manifest Destiny, Whiteness, and Depiction of Native Americans
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A slideshow connected to a lecture on Native American identity and American art available at Art History Teaching Resources (http://arthistoryteachingresources.org/), written by Ellen Caldwell.
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AHTR Playing "Indian": Manifest Destiny, Whiteness, and Depiction of Native Americans
- 1. Playing “Indian”: Manifest Destiny, Whiteness, and the Depiction of Native Americans
- 2. Julie Schimmel’s Inventing “the Indian”
- 3. George Catlin, Self-Portrait Among the Mandans, c. 1861–9
- 4. Currier and Ives, Across the Continent: Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way, 1868.
- 5. John Gast, American Progress, c. 1873.
- 6. George Catlin, Bird’s-Eye View Over Mandan Village, 1837-9.
- 7. Charles Bird King, Young Omahaw, War Eagle, Little Missouri, and Pawnees, 1821.
- 8. c An example of alternative history on a museum website, featuring Young Omahaw, War Eagle, Little Missouri, and Pawnees.
- 9. John Mix Stanley, Barter for a Bride, c. 1850.
- 10. An example of alternative history on a museum website, featuring Barter for a Bride.
- 11. Thomas Hill, Attack on an Emigrant Train, c. 1850. (above, left) Arthur F. Tait, The Prairie Hunter, c. 1850. (above, right) Carl Wimar, selections (below, left)
- 12. John Mix Stanley, Osage Scalp Dance, 1845.
- 13. Thomas Cole, Indians at Sunset, 1845.
- 14. Thomas Cole, The Oxbow, 1836.
- 15. Currier and Ives, Across the Continent. Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way, 1868. Thomas Cole, The Oxbow, 1836.
- 16. Valentine Walter Bromley, Crow Indian Burial, 1876.
- 17. James Earle Fraser, End of the Trail, 1890s, displayed in Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1915.
- 18. A Google Image search shows a number of the ways in which Fraser’s work has been used.
- 19. Ernest L. Blumenschein, Wards of the Nation—Their First Vacation from School, in Harper’s Weekly, 1899.
- 21. Edward Curtis, Untitled orotone, c. 1905.
- 22. Edward Curtis, Untitled orotones of North American Indians, c. 1910.
- 23. Karl Bodmer, Hidatsa Warrior Pehriska-Ruhpa (Two Ravens), 1833. Alexander Pope, Weapons of War, 1900.
- 24. Contemporary Native American Artists
- 25. Marcus Amerman, A Day at the Beach, 2002. Edward Curtis, Grinding Meal, 1907.
- 26. Marcus Amerman, A Moment in Time, 2002. Edward Curtis, In Piegan Lodge, 1910.
- 27. Tom Jones, Choka Watching Oprah, 1998.
- 28. James Luna, Artifact Piece, 1985–7.
- 29. “The installation took objects that were representational of a modern Indian, which happened to be me, collecting my memorabilia such as my degree, my divorce papers, photos, record albums, cassettes, college mementos. It told a story about a man who was in college in the 60s, but this man happened to be native, and that was the twist on it.” —James Luna
- 30. James Luna, AA Meeting/Art History, 1991. James Luna, End of the Frail, 1991.
- 31. Erica Lord, Artifact Piece, Revisited, 2008.
- 32. Erica Lord, Artifact Piece, Revisited, 2008.
- 33. James Luna, Artifact Piece, 1985-7. Erica Lord, Artifact Piece, Revisited, 2008.
- 34. Erica Lord, The Tanning Project, 2005–7.
- 35. Erica Lord, The Tanning Project, 2005–7.
- 36. Homework Exercise/In-Class Discussion: Depp, Dunham, Deloria, and the Disney’s Lone Ranger
- 37. Kirby Sattler, I am Crow, 1991-2013.
- 39. "Tonto was everything that the white man had always wanted the Indian to be. He was slower, a little dumber, had much less vocabulary, and rode a darker horse…Tonto was a cultureless Indian for Indians and an uncultured Indian for whites. Tonto cemented in the minds of the American public the cherished falsehood that all Indians were basically the same—friendly and stupid. Indeed, the legend grew, not only were the tribes the same, but all Indians could be brought to a state of grace—a reasonable facsimile of the white—by a little understanding.” —Vine Deloria, Jr., "Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto.”
- 40. SAMPLE TWEETS: Andrew Jackson - @therealandrewjackson TO @lenadunham- Offended? Poppycock! I see nothing wrong with his delightful and accurate portrayal. #keepinitreal #fightpc #powerofthepeople *George Armstrong Custer likes this @lenadunham We need to be offended by Tonto, period. Depp's portrayal, regardless of its intentions, plays into damaging Native American stereotypes. #Tonto #Kemosabe #StereotypesArentCool @lenadunham Tonto’s “white-face” is comparable to African-American “black-face”– offensive and ignorant #sidekickgetssidekicked @lenadunham I suppose it depends on what kind of dinner party you are attending. @lenadunham Offended: Maybe. Worried about sounding as dumb as Depp at dinner parties: Definitely. Ignorance isn’t attractive #DoYourResearch @lenadunham Yes. This is almost as offensive as Johnny Depp playing a white man. @lenadunham Tonto is like a work of art on a wall. 100 people can say 100 different things about it and still be right.
- 41. Optional — “At the End of Class” Current Events/Practices to Discuss
- 42. Mascots
- 43. Change the Mascot.org (Hyperlink to YouTube)
- 44. Playing “Indian” at the YMCA
- 46. Clockwise, right to left: • Victoria’s Secret, 2012. • Elle UK, 2014. • Chanel, 2013.
- 50. The legacy of Edward Curtis and the 1491s. Smiling Indians on YouTube
Editor's Notes
- INTRODUCTION TO ARTICLE The author, Julie Schimmel, sets out with a purpose – makes an argument/thesis and methodology. What does Schimmel argue? “attitudinizing” permeated relationship between whites and Indians – page 211 HOW? -The paintings(George Catlin) (and early photographs like those of Edward Curtis) make you believe nothing but reality is being recorded… -They tend to emphasize what is important to the artist and Euro-American white culture. - Artists are perceiving through the lens of their own culture.
- PG 212: “America’s growth is expressed in terms of the Indians’ decline. On the left, a white community bustles with activity. The major features of the town are the public school, the foundation of enlightened citizenry; the woodsmen, who prepare the way for future settlement; and the telegraph and railroad lines, the technological lifelines of civilization.” -- these symbols of growth and expansionism separate the Native Americans in the painting.
- Manifest Destiny sweeping the West -emphasizing the Euro-American settlers’ rights to expand and move west, driving Native Americans out or removing them onto reservation. President Andrew Jackson around 1836: “It will separate the Indians from immediate contact with settlements of whites; free them from the power of the States; enable them to pursue happiness in their own way and under their own rude institutions; will retard the progress of decay, which is lessening their numbers.” PG 217 ASK STUDENTS TO POINT OUT DIFFERENT THINGS THEY SEE IN THE PAINTING: -Buffalo running, as if being chased -Native Americans running, as if being chased -Movement westward, right to left, light to dark -Light is on the city in the background -Telegraph wires follow the movement of progress -Various modes of transportation -Pony Express, gold miners, and farmers -Symbols of progress and civilization follow the light -“Columbia” represents the United States – wears star of Empire on her forehead with school book in her hand -Dressed in all white – sign of purity and righteousness -dark storm clouds preside over buffalo and Native Americans as they leave QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER: How would American settlers in 1873 interpret this painting? How do you today? What was the purpose of a painting like this in 1873? How do you think Native Americans would have interpreted the painting in 1873? Today? Briefly explain the idea of Manifest Destiny. How does this painting illustrate this concept?
- “stern warriors, wooing lovers” Catlin’s description Leisure/carelessness/laziness vs. industrious – never the right value imaginary Paintings “portray Indians as separate from white civilization, as if colonization had not yet introduced epidemics, alcoholism, and tribal disintegration caused by removal from traditional to distant lands. Artists ignored current realities in favor of earlier literary and artistic traditions, which placed Indians in remote and pristine environments.”
- “Conceived as Roman nobles, these are men to be admired for physical prowess as well as reason. They represent a race that could perhaps be persuaded by rational argument as well as the formidable presence of the United States government to abandon tribal tradition for a more civilized life-style.” Schimmel’s category #1: IDEALIZED – NOBLE SAVAGE
- Example of alternative history of a painting from the Smithsonian website.
- Draws upon stereotypes, based on collected sketches from fieldbook Prospective bride lies unadorned , pyramid of stable generations behind her looking off nobly Brings gifts to barter Diveristy in marriage customs that stanley might not have understood For some, a barter legitimized marriage – however, her seductive pose or “titillation” or availability would not be a part. And the actual barter would not be a subject of painting or everyday life – but it probably intrigued the painter
- Example of alternative history of a painting from the U.S. State Department website: “Widely viewed as an exceptional masterpiece, this painting captures the Blackfeet Native Americans in accurate and vivid detail…” What would Schimmel say to this? What makes it accurate?
- Schimmel’s category #2: BARBARIANS – SAVAGE WARRIORS “Indian removal was a singularly brutal and dramatic moment in the history of the Unites States, yet no hint of it ever appeared on canvas. Instead artists turned to conflict scenes in which Indians were cast as villains who prevented a peaceful appropriation of western lands. Such scenes gradually made obsolete the group of images first discussed in this chapter, which were often pejorative but not provocative. Conflict iconography (in both painting and literature) was a manufactured response to Indian hating…” (217)
- WHAT DO YOU SEE HERE? -portrayed as violent -civilization vs. savagery -light s. darkness -barbarism vs. reason -loin cloth of killer vs. medal around neck of savior (touched by civilization) WHY? To JUSTIFY “Indian removal was a singularly brutal and dramatic moment in the history of the Unites States, yet no hint of it ever appeared on canvas. Instead artists turned to conflict scenes in which Indians were cast as villains who prevented a peaceful appropriation of western lands. Such scenes gradually made obsolete the group of images first discussed in this chapter, which were often pejorative but not provocative. Conflict iconography (in both painting and literature) was a manufactured response to Indian hating…” (217)
- Schimmel’s category #3: DOOMED – LAST OF… a “Last of” painting - ready and willing to watch land being taken over PG 221, 1803 Thomas Jefferson wrote to Creek agent Col. Benjamin Hawkins: “In truth, the ultimate point of rest and happiness for them is to let our settlements and theirs meet and blend together, to intermix, and become one people. Incorporating themselves with us as citizens of the United States, this is what the natural progress of things will, of course, bring on, and it will be better to promote than to retard it.” -- justifying acculturation, conversion, boarding schools
- “Or Indians were not seen at all, at least in terms of the cultural organization particular to Indian tribes or in terms of the negative impact white contact had on Indian culture.” 211 Discuss/describe what you see… -symbolism of storm in the wild nature and sunny skies in the right where it has been “civilized” -concept of invisibility keeps coming up Oxbow = u-shaped bend in course of a river
- Thomas Cole’s Oxbow says the same thing but without words or figures… Explore the ways in which a political ideology can be embedded even in a landscape painting.
- Bromley’s Crow Indian Burial, ultimate doomed Indian and doomed race “For Bromley’s patron, then, the paintings must have served a dual purpose: they lament the past and the demise of the Indian, but they simultaneously acknowledge that barbaric customs must give way to a more ‘productive’ use of the land…” (220)
- James Fraser’s End of the Trail sculpture: “The profile of the despondent indian and his tired horse described a series of downward arcs that eloquently reinforce the mood of the piece. A symbolic wind whips the pony’s tail and bends the rider’s back. Body drained of energy, the indian slumps lifelessly, his spear, once raised in war and the hunt, hangs downward, as if about to slip to the ground.” (221)
- Google image search to show all of the ways in which Fraser’s work has been used. Pervasive pop culture symbol.
- hope for acculturation or assimilation enforcing “the civilizing process” (221) Society of Friends model General Allotment (Dawes) Act, 1887: "organizations insisted on overthrow of tribalism and communal organization” (222) -reservations broken up into 160-acre homesteads, subject to white law, required to attend English-speaking governmental schools “acted on the assumption that inside every Indian was a white American citizen and property holder waiting to be set free; the job of reform was to crack the shell of traditional tribal life and thus free the individual.” (222)
- Dawes Act of 1887 / General Allotment Act / Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 General Allotment (Dawes) Act, 1887: "organizations insisted on overthrow of tribalism and communal organization” (222) reservations broken up into 160-acre homesteads, subject to white law, required to attend English-speaking governmental schools “acted on the assumption that inside every Indian was a white American citizen and property holder waiting to be set free; the job of reform was to crack the shell of traditional tribal life and thus free the individual.” (222)
- What would Schimmel say about this image? -doomed indian v. noble savage
- Edward Curtis is still often accepted as having “captured” images of dying races… though most of his photographs were staged.
- READ SCHIMMEL’S LAST QUOTE: “Real Indians never inhabited the paintings of white artists. Paintings in which Indians were represented were created to embody whites’ attitudes about nature, the right of conquest, and the priorities of civilization. To whites, Indians at odds with Anglo-Saxon culture, refusing to abandon tribal custom and become ‘productive’ citizens, were either primitive, savage, or doomed. Over the nineteenth century Indians had been reduced to a few stereotypes or worse, as Alexander Pope suggests in “Weapons of War,” 1900… In this image Indian culture no longer possesses when the myth of corporeal presence but has been reduced to an aesthetic arrangement of bric-a-brac devoid of function, impoverished of meaning, and displayed against yet another grid of white construction.” (225)
- -about repatriation of bones and artifacts, about museum display -reaction to a history of conquest and stereotypes -constructions of stereotypes realized in anthropology I had long looked at representation of our peoples in museums and they all dwelled in the past. They were one—sided. We were simply objects among bones, bones among objects, and then signed and sealed with a date. In that framework you really couldn't talk about joy, intelligence, humor, or anything that I know makes up our people. In "The Artifact Piece" I became the Indian and lied in state as an exhibit along with my personal objects. That hit a nerve and spoke loud both in Indian country, the art world and the frontier of anthropology. The installation took objects that were representational of a modern Indian, which happened to be me, collecting my memorabilia such as my degree, my divorce papers, photos, record albums, cassettes, college mementos. It told a story about a man who was in college in the 60s, but this man happened to be native, and that was the twist on it. Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/atm-qa-james-luna.html#ixzz27b5MTPox
- What I like about installations is that the audience participates. They walk around, they look, they become part of it. As the artist you know how you can make them stop, you know when you can make them go to this corner because that's how you lay it out. I involve the audience. People give you control of their imagination. I can have them outraged one moment and crying the next. That's the power the audience gives you. It's knowing that and knowing how to use it effectively. I guess the statement is that I'm not up here to entertain, though I can be damn entertaining. I'm here to teach you. Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/atm-qa-james-luna.html#ixzz27b5S1N2P FROM ELLEN FERNANDEZ-SACCO: “Luna’s manipulated photographs, installations, and performances in nontraditional spaces expose the violence in display practices and critique the transformation of humans into objects. They confront the detachment and passivity of the viewer and highlight the instability of individual and collective identity and the aftereffects of romanticized legends, colonial anthropologies, and stereotypes. In disrupting the observer’s expectations, Luna seeks to reveal the stakes involved in attending the museum.”
- “Whereas the subjects of Curtis’s camera were posed in order to tell the story of their inevitable disappearance, Lord’s contemporary poses accomplish something quite different: they testify to the persistence of Indigenous survival and sovereignty in the twenty-first century colonial present.” “…intersection of multiple oppressions that is necessary for an ethics of non-competitive memory that prioritizes connections and visions of decolonial justice across different sites to take place.” -From Collen Kim Daniher, The Pose as Interventionist Gesture: Erica Lord and Decolonizing the Proper Subject of Memory, e-misferica, June 2014
- “Whereas the subjects of Curtis’s camera were posed in order to tell the story of their inevitable disappearance, Lord’s contemporary poses accomplish something quite different: they testify to the persistence of Indigenous survival and sovereignty in the twenty-first century colonial present.” “…intersection of multiple oppressions that is necessary for an ethics of non-competitive memory that prioritizes connections and visions of decolonial justice across different sites to take place.” -From Collen Kim Daniher, The Pose as Interventionist Gesture: Erica Lord and Decolonizing the Proper Subject of Memory, e-misferica, June 2014
- on Luna: the presence “of the undead Indian of colonialism…and the possibility that he may indeed be watching and listening disarms the voyeuristic gaze and denies its structuring power.” (Jean Fisher, 1992, Art Journal) -Lord labeled her pedicure, pierced ears/nose, so that she was raced and gendered – an object of desire and attraction -Lord points to scars from extreme sports – an active lifestyle, refusing to take up the stereotypes that Luna addressed in his piece. -buckskin dress – made of “traditional materials, moose and deer hides…previously used in the ritual of costuming for the popular American holiday of Halloween.” http://www.materialworldblog.com/2008/08/artifact-piece-revisited-erica-lord-at-the-national-museum-of-the-american-indian-april-3-5-2008/
- “Lord’s pinup poses are haunted by the gesture of her inscription of ‘nativeness’ onto her body. This inscription is, in fact, two-fold: both text and tan mark Lord’s latent, otherwise unrecognizable Native identity.” -From Collen Kim Daniher, The Pose as Interventionist Gesture: Erica Lord and Decolonizing the Proper Subject of Memory, e-misferica, June 2014
- “Lord’s pinup poses are haunted by the gesture of her inscription of ‘nativeness’ onto her body. This inscription is, in fact, two-fold: both text and tan mark Lord’s latent, otherwise unrecognizable Native identity.” -From Collen Kim Daniher, The Pose as Interventionist Gesture: Erica Lord and Decolonizing the Proper Subject of Memory, e-misferica, June 2014
- From Sattler’s website: The art work of Kirby Sattler is fueled by an inherent interest in the Indigenous Peoples of the Earth. His Native American Indian portraits evolve from the history, ceremony, mythology, and spirituality of the Plains Indian. Sattler's ultradetailed interpretations examine the inseparable relationship between the Indian and his natural world, reflecting a culture that had no hard line between the sacred and the mundane. Sattler has developed his painting into a distinctive style of realism. The methodology involves the painstaking layering of transparent washes over multiple underpaintings. This technique results in canvases that are rich in detail, defined textures and surfaces. With the deliberate precision given to each work, he produces only a few paintings each year. WHAT WOULD SCHIMMEL SAY? Where does this painting fit in her examination?
- From artist Kirby Sattler’s website about the painting: “The display of face paint design crow feathers and crow headdress in the painting "I AM CROW" is an illustrative interpretation of the inseparable relationship between the Native American and their spiritual and natural world. I purposely do not denote a specific tribal affiliation to my paintings, allowing the personal sensibilities and knowledge of the viewer to create their own stories. “Each painting functions on the premise that all natural phenomena have souls independent of their physical beings. Under such a belief, the wearing of sacred objects were a source of spiritual power. Any object- a stone, a plait of sweet grass, a part of an animal, the wing of a bird- could contain the essence of the metaphysical qualities identified to the objects and desired by the Native American. This acquisition of “Medicine”, or spiritual power, was central to the lives of the Indian. It provided the conduit to the unseen forces of the universe which predominated their lives.” SO, ARE WE OFFENDED? SHARE RESPONSES… Native Appropriations’ Dr. Adrienne Keene: “If he is serious about honoring his ancestors and his past, he needs to realize that costuming Tonto like a fantasy Indian stereotype is not helping Native people, and his “intent” in the portrayal doesn’t save him.” SALON ARTICLE: “It demeans and makes invisible modern American Indians today,” continued Howe. “No one can take us seriously unless we have some crazy headdress on.” Every generation gets the Tonto it deserves, perhaps, and only the weekend box-office returns will tell if this one, as played by Depp, catches the imagination of the American public. But for an entertainment culture that evidently seems more concerned with rehashing old stories of itself than in telling a new story in which an American Indian has some agency beyond helping the white man’s quest, Johnny Depp’s the perfect actor; “American Indian” is just another costume he can throw on.
- SALON ARTICLE “It demeans and makes invisible modern American Indians today,” continued Howe. “No one can take us seriously unless we have some crazy headdress on.” Every generation gets the Tonto it deserves, perhaps, and only the weekend box-office returns will tell if this one, as played by Depp, catches the imagination of the American public. But for an entertainment culture that evidently seems more concerned with rehashing old stories of itself than in telling a new story in which an American Indian has some agency beyond helping the white man’s quest, Johnny Depp’s the perfect actor; “American Indian” is just another costume he can throw on. Vine Deloria, Jr,1969 classic, "Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto”: "Tonto was everything that the white man had always wanted the Indian to be. He was slower, a little dumber, had much less vocabulary, and rode a darker horse… Tonto was a cultureless Indian for Indians and an uncultured Indian for whites. Tonto cemented in the minds of the American public the cherished falsehood that all Indians were basically the same – friendly and stupid. Indeed, the legend grew, not only were the tribes the same, but all Indians could be brought to a state of grace – a reasonable facsimile of the white – by a little understanding." Sadly, the Tonto persona gets etched into the minds of the average American, who never truly gets to know or understand American Indian culture.
- YouTube video: http://youtu.be/mR-tbOxlhvE
- PLAYING INDIAN http://disruptingdinnerparties.com/2013/03/11/calling-out-myself-part-1-of-2/ http://www.native-languages.org/ymca.htm
- PLAYING INDIAN
- Victoria’s Secret, 2012 Chanel 12/2013 Elle featuring Pharrell,
- http://nativeappropriations.com/2010/04/but-why-cant-i-wear-a-hipster-headdress.html
- Adrienne Keene – Native Appropriations
- Dr. Adrienne Keene and her blog Native Appropriations is a great resource for discussing current issues such as Pharell’s recent cover of Elle UK where he wears a headdress.
- Edward S. Curtis is still often accepted as having “captured” images of dying races… though most of his photographs were staged. Show Native comedy group the 1491s’ video “Smiling Indians” to discuss their goals working against the lasting, pervasive imagery of Edward S. Curtis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga98brEf1AU