Native Americans, Indigenous Peoples, Indians. These terms we've applied to those who connect ancestrally to the Americas since before 1492. These people have been attacked, beaten, killed, forced on to specifically inhospitable land, we stripped of their culture, and yet they persevere. During the 1950s-and 1960s civil rights movements, they fought alongside African, Asian, and Latino American's for recognition as a group of people. 

In honor of November and Native American Heritage month students will learn about some of the Indigenous artists creating in the 20th and 21st centuries. Through a combination of lecture and discussion, students will learn about these artists, see some of their art, and practice looking for symbols and details.

Week 1- Self Exploration: Wendy Red Star and Nicholas Galanin. Red Star is a Crow artist, who creates wild and crazy self-portraits that explore her place as an Indigenous woman in a modern world. She addresses common stereotypes, expectations, and thoughts of the future with humorous and surreal symbolism. Galanin, Tlingit and Aleut, reflects on his American citizenship and Native traditions rejecting the "settler" narrative.

Week 2- Trickster Coyote: Julie Buffalohead and Harry Fonseca In many Indigenous stories there is a trickster character. Usually an animal-human hybrid with physical features of the animal but human qualities like voice and free will. Coyote and Crow are common trickster characters across many Indigenous cultures. Julie Buffalohead, Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma, uses the trickster to explore her own identity in a culture scared by historical trauma. Harry Fonseca, Maidu, Hawaiian, and Portuguese, brought the Coyote trickster of his heritage into the modern world with his companion Rosie as they explored their place in the world. 

Week 3- Materials Matter: Shan Goshorn and Brian Jungen.  Shan Goshorn, a member of the Eastern Band Cherokee, learned basket weaving from her elders to continue the tradition. Adapting these techniques with modern materials Goshorn weaves paper and fibers into the historic designs and patterns. Her Cherokee series uses paper reproductions of images from the Carlisle Indian School. Brian Jungen is a Dane-Zaa and Swiss artist living in British Columbia. Working in both two and three dimensions some of his best know works are masks resembling those of his ancestral heritage but the material they are made of is better recognized as the footwear they were originally made to be.

Week 4- Imposters: Will Wilson, Edward Curtis, and David Bradley. Wilson, a Dine photographer used his lens to look at how cultural identity can be an illusion. Edward Curtis was an early photographer who came west in the late 1800's with his camera to document the American West and the Indigenous peoples. Known for dressing people up and posing his photographs a Dine person may wear a Crow headdress. His photographs are now being closely investigated for authenticity and historical content. David Bradley, Chippewa, paints modern-day scenes in a cartoonish style bringing in recognizable characters and figures, some of whom are remembered for their contributions to South Western art history but are merely imposters in plane sight.