Born in 1940 as a member of the Flathead Nation, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith started her life on the Confederated Salish and Kootneai Reservation in Montana, with lineage from French, Shoshone, and Cree ancestors. Smith and her sister grew up primarily with their father in California and in several reservations in Washington State, after their mother abandoned them when Smith was two years of age. Smith was put to work at an early age to help out her family who struggled financially. Smith’s upbringing was not an easy one, as she was moved around between foster homes and public schools where she was ridiculed for being an American Indian. Though school and her childhood were both uncomfortable and complicated for Smith, she discovered the artistic …show more content…
process as well as her inspiration for later works during this time. In an interview she mentions that her father used to draw pictures of animals that she would then carry around in her pocket and at school. She explains that art became, like books, a way for her to escape the violence and hunger that she endured in life. Through these trials and struggles, through finding a place for herself in the world, Smith has become one of the most prolific American Indian artist and a visionary, as well as an inspiration in the world of Native American art, aesthetic, and tradition in a modern and post-modern art context. Jaune Quick-to-See Smith received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Framingham State College in 1976 despite the number of low-end jobs she had to work all while raising her children. She then earned her Master of Arts degree from the University of New Mexico in 1980. Smith’s determination was a testament to her character and drive that she put forth in order to become a professional artist. Using her upbringing, personal history, and native roots as an inspiration, Smith was able to start working towards an awareness that she wanted to spread. Once Smith finished her studies, she was able to establish herself as an artist nationally and internationally, eventually making enough money to visit the reservation on a regular basis and to reconnect with her living relatives. In an article by Jaci Webb, it is mentioned that Smith was able to spend time with her cousin Gerald Slater, who “was working to found Salish Kootenai Community College”, which was a project that Smith found very valuable due to her belief that education is an important key to maintaining the welfare of her people. Smith then began to raise money for scholarship for students attending the college on her reservation, as well as collecting books to add to the college’s library. She also formed an art symposium on the reservation and invited many Native American artists from other communities including Montana and other regions of the country. She curated shows, organized symposiums and artist collectives, and has given many lectures and workshops to spread her art and awareness of her people. She has been a huge proponent for increasing the awareness and understanding of the contemporary Native American Art Movement in the US (taken quote). Smith says “I see myself as a bridge builder. My art, my life experience, and my tribal ties are totally enmeshed. I go from one community with messages to the other, and I try to enlighten people.” Smith, Postmodern Messenger, Exhibiton Catalogue, 2005 (FOOTNOTE?). Jaune Quick-to-See Smith has been an active printmaker, focusing in lithography, and painter since the 1970s, often working with mixed media pieces that encompass elements of texture, collage, and various imagery. In a video interview with Smith titled 52 for 150: What’s So Special About Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Smith explains that she strives to tell a story through her work. She wants to get people’s attention, and though she deals with a sensitive subject matter, she even has a sense of humour in some of her work. Throughout her career as an artist, Smith has incorporated an abundant amount of mediums in her work. Through text and layering, Smith is able to discuss the paradigms of society in the United States and the connotations that are aimed towards the Indigenous cultures, which are misunderstood and heavily stereotyped by Euro-American cultures. By use of layering, embedding, and incorporating text and imagery she gets from various sources, Smith creates a tangible juxtaposition that forces the viewer to rethink the relationship between indigenous American and Euro-American culture. Always aware of her Flathead descent, she is able to create thought provoking work that helps raise points and questions that rupture the stereotypes and myths about indigenous people. In her piece titled Flathead Vest (1996) which currently resides at the Missoula Art Museum, the viewer can see a perfect example of the way that, through her layered words and imagery, Smith brings to rise the stereotypes that are so consistently applied to indigenous cultures.
By incorporating flowers and leaves such as roses and sunflowers, she references some of the beadwork that can be seen on Flathead clothing and in turn recognizes her grandmother Nellie Quick-to-See’s exceptional beadwork. Smith also incorporates an image of a turkey from a coloring book which she collages under the layers of text in order to comment on the stereotyped stories and tales of the Indians and Americans on what is now called Thanksgiving. Through the use of many other images such as an Indian man wearing an elaborate headdress, an attractive women, several newspaper clippings reading “Interior Secretary Signature Validates Gambling Compacts”, and imagery of advertisements involving Indians on horseback, Smith creates a strain between the different perceptions that people have on who Native American people …show more content…
are. Jaune Quick-to-See Smith creates many pieces similar to Flathead Vest like Song and Dance (2003), which brings to rise similar ideas and juxtapositions.
In some of her earlier works, more notably Winds of Change (1992), Smith relies on symbols, reference to nature, patterns and colors, rather than text and recognizable imagery to tell her story. By using traditional native imagery in combination with contemporary native imagery, Smith refers to the fact that modern life does indeed exist on the reservation and it is not constrained to the past. In an interview with Smith she explains QUOTE: “My cultural heritage gives me in-depth and political content, a narrative in my work, a worldview as well as design elements that are based on nature,” Quick-to-See Smith said. “It also helps me to see the flip side of things, a particularly Native way of applying humor, which is part of
survival.” Jaune Quick-to-See Smith is currently 75 years old and is residing in New Mexico, still making work and continuing the conversation that she started as a young artist. Smith is one of the most notable Native American artists due to her heritage and her proactive life, that she has been able to turn into not only a blossoming career and passion, but also into an investigative commentary and barrier breaking movement for many to follow. She will continue to confront the stereotypes and misconceived ideas that circle around indigenous people and bring insight to the ever-misunderstood Native American culture.
Shoemaker, Nancy. “ Native-American Women in History.” OAH Magazine of History , Vol. 9, No. 4, Native Americans (Summer, 1995), pp. 10-14. 17 Nov. 2013
Modern day Native American are widely known as stewards of the environment who fight for conservation and environmental issues. The position of the many Native American as environmentalists and conservationists is justified based on the perception that before European colonists arrived in the Americas, Native Americans had little to no effect on their environment as they lived in harmony with nature. This idea is challenged by Shepard Krech III in his work, The Ecological Indian. In The Ecological Indian, Krech argues that this image of the noble savage was an invented tradition that began in the early 1970’s, and that attempts to humanize Native Americans by attempting to portray them as they really were. Krech’s arguments are criticized by Darren J Ranco who in his response, claims that Krech fails to analyze the current state of Native American affairs, falls into the ‘trap’ of invented tradition, and accuses Krech of diminishing the power and influence of Native Americans in politics. This essay examines both arguments, but ultimately finds Krech to be more convincing as Krech’s
Pages one to sixty- nine in Indian From The Inside: Native American Philosophy and Cultural Renewal by Dennis McPherson and J. Douglas Rabb, provides the beginning of an in-depth analysis of Native American cultural philosophy. It also states the ways in which western perspective has played a role in our understanding of Native American culture and similarities between Western culture and Native American culture. The section of reading can be divided into three lenses. The first section focus is on the theoretical understanding of self in respect to the space around us. The second section provides a historical background into the relationship between Native Americans and British colonial power. The last section focus is on the affiliation of otherworldliness that exist between
Lives for Native Americans on reservations have never quite been easy. There are many struggles that most outsiders are completely oblivious about. In her book The Roundhouse, Louise Erdrich brings those problems to light. She gives her readers a feel of what it is like to be Native American by illustrating the struggles through the life of Joe, a 13-year-old Native American boy living on a North Dakota reservation. This book explores an avenue of advocacy against social injustices. The most observable plight Joe suffers is figuring out how to deal with the injustice acted against his mother, which has caused strife within his entire family and within himself.
On his way to the reservation he stops at a trading post the final stop before arriving at the reservation. He examined the various Native American knick-knacks, trinkets, and at one point he tries on a headdress that. He goes on to questions whether any Native American would have these items in their home.
We turn back the clock as Welch draws on historical sources and Blackfeet cultural stories in order to explore the past of his ancestors. As a result, he provides a basis for a new understanding of the past and the forces that led to the deciding factor of the Plains Indian tribes. Although Fools Crow reflects the pressure to assimilate inflicted by the white colonizers on the Blackfeet tribes, it also portrays the influence of economic changes during this period. The prosperity created by the hide trade does not ultimately protect the tribe from massacre by the white soldiers. It does, however, effectively change the Blackfeet economy and women's place in their society. Thus, it sets the stage for the continued deterioration of their societal system. Although their economic value is decreased, women still represent an important cog in the economic structure. Indeed, women are central to the survival of the Blackfeet tribal community that Welch creates and in many ways this strength and centrality provide background for the strength of the women depicted in his more contemporary novels. Welch's examination of the past leads to a clearer understanding of the present Blackfeet world presented throughout his work.
The story Navajo Lessons conveys the theme that “It is important to learn and appreciate your heritage.” This story is about a girl, Celine, and her brother that visit her grandmother on the Navajo reservation in Arizona. Celine arrives at a place in the middle of nowhere at her grandmother’s house and is not excited because she had better plans for the summer. Her family is encouraging her to deal with it and make something good out of it. Over time, Celine learns that this trip was worth it because she realized that it is important to learn and appreciate your heritage. Celine learned this in many ways, one of them being that she wanted to learn and listen to the stories that her grandmother was telling.
Jerilynn Webster; also known as ‘JB The First Lady’, is an Indigenous Vancouver based beat-boxer, hip-hop artist, activist, aboriginal youth educator and a single mother (News, CBC). Jerilynn is a proud Indigenous member of the Nuxalk and Cayuga (Six) Nation (Jb the First Lady) who immensely contributes to her community. She was born in Moosejaw, Saskatchewan in an impoverished ‘single-parent, Christian home” (Warner). Upon her arrival to Vancouver; at the age of 14, she was flooded by a culture-shock of experienced racism and discrimination as people negatively labelled her with elements of her race and culture (Hong). It was after this incident that she began to become aware of the profound issues living in a white-dominated city. She often attended the friendship centre where she felt at home and began her own career as an emcee, director and actor (Hong). She also began recording in a studio called KAYA (Knowledge Aboriginal Youth Association) (Hong). Seeing that her childhood memories restricted her from listening to music with the exception of Christian or ‘50s music (Warner), in her lyrics, Jerilynn delivers messages of racism, discrimination, effects of residential schooling, female empowerment, female experiences, and other politicized topics (JB The First Lady). Jerilynn states, “Using my words to go upwards/ not backwards”, she strives to empower, motivate and encourage the Native culture to fulfill their dreams and achieve the unachievable(Jb the First Lady). More importantly, Jerilynn’s motive is to “...capture the moment and the environment that we’re in, but come with a female perspective”(News, CBC). Thus, drawing on feminist and intersectional theories, this paper will highlight JB The First lady’s demonstration o...
Change is one of the tallest hurdles we all must face growing up. We all must watch our relatives die or grow old, our pets do the same, change school or employment, and take responsibility for our own lives one way or another. Change is what shapes our personalities, it molds us as we journey through life, for some people, change is what breaks us. Watching everything you once knew as your reality wither away into nothing but memory and photographs is tough, and the most difficult part is continuing on with your life. In the novel Ceremony, author Leslie Silko explores how change impacted the entirety of Native American people, and the continual battle to keep up with an evolving world while still holding onto their past. Through Silko’s
Duane Champagne in Social Change and Cultural Continuity Among Native Nations explains that there has never been one definitive world view that comprises any one Native American culture, as there is no such thing as one “Native community” (2007:10). However, there are certain commonalities in the ways of seeing and experiencing the world that many Native communities and their religions seem to share.
Jaune Quick-to-see Smith is an instrumental and influential modern day artist due to her Native American Background, her medium, and her vision. Her piece Indian Country Today is one that represents who she is as an artist as well as where she came from and where she hopes her people will go. Throughout her life, Quick-to-see Smith overcame racism and oppression from within her community and from outside of it, while connecting with her familial artistic past to become the artist she is today. Her work Indian Country Today is an influential piece stemming from her people’s history, current situation within the United States, as well as her hopes for the future of her people. This piece is dramatic and captivating, creating a sense of unity within the Native American community while acknowledging that these nations continue to be unrecognized by the larger American community, something Quick-to-see Smith feels needs to be remedied.
As a result, both films represent Native Americans from the point of view of non-Native directors. Despite the fact that they made use of the fabricated stereotypes in their illustrations of the indigenous people, their portrayal was revolutionary in its own times. Each of the films adds in their own way a new approach to the representation of indigenous people, their stories unfolding in a different way. These differences make one look at the indigenous not only as one dimensional beings but as multifaceted beings, as Dunbar says, “they are just like us.” This is finally a sense of fairness and respect by the non-native populations to the Native Indians.
When a native author Greg Sams said that the reservations are just “red ghettos”, the author David disagree with that. He thinks there must be something else beyond that point. After his grandfather died, he somehow changed his mind. Because he could not think anything e...
In our day and age where our youth are becoming more aware of the history of the country and the people who inhabit it, the culture of Native Americans has become more accessible and sparks an interest in many people young and old. Recent events, like the Dakota Access Pipeline, grab the attention of people, both protesters and supporters, as the Sioux tribe and their allies refuse to stay quiet and fight to protect their land and their water. Many Native people are unashamed of their heritage, proud of their culture and their ancestors. There is pride in being Native, and their connection with their culture may be just as important today as it was in the 1800’s and before, proving that the boarding school’s ultimate goal of complete Native assimilation to western culture has
For as much good as the spreading of a new culture intended, the Native American culture suffered immeasurably. Her authentic writing is very much focused around the joining of practical and symbolic objects in Native American culture. Many Native Americans were uneducated and poor and placed more value in intrinsic qualities. She tells stories of struggle and triumph, but through the eyes of a Native American which more completely value symbolic and spiritual goals. As she personally witnessed what the whites has done to the Dakota people, she wrote in reflection, “few there are who have paused to question whether real life or long-lasting death lies beneath this semblance of civilization.” Zitkala Sha made it one of her life goals to educate others about this imbalance between the two cultures sharing a common land. For too long prior, many of the images and stories of Native Americans were written by white men, lacking an unauthentic view into true Native American daily life and oftentimes written with disregard of Native American