Native American artwork, no matter when it was created, often has an extremely profound meaning or symbolism for a particular tribe or ancestry. Undoubtedly, the style of art that was being created by Native American artists was impacted by European domination. In this assignment, two Native American pieces will be analyzed in order to compare and contrast them. The contemporary sculpture The Spirit of Haida Gwaii by Bill Reid and the traditional Chilkat blanket of the Pacific Northwestern tribes will be examined. Firstly, the similarities in both formal and contextual elements will be addressed and then the differences. Many of the similarities between The Spirit of Haida Gwaii and the Chilkat blanket stem from their similar origin - the …show more content…
The primary difference resides in the two contrasting types of art – a bronze sculpture and a woven blanket. This difference is connected to several other variances within the formal elements, such as texture and color. The Spirit of Haida Gwaii, due to the nature of bronze, is smooth, semi-glossy, and is a dark nearly black color. The Chilkat blanket is likely rough and coarse because of the woven wool, and have a variety of natural colors – like browns and yellows, but also black. Contextually, the two pieces differ dramatically. The Spirit of Haida Gwaii is massive – 13 feet wide, 20 feet long, and weighing 11,000 pounds – it is a very permanent composition that resides outside the Canadian Embassy in Washington D.C. (“The Spirit”). The Chilkat blanket, however, is meant to be worn around the shoulders and danced with, even though many of the blankets do reside in museums (Hansen). This context for viewing each piece can dramatically influence the message it portrays. The movement of he Chilkat dancer allowed the images to come alive, while the figures in The Spirit of Haida Gwaii stare endlessly fixed in one direction. Along with the medium used to create each is the method behind crafting them. The Spirit of Haida Gwaii started as a clay model, then the plaster cast was made, and it subsequently was cast in bronze (“The Spirit”). This is an extremely large process requiring complex machinery and more modern sculpting techniques. The Chilkat blankets, in comparison, were crafted quite differently. The men of the tribe were in charge of gathering the materials and manufacturing the loom and the women were the weavers. The style of weaving of a Chilkat blanket is considered by many to be the most complex in the world. They hand-weave the weft, or the horizontal yarn, over the warp, the vertical yarn; they can create all the patterns with this method
Jenny Tone-Pah-Hote’s presentation focused on the development of art and dance in the Kiowa tribe of Oklahoma. Through the use of art and dance, the native american peoples of the Kiowa tribe have long explained their histories, told their stories, and created biographical accounts of their lives. These forms of expression made for the basis of the Kiowa culture and identity, centuries before extensive contact was made with the european colonists. Traditionally, the “kiowa ideal male” was a strong and independent warrior, which was replicated and shown by the native art. As times began to change, what it meant to “be a Kiowa” was also altered as norms began to shift.
Many Native Hawaiian people have lost touch with their culture. Many people around the world don’t know about the unique Hawaiian culture. People in America don’t know a lot about these unique Hawaiian arts either. Many of the old Hawaiian traditions were lost because foreigners took over the Hawaiian islands and banned many Hawaiian traditions that have been going on for decades. This loss of culture was devastating for the people and was hard to gain back after almost being completely eliminated.
Native Americans Native Americans are very different from other tribes. They eat, live, dress and do many things differently. The things I’m going to be talking about in my interesting paper is What they eat? What they wear? Where they live?
In his essay, “the Silent Message of the Museum”, Fred Wilson discusses in depth his own projects that involves exhibition making. In particular, I want to focus on his seminal exhibition at the Maryland Historical Society in 1992, known as Mining the Museum. By rearranging and re-contextualizing the museum collections, Wilson is able to offer an entirely new perspective on these objects at odds with the previous bias and limitations, and thus make the invisible visible. Wilson starts off with his explanation of the exhibition title.
The Legacy of the Historical Oppression of Native Americans To gain a true understanding of Native Americans and their culture, historians must not only examine the trials and tribulations Indians endured in the past, but also the contemporary issues the group faces. Currently, physical illnesses, psychological disorders, economic instability, and negative stereotypes continue to plague Native American communities. Popular sayings, like “Indians will be Indians” and “noble savages,” continue to haunt the culture. The use of the stereotypical Indian or “uncivilized savage” in toys, books, cars, foods, and sports teams, demonstrates how the American society is unfortunately accustomed to the prevalent stereotypes against Native Americans.
The Way to Rainy Mountain In the essay entitled "The way to Rainy Mountain" by N. Scott Momaday describes a location in which his Kiowa ancestors once lived. The Kiowa Indian reservations took place in Oklahoma and it was most sacred to the Indians. Momaday revisits his heritage on the occasion of his grandmother's death. He begins to learn about the history regarding the Kiowa tribe.
They are often labeled as uncivilized barbarians, which is a solely false accusation against them. This paper aims to address the similarities between Native American beliefs and the beliefs of other cultures based on The Iroquois Creation Story in order to defeat the stereotype that Natives are regularly defined by. Native Americans are commonly considered uncivilized, savage, and barbarian. Nevertheless, in reality the Natives are not characterized by any of those negative traits, but rather they inhabit positive characteristics such as being wise, polite, tolerant, civilized, harmonious with nature, etc. They have had a prodigious impact on the Puritans
She introduces her primary intensions to replace orthodox archeological methods, by integrating Native American voices into her project. But, Spector’s specific motives to dismantle the ignorance people hold towards Native American specifically in archeology, is ineffective. Spector gives effective judgment when expressing her internal
While some of the cultural norms and expectations varied slightly amongst the members of the Sioux, Navajo, and Cherokee tribes, it seems as though the cultural communicative behaviors and/or many of the norms and expectations were overall exceedingly similar across these three tribes. Thus, we feel that while culture may vary slightly across tribes through their rituals and ceremonies, cultural values and identities were more related and applied throughout the general Native American heritage, rather than being tribe
In her essay Gunn Allen uses Logos to describe how American Indian Women were treated compared to how European Women were treated at the time. While Indian Women were seen in many different ways based on the tribe that they were from, Gunn Allen explains how different the roles of women are in each
N. Scott Momaday is a Kiowa novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He devotes his life to protect and inherit the national culture heritage, and has published a large number of Indian literature with fresh content, unique style and light homesickness. Among his numerous literary works, the early published work The Way to Rainy Mountain belongs to a prose with beautiful style of writing and sincere affection. The way to Rainy Mountain is a Momaday’s journey to seek his root. He skillfully combines the life of his grandmother and the history of the people together, with a unique perspective, rich poetic language, delicate emotions to show readers the origin, development and decline of the culture of Indian 's Kiowa people.
Cultural appropriation has been used throughout history to imply messages in both art and design. Often used in political art, satire and contempary art, this type of insinuation uses popular symbols of a culture or sub-culture (these symbols often stem from stereotypes so that they can be understood by the masses) to further layer an artwork or imply a deeper meaning by hinting towards a characteristic of said culture. The key to identifying appropriation is whether these symbols and signs are being used out of their original context. It is therefore important to understand the meaning of cultural appropriation and how it is used, to completely comprehend these works of art. This essay considers three works and how cultural appropriation was
Poetry uses magical power of language to connect with the mysterious world. Native American literature was used to communicate ideas and beliefs throughout the tribes and the people. A lot of poems were used to tell adventures of humans, animals, and supernatural beings; as well as recount ancient times, beliefs, values, and info passed on in the Native American culture and literature. To demonstrate this idea, the following poems “Song of the Sky Loom”,” I Went to Kill/ I Have Killed the Deer”, and “Calendar Fragments” use the major literary element, symbolism, to communicate the theme of nature, cyclical worldview, and use of ancestry.
Appropriation is the act of borrowing and changing the meaning of cultural products, images, slogans and elements as well as reusing existing elements to create new works and meanings. Many artists believe that in borrowing existing images or elements of imagery, they are able to recreate the idea as it is now placed within a new concept. This essay will discuss how appropriation has been used in cultural and social contexts in order to create controversy and sell products, as well as be a form of expression. Pop culture often uses brash ways when trying to provide interest in society. As humans we are constantly wanting more and are never fully satisfied without entertainment, thus in order to meet these high demands many often turn to cultural appropriation as a void of entertainment.
The design and shape of furniture, garments, receptacles, articies of wood, leather ceramics, etc prepared by indigenous people or association on the behalf of indigenous people in a traditional fashion can be protected as industrial designs. Traditional craft items like hand- woven articles like carpets, cotton bed covers can also be registered for protection as an Industrial design. Innumerable forms of traditional designs are rooted intrinsically in rich cultural heritage of India. E.g. hand-block prints known as “baandhnis of Rajasthan are the famous traditional designs of