Here in Montana, there are numerous Indigenous People organized culturally into tribes. Every tribe has strong traditional beliefs that guide the manner in which the tribe interacts with the world both internally and externally. Tribes that are recognized as sovereign nations have a history of living in what is now Montana for centuries. All tribes have unique languages, spiritual beliefs, and a land area they call their homeland. Numerous tribes have interacted with each other either as allies or as enemies, usually because of a conflicting claim for lands that both historically have occupied. The current cohesiveness of Indigenous People is a strength that all tribes value and strive to maintain. In my opinion, central to each tribe as far as having a unified population revolves around at least four factors that must be present partially if not completely.
The first factor is having land that is historically inhabited by the tribe. There are numerous tribes in the American West who occupy at least a portion of the area they consider their ancestral home. Perhaps the tribes that excel in this factor the best are the Pueblos, Apaches, and Di'neh tribes of the Southwestern United States. Other tribes that at least partially occupy their historical homelands are the Seminoles in Florida, the Cherokee in North Carolina, the Blackfoot, Apsalooke, and Northern Cheyenne in Montana, and the Tlinget and Inuit Peoples of Alaska.
A second factor is the quality of life of members of a given tribe. There are several factors that can be placed into consideration regarding quality of life. The first could be the quality of education of children in the tribe. A sense of identity and unity should be present in young people who are tribal members. There should be a shared language that is traditional. Although the English language is the most utilized in the U.S.A., the heritage of any given tribe begins in the shared culture that avails itself only in a tribe's traditional language. A tribe's spiritual traditions rest in their oral traditions as expressed in their shared beliefs. The closer a given tribe is to the landmarks that it considers sacred, the more likely they are to express traditional spirituality. Hence, there are traditional spiritual sites that various Indigenous traditional tribes believe are sacred.
The third factor that could be considered as a factor germane to quality of life is the economic and collective physical and mental health of a tribe. This particular factor is probably the one that can be most useful in helping other parts of quality of life flourish. If a tribal member's employment is reliable and predictable, many of the other elements of a healthy quality of life will be better off. The rural nature of many tribes' homelands makes year round employment elusive, with tribes' scrambling to identify lucrative businesses to locate on tribal lands. Rural healthcare of various tribes is difficult due to several years of healthcare funding on reservations and larger cities nationwide.
The fourth factor, which is somewhat elusive to describe, is the expression of fine arts and music for any given tribe. Fine arts reflect what any given tribal member perceives is his or her view of how healthy or unhealthy the tribe's existence is. Through all of the tribes in this country, art, dancing, and music are the spiritual glue that unify the tribes' picture of themselves. The artists in each tribe bring a vision of life that reflects a collective picture in real time. The importance of fine arts in tribal life has been recognized at the federal level through several forms of expression or training that reflect the quality of life in a given tribe. Music, dancing, pottery, jewelry, paintings, and textile weaving are examples of this quality of life factor. At times, the differing art forms reflect how a tribe views themselves.
My personal interests in different tribes' quality of life has centered upon appreciating the spiritual traditions that make each tribe unique. While there are many tribes that share common ideas, they are more related on a macro level than a smaller, microcosmic level. As an example, nearly every tribe has a belief in a creator. This is not necessarily a belief in a god who demands prayer and adoration in exchange for life blessings. The role of the Creator in Indigenous life varies from tribe to tribe. Some tribes venerate their ancestors, believing that their presence is constant, and that their presence brings blessings or hardships. The evil spirits are seen to be the source of illness or life setbacks to the whole tribe, families, or individuals. Dancing and drumming is prayer to the Creator.
The art that any tribe produces is a function of spirituality. There is no dichotomy in place between the sacred and the profane. Even if a type of art is produced for people outside the tribe, the spirituality of the art that is created remains with the piece of art itself. These are somewhat gross generalizations, but many non Indigenous artists hold similar beliefs. Some writers or composers experience writer's block, and see their problem as a symptom of blocked spiritual creativity. Although this sounds somewhat off kilter in Western Thought, the experience these creative folks feels like an internal voice or spirit has gone silent. For many Indigenous artists, the connection between spiritual creativity and prayer to the Creator is unbreakable.
The government saw that creative artists among the Indigenous tribes were self-taught. Some were extremely successful, and many were not. This was not a measure of the value of the art itself. The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) was established in Santa Fe, New Mexico for the expressed purpose of helping talented Indigenous artists to channel their talents into one or more media forms that marry their creative spirit with the possibility of making their art talent into a career path. Needless to say, the commercial or business side of the artistic process is often the most disliked aspect of the creation of works of art by young writers, composers, and fine arts creative people. This aspect of "selling myself as an artist worth taking seriously" is addressed in courses taught at IAIA.
One Indigenous artist who was in the first cohort of young people to enter IAIA is Kevin Red Star. Mr. Red Star has distinguished himself as an imaginative interpreter of Apsaalooke (Crow) life. Mr. Red Star has been focused upon the lifestyles of the Apsaalooke People, both in the present time, and in the past. Mr. Red Star's work medium is usually paint, and his artistic pieces have nearly all been depictions of past and present tribal life in the Apsaalooke Nation. He is the subject of a book by Daniel Gibson and Kitty Leaken entitled Kevin Red Star - Crow Indian Artist. The book may be ordered through Gibbs-Smith Publishers. They have a website at www.gibbs-smith.com. It is also for sale on Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites. The book opens with several breathtaking paintings by Mr. Red Star, all of which are depictions of past and present tribal life. The art in the book reflects the strong spirituality present in Mr. Red Star and the Apsaalooke tribe.
The opening sequence of full page color reproductions of Mr. Red Star's art is simply stunning. His work is lavishly presented in color throughout the rest of the book. His use of earth tone colors is striking. The subjects of the opening sequence are either studies of Apsaalooke (Crow) tribal members in various natural settings or in ceremonial dress. Some of the works of art are full facial studies, others depict tribal members on horseback or in studies of tribal members entire bodies with minimal background. Here are some examples of Mr. Red Star's work, some of which may be found at Mr. Red Star's web site:
All of these paintings depict Mr. Red Star's studies of Apsaalooke Life. The pictures I have shown here are representations of his tribe's culture and daily life in what seems to be a depiction of the Apsaalooke tribe's lifestyle in the late Nineteenth Century and recent times. The tribe was primarily centered in the mountains of South Central Montana, (e.g. Beartooth Range) and life on the Great Plains at a time when tallgrass prairies were common, and hunting for bison was a regular event.
Mr. Red Star is a graduate of the Institute of American Indian Arts and the San Francisco Art Institute. His support of several charities in the Mountain West has been consistent and gracious. The Institute of American Indian Arts is currently benefitting from the sale of prints of his paintings. People who are interested may go to kevinredstar.com, his official website. He also exhibits his work at several art galleries in the Mountain West. He is an example of an artist whose vision goes beyond his own perspective, and reflects the best characteristics of Indigenous People.
Text copyright 2017 by Peter Reum
All rights reserved
The first factor is having land that is historically inhabited by the tribe. There are numerous tribes in the American West who occupy at least a portion of the area they consider their ancestral home. Perhaps the tribes that excel in this factor the best are the Pueblos, Apaches, and Di'neh tribes of the Southwestern United States. Other tribes that at least partially occupy their historical homelands are the Seminoles in Florida, the Cherokee in North Carolina, the Blackfoot, Apsalooke, and Northern Cheyenne in Montana, and the Tlinget and Inuit Peoples of Alaska.
A second factor is the quality of life of members of a given tribe. There are several factors that can be placed into consideration regarding quality of life. The first could be the quality of education of children in the tribe. A sense of identity and unity should be present in young people who are tribal members. There should be a shared language that is traditional. Although the English language is the most utilized in the U.S.A., the heritage of any given tribe begins in the shared culture that avails itself only in a tribe's traditional language. A tribe's spiritual traditions rest in their oral traditions as expressed in their shared beliefs. The closer a given tribe is to the landmarks that it considers sacred, the more likely they are to express traditional spirituality. Hence, there are traditional spiritual sites that various Indigenous traditional tribes believe are sacred.
The third factor that could be considered as a factor germane to quality of life is the economic and collective physical and mental health of a tribe. This particular factor is probably the one that can be most useful in helping other parts of quality of life flourish. If a tribal member's employment is reliable and predictable, many of the other elements of a healthy quality of life will be better off. The rural nature of many tribes' homelands makes year round employment elusive, with tribes' scrambling to identify lucrative businesses to locate on tribal lands. Rural healthcare of various tribes is difficult due to several years of healthcare funding on reservations and larger cities nationwide.
The fourth factor, which is somewhat elusive to describe, is the expression of fine arts and music for any given tribe. Fine arts reflect what any given tribal member perceives is his or her view of how healthy or unhealthy the tribe's existence is. Through all of the tribes in this country, art, dancing, and music are the spiritual glue that unify the tribes' picture of themselves. The artists in each tribe bring a vision of life that reflects a collective picture in real time. The importance of fine arts in tribal life has been recognized at the federal level through several forms of expression or training that reflect the quality of life in a given tribe. Music, dancing, pottery, jewelry, paintings, and textile weaving are examples of this quality of life factor. At times, the differing art forms reflect how a tribe views themselves.
My personal interests in different tribes' quality of life has centered upon appreciating the spiritual traditions that make each tribe unique. While there are many tribes that share common ideas, they are more related on a macro level than a smaller, microcosmic level. As an example, nearly every tribe has a belief in a creator. This is not necessarily a belief in a god who demands prayer and adoration in exchange for life blessings. The role of the Creator in Indigenous life varies from tribe to tribe. Some tribes venerate their ancestors, believing that their presence is constant, and that their presence brings blessings or hardships. The evil spirits are seen to be the source of illness or life setbacks to the whole tribe, families, or individuals. Dancing and drumming is prayer to the Creator.
The art that any tribe produces is a function of spirituality. There is no dichotomy in place between the sacred and the profane. Even if a type of art is produced for people outside the tribe, the spirituality of the art that is created remains with the piece of art itself. These are somewhat gross generalizations, but many non Indigenous artists hold similar beliefs. Some writers or composers experience writer's block, and see their problem as a symptom of blocked spiritual creativity. Although this sounds somewhat off kilter in Western Thought, the experience these creative folks feels like an internal voice or spirit has gone silent. For many Indigenous artists, the connection between spiritual creativity and prayer to the Creator is unbreakable.
The government saw that creative artists among the Indigenous tribes were self-taught. Some were extremely successful, and many were not. This was not a measure of the value of the art itself. The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) was established in Santa Fe, New Mexico for the expressed purpose of helping talented Indigenous artists to channel their talents into one or more media forms that marry their creative spirit with the possibility of making their art talent into a career path. Needless to say, the commercial or business side of the artistic process is often the most disliked aspect of the creation of works of art by young writers, composers, and fine arts creative people. This aspect of "selling myself as an artist worth taking seriously" is addressed in courses taught at IAIA.
One Indigenous artist who was in the first cohort of young people to enter IAIA is Kevin Red Star. Mr. Red Star has distinguished himself as an imaginative interpreter of Apsaalooke (Crow) life. Mr. Red Star has been focused upon the lifestyles of the Apsaalooke People, both in the present time, and in the past. Mr. Red Star's work medium is usually paint, and his artistic pieces have nearly all been depictions of past and present tribal life in the Apsaalooke Nation. He is the subject of a book by Daniel Gibson and Kitty Leaken entitled Kevin Red Star - Crow Indian Artist. The book may be ordered through Gibbs-Smith Publishers. They have a website at www.gibbs-smith.com. It is also for sale on Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites. The book opens with several breathtaking paintings by Mr. Red Star, all of which are depictions of past and present tribal life. The art in the book reflects the strong spirituality present in Mr. Red Star and the Apsaalooke tribe.
Cover of Kevin Red Star Crow Indian Artist
The opening sequence of full page color reproductions of Mr. Red Star's art is simply stunning. His work is lavishly presented in color throughout the rest of the book. His use of earth tone colors is striking. The subjects of the opening sequence are either studies of Apsaalooke (Crow) tribal members in various natural settings or in ceremonial dress. Some of the works of art are full facial studies, others depict tribal members on horseback or in studies of tribal members entire bodies with minimal background. Here are some examples of Mr. Red Star's work, some of which may be found at Mr. Red Star's web site:
Mr. Red Star at work in his studio
Kevin Red Star - Crazy Dog's War Party
Kevin Red Star - Mr. and Mrs. Choke Cherry
Kevin Red Star - Crow Dance at Midnight
Benefit Print for Zoo Montana and Beartooth Nature Center
Kevin Red Star - Yellow Moon
Kevin Red Star -Crow Full Moon Riders
Kevin Red Star - First Snow
All of these paintings depict Mr. Red Star's studies of Apsaalooke Life. The pictures I have shown here are representations of his tribe's culture and daily life in what seems to be a depiction of the Apsaalooke tribe's lifestyle in the late Nineteenth Century and recent times. The tribe was primarily centered in the mountains of South Central Montana, (e.g. Beartooth Range) and life on the Great Plains at a time when tallgrass prairies were common, and hunting for bison was a regular event.
Mr. Red Star is a graduate of the Institute of American Indian Arts and the San Francisco Art Institute. His support of several charities in the Mountain West has been consistent and gracious. The Institute of American Indian Arts is currently benefitting from the sale of prints of his paintings. People who are interested may go to kevinredstar.com, his official website. He also exhibits his work at several art galleries in the Mountain West. He is an example of an artist whose vision goes beyond his own perspective, and reflects the best characteristics of Indigenous People.
Text copyright 2017 by Peter Reum
All rights reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment