A special exhibit at the Fort Vancouver Visitor Center in Vancouver, Washington, featured Nez Perce elder Kevin Peters. Entitled Kevin Peters: Redefining Past and Present, Keven Peters is described at a “contemporary artist with one foot planted in the past.”
According to the display:
“His painting accurately depicts traditional Nez Perce form, style, and sensibility, but is modern in technique and medium. His deep understanding of his Columbia Plateau and Euro-American cultures enables him to accurately produce elements of Columbia Plateau material culture while redefining our ideas of both the past and the present.”
According to artist Kevin Peters:
“The dusty pink and cobalt hues are reminiscent of Nez Perce traditional beadwork. The greed and red is common of painted rawhide. This painting brings together these two traditional color spectrums.”
According to the display:
“According to the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) people, the world before humans was inhabited by animals that possessed human traits. The primary animal was Coyote, called it’se-ye-ye by the Nimiipuu, who at times had superhuman powers. The painting shows a modern perspective on this legendary character.”
Indians 101
Twice each week Indians 101 celebrates different aspects of American Indian art, cultures, histories, museums, biographies, and current concerns. More about the Nez Perce from this series:
Indians 101: Setting the Stage for the Nez Perce War
Indians 101: Gold and the Nez Perce
Indians 101: Heathens on the Nez Perce Reservation
Indians 101: Imposing Laws on the Nez Perce
Indians 101: Fort Fizzle and the Nez Perce
Indians 101: The Nez Perce in Exile
Indians 101: America's Christian General vs the Nez Perce
Correcting Popular History: Poker Joe & the Nez Perce War
Indians 101: Looking Glass, Nez Perce Chief