A century ago, in 1921, museums, art collectors, tourists, home decorators, and art dealers were discovering something they called “Indian art.” The concept of a discrete category called American Indian Art is a European concept. Traditionally American Indians had improved the aesthetics of the things they made, but they did not conceptualize art as something separate from function.
In his book Native Arts of North America, Christian Feest writes about the Native concept of art:
“None of the native languages of North America seem to contain a word that can be regarded as synonymous with the Western concept of art, which is usually seen as something separable from the rest of daily life.”
As non-Indians encountered Indians, they often acquired (through purchase, trade, gifting, or theft) some of the artifacts that Indians had made. These were then displayed in cabinets of curiosities in homes, offices, and natural history museums. Neither Indians nor non-Indians classified these objects as art, and most non-Indian collectors simply considered them to be examples of Indian crafts. The items displayed in these cabinets of curiosities were items that Indian people had made for their own use and today’s art historians would classify them as examples of tribal art. Christian Feest writes:
“Tribal art was (and is) produced by members of tribal societies primarily for their own or their fellow members’ use.”
Christian Feest goes on to write:
“Tribal art was not made for its own sake, but to satisfy the material or spiritual needs of the tribesmen.”
By 1921, there are two trends which had impacted the contemporary concept Indian art. The first of these was tourism. As tourists encountered Indians, they wanted to buy souvenirs, and the Indians, in response to market demand, began to make traditional items not for tribal use, but for sale to the tourists. As with any entrepreneurial enterprise, the Indian craftspeople paid attention to what sold and what did not and thus, they began to make more of the items which sold well. In addition, non-Indian traders who sold Indian crafts often made suggestions regarding designs, styles, and colors. Thus, the non-Indian tourist stereotypes of what was Indian and what was not began to shape the Indian art market. This tourist oriented Indian art market is what Christian Feest calls ethnic art:
“Ethnic art was (and is) produced by members of tribal societies primarily for the use of members of other groups, in the case of North America mainly for White Americans. It is generally not thought of as art by its makers, who still live in a social context that does not recognize art as something separate.”
Christian Feest also writes:
“The maker of ethnic art often does not know why his products are bought and what possible use the buyer may make of them. For himself they are first of all a source of income; in the long run they may become an important symbol of the makers’ ethnic identity.”
One of the displays at the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon, shows some of the Indian items made for the tourist trade in the 1920s and 1930s.
Ethnic art, however, is often considered to be a form of craft, not “fine” art and is often ignored by art museums. This began to change, however, due to the influence of the artist Paul Cezanne. While not Native American, or directly involved with Native Americans, his work opens up art museums to consider Indian art as fine art rather than just craft. Art critic Michel Waldberg, in his chapter in Robes of Splendor: Native North American Painted Buffalo Hides, writes:
“It wasn’t until the aesthetic revolutions brought on by cubism, and especially surrealism, and the establishment of anthropology as a science, that objects previously limited to curiosity status legitimately attained the dignity of art.”
Because of the influence of Cezanne, American art museums were to exhibiting Native American works as forms of art by 1921.
Pottery
The native name for the Tewa-speaking pueblo of San Ildefonso is Pokwoge which means “where the water cuts down through.” The most famous San Ildefonso designs are the black-on-black designs pioneered by María and Julian Martinez. In his essay in I Am Here: Two Thousand Years of Southwest Indian Arts and Culture Rick Dillingham writes:
“The Black-on-black technique involves an initial overall polishing of the vessel with red slip. Then, using a thinned mixture of slip, designs are painted over the polished surface. Before the firing the jar is a matte red-brown on polished red, and after the firing the more recognizable matte and polished black.”
In New Mexico, María and Julián Martínez began to teach others in San Ildefonso Pueblo the method of making black-on-black pottery which developed into major industry for the Pueblo.
Censorship
One of the problems facing American Indian artists was the museum/collector concept of American Indian art which restricted it to: (1) art created by American Indians; (2) art which depicted American Indian themes; and (3) art which used traditional American Indian art media (as defined by non-Indians). Unlike other artists, American Indian artists were not encouraged to develop new art forms.
In New Mexico, the Museum of New Mexico developed a policy that denied museum access to Indian artists working in oils or in what the museum director believes is a non-traditional style. In her chapter in Painters, Patrons, and Identity: Essays in Native American Art to Honor J.J. Brody, Ruth Lanore writes:
“Curiously, this censorship was broadly supported by the same art and museum communities that also supported the Fine Art Museum’s open-door policy for Anglo artists.”
Literature
By 1921, Native American literature, often a written form of indigenous oral traditions, was emerging through a number of Indian writers.
Yankton Sioux writer Zitkala-Sa’s collection of American Indian Stories was published in 1921. Her essay “Why I Am a Pagan” was retitled as “The Great Spirit” and was edited to remove some material. In her University of Montana M.A. Thesis Zitkala-Sa: The Native Voice from Exile, Dorothea Susag reports:
“With these changes, the final tone of the essay changed from anger to reassuring peace.”
Maxidiwiac, a Hidatsa woman, published Wa-Hee-Nee: An Indian Girl’s Story, Told by Herself.
Indians 101
Twice each week this series looks at different American Indian topics. More about American Indian art from this series:
Indians 101: Inupiaq Art (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: "Indian Arts of the West" (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: Cahuilla Pottery (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: Reborn Rez Wrecks (museum tour)
Indians 101: Contemporary American Indian Art (museum tour)
Indians 101: A Display of American Indian Beadwork (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: Klikitat Baskets (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: Exploring Glass Art by Native Artists (Art Diary)