Native Americans as a narrative: countering the old stereotypes and representing Native identity

               Every summer, there are big and small events themed Indigenous people. Last year, I went to Pow Wow festival. This year, I went to ‘In the Spirit Northwest Native Festival’ in Tacoma that Tacoma Art Museum and Washington State History Museum co-hosted. There were performances of Puyallup tribe who had lived in Tacoma area for a long time. Also the festival showed fashion shows of brands that design the cloths inspired by traditional Native clothes and arts. Tacoma Art Museum had an exhibition titled <Native Portraiture: Power and Perception> as well. 

​           Especially this year, there was a big exhibition in Seattle Art Museum themed Native people, which was <Double Exposure>. The exhibition displayed Edward S. Curtis’s photographs taken Native people in the early 20th century and artworks of contemporary Native American artists together. The exhibition aimed to rethink about Curtis’s photos which have been accused of representing inaccurate and stereotypes about Native culture and people and to display artworks of modern Native artists who tell their stories on their own unique ways. 



           To me, subjects about Native American are not familiar. What I know about Indigenous people is they had lived for a long time in North America before Columbus “discovered” the land, and they were expelled by American people. That’s it. Of course, I have no idea about lives of Native people of these days and how American people perceive them in daily lives or media culture (but according to exhibition panels and some articles that I’ve come across, I guess there are still lots of stereotypes and misunderstandings about Native culture and people in overall American society). When I saw two exhibitions in TAM and SAM, I came across the figure, Edward S. Curtis, who seems to not be excluded to refer when it comes to Native culture and people in America. And my overall first impression about this person was quite negative. Many of comments about his photos attacked how wrong his photos depicted Native people, how much he romanticized Native culture and people based on prejudices not on reality, and how his works have contributed to perpetuate passing on stereotypes about Native culture and people over generation etc. I feel like he seems criticized a lot from here and there. Because of this negativity and lack of information about Curtis, I first considered this figure was a bad person. Actually, it's not though. 


                When it comes to the history of Native American, Curtis can’t be excluded to explain Native culture and people. He played huge role in terms of Native people in the negative and positive way. From 1901 for 30 years, Curtis started his life-long project, 『The North American Indian』. He took over forth thousands pictures of Indigenous people, recorded songs and language, and wrote down about social structure, myths, and religion etc. as visiting more than eighty tribes in the West. 


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                I still remembered the feeling when I entered the exhibition space. As soon as getting into the exhibition full of sepia-tone photographs hanging on the walls, I felt like I entered the nostalgia world. The space was full of sentimental vibes, each photos seemed to tell old ancient stories covered by myths and transcendental powers. Models in photos looked supernatural being that live different planet. Curtis’s photos actually so beautiful. I first thought the photos had taken recently, and some of them looked touched by Photoshop. Especially, photos taken Native people with magnificent nature background made me feel awe. How beautiful they are! How serene they are! And finally, I got to realize why his photos have been strongly criticized. And I realized again how strongly and instantly photographs work influencing perceptions of people on certain subjects. I hadn’t had any specific opinions or images about Native people and culture, but I instantly got planted some images through Curtis’s photos; such philosophical beings, what a beautiful piece of lego in the nature, how pure they are, how peaceful and  primitive their lives are...  


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Ernest L. Blumenschein, 'Taos Indian Chief', 1915

E. Irving Couse, 'Music of the Waters', 1911

              This is the problem of Curtis’s photos. His camera lenses had layers of prejudices that many Americans of that era had shared when it comes to Native people and culture; “noble savage”, ‘vanishing race”, primitive, inferior, historic relics that can be seen in museums, bloody warriors, and part of the magnificent nature of the West etc. Not only Curtis’s photos, but other artworks of Western painters in that era who depicted Native people and culture shared similar way of depicting Native people such as chiefs wearing a feathered war bonnet as calmly gazing away the nature, people fishing, making jars, playing musical instruments. Most of models in the photos are posed in certain ways and dressed clothes that Native people used to wear in the past in order to show Native culture of before they had contacted with white settlers. 

Wohaw, 'Between Two Worlds', 1870s - Kiwa warrior Wohaw depicts himself confused between the traditional life symbolized by buffalo, and American life represented by tiny farmhouse around his feet.

              The most problematic of his photos is ‘the historic erasure of Native realities’ of that time. The photos didn’t reflect reality that Native people of that time had faced with. From the middle of 19th century, American government started to take lands of Indigenous people and dismantle their socio-economic system. Native people were threatened to surrender under the government and forced to move to reservation. The government also established boarding schools and took Native children from their parents and tribes in order to educate them as White American. There were physical punishments on speaking traditional tribes’ languages instead of English. Plus, practicing their religion, rituals, and ceremonies in the land of America became illegal. Native people in reservations and boarding school were suffered with bad conditions of new environment, hunger, disease, famine, and persecution. In fact, the Native population reached the lowest point in the history of America by 1900 resulting from these treatments. 

            So these policies against Native people took place from around 1870, and Curtis’s photos were taken in the early 20th century. Quite short time gap, but what is this huge gap between the contents of policies and such beautiful photos?
 
     
                When Curtis decided to hold his cameras toward Native people, what was he thinking about his project? Curtis’s intention of the project was pure. He wanted to celebrate diverse cultures of Native people and preserve it by documenting photos, films, and writing. He, of course, knew what was going on Native people at that time and had sympathy for tragedies that Native people were facing. However, he didn’t consider his role as advocate the rights of Native people. Recording Native culture and people, that’s it. His indention was pure, but his perspectives on Native people which smeared into his camera lenses might have reflected certain layer based on prejudices unconsciously. When it comes to perspectives of artists, the exhibition also warned viewers to pay attention to the perspectives of artists toward certain objects.
 
 
               Even though Curtis’s photos have been accused of depicting wrong representation about Native people, it’s still true that his work also contributes to preserve Native culture that had in dangerous situation being forgotten. Many Native descendants appreciate his photos taken their ancestors and culture to be able to reconstruct broken puzzle of their history. However, it’s also told to be true that the negative legacy that he left has been still influencing American society and even Native people of these days. Many Native people are struggling with fighting for stereotypes and wrong representations about Native culture. 




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Rick Bartow, 'Old Time Picture', 1999

John Nieto, 'Plains Warrior with Breastplate', 1998

Meryl McMaster, 'Harbinger of Sudden Departures Variation 2', 2015

Wendy Red Star, 'Four Seasons', 2006

           Today, Native American artists are raising their voices to tell their stories and their Native identities as narratives which were always taken by non-Native people.
               Rick Bartow and John Nieto express Native people who also have various emotions like other people as countering somber and austere images of Native Americans. Visual artist Gregg Deal points out how American culture and media consume Native culture based on stereotypes. For example, many American sports teams borrow motifs of Native culture especially the images of ‘bloody warriors’ or ‘savage’ to name their teams and logos. Meryl McMaster, who is descendant of Native, British, and Dutch, portraits her multicultural identity. Wendy Red Star takes sarcastic approach by becoming relics herself that can be seen in museums. She wears traditional Indian clothes that many non-Native people expect when it comes to Native people. She poses with tacky background of the nature of the West that many non-Native people also expect to see from Native people. 




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              Among Native contemporary artists’ works in two exhibitions, Will Wilson’s work was the most impressive. I think Will Wilson’s CIPX directly counters the legacy of Curtis’s photographs. Will said photography was used as a tool of colonization in the past. Curtis’s photos are also one of example of colonizing certain group of people; which is Native people. Based on this idea, he takes his role as decolonizing photography by taking photos of modern Native Americans. His project called Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange (CIPX) makes up thousands of photos of Native Americans from reservations and urban areas who want to be photographed. People are posed they like and hold what they want such as their ancestor’s picture that Curtis took, favorite musical instruments, with family members, or wearing traditional costumes. Not only being taken photos, models are filmed the conversation with the artist or personal performances. They talk about their ancestors, their jobs, their tribe’s stories, or they sing, play musical instruments, and recite their favorite poem.
 

               In Curtis’s photos, Native Americans were sat and asked to pose and wear in certain way. Models sat in front of Curtis in the asymmetrical power relationship. We can only see model’s serious face without their voices and stories. On the contrary, there are diverse poses and voices of Native Americans in Will’s photos. In Will’s photos, people make their own individual portraits in symmetrical relationship with camera. Will’s project not only decolonizes the function of photography which Native people once experienced in the past, but gives a place for individuals to tell Native American’s’ their diverse stories as a narrative. By raising their voices, Native Americans will take representation of Native identity which has been preoccupied by non-Native people. Then what should I do as an outsider who often fails to recognize the power relationship of unfamiliar groups? What others should do would be to listen to their stories and to pay attention the power relationship between story and narrative. 
 





Reference: 
1. 「Double Exposure」, Seattle Art Musuem, 2018 
2. Eric Foner, 『Give Me Liberty! : An American History - Volume 2: From 1865』, Norton, 2017(Brief Fifth Edition)​