RACE AND REPRESENTATION

I N R E V I E W

RACE AND REPRESENTATION:

EURO-AMERICAN DEPICTIONS OF NATIVE AMERICANS AND THEIR CULTURES

SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF ART

Following a large donation by Timothy and Jeanne Drone of 19th-century historical artifacts and artworks, the Saint Louis University Museum of Art (SLUMA) is exhibiting Race and Representation: Euro-American Depictions of Native Americans and Their Cultures through May 26.

The exhibit focuses on the interaction between European American and Native American cultures from the perspective of postcolonialism. Postcolonialism is the contemporary study of how imperial cultures interacted with cultures they imposed upon. In this exhibition, artworks and artifacts present insight into the skewed lens through which European American colonists viewed — and wished others to view — native peoples of North America.

Two replicas of peace medals (the George Washington Indian Peace Medal and the John Quincy Adams Indian Peace Medal) tell an important part of the story being exhibited. The U.S. government gave these medals to Native Americans upon reaching diplomatic agreements or alliances that ultimately led to the loss of Native American land.

Medals like these are worn by Native American dignitaries in multiple portraits and scenes presented in the exhibit. One of these portraits, by American artist Charles Bird King, is of Chonmonicase, a chief of the Otoe tribe. That Chonmonicase wears the medal is, according to the curators, a reminder of “the treaties that led to the loss of his people’s land.” A dubious honor indeed.

Several paintings exemplify the generalizations these artists used to represent cultures they were not truly qualified to represent. King’s portrait of Hayne Hudjihini, wife of Chonmonicase, portrays her in clothing, jewelry and hairstyle found regularly in his paintings. The culturally evocative accoutrements were likely props with origins King thought insignificant and that his viewing audience could hardly have questioned.

Nathaniel Currier’s General William H. Harrison at the Battle of Tippecanoe includes fallen Native Americans lying at the future president’s feet, alluding to their death at the hand of the general in battle. The artwork gives no indication of what tribe the people belonged to, which the curators note exemplifies the “cultural homogenization that serves to characterize diverse identities as a single type.”

Included in the exhibition are lithographs of five oil paintings by George Catlin, a 19thcentury American artist who made a career out of his observations of Native American people. His depictions of various activities (hunting, rituals, games) through the eyes of an outsider show questionable accuracy. Nonetheless, the images he left provide an extensive and interesting window into lives he was privileged to witness.

In The Bear Dance, Catlin depicts a ceremony performed by people of the Sioux tribe. Leading the ceremony is a medicine man wearing a peace medal like the others shown in the exhibition. At first glance, a subtle detail like this medal wouldn’t mean anything to the observer. But wearing the medal is described as showing the European American influence on Native Americans, as there are reminders of the U.S. government’s presence in their lives even in their most traditional activities.

We have always been able to find history in art, and preserving this history allows society to move forward with greater wisdom. The artworks presented within the exhibition provide important points for contemplation, although they give inaccurate and even offensive depictions of preyed-upon people by members of the culture that claimed their land and worked to destroy their culture. The exhibition offers an opportunity to question the value of stories told by outsiders to the story. At the same time, this record of 19th-century European American artists’ biases provides a history of that bias, an outcome completely unintended by the artists.

-Leor Shomroni

John McGahey after a painting by George Catlin, The Bear Dance, (image courtesy of St. Louis University Museum of Arts)

www.slu.edu/sluma

ALLTHEARTSTL.COM SPRING 2019 IN REVIEW