Tag: Native American Art

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Community Discover Learn

Write Around PAM: Marie Watt

Image description: Companion Species: Ferocious Mother and Canis Familiaris. Marie Watt. 2017. Reclaimed wool blankets, embroidery floss, and thread. 108 in x 217 in. A long rectangular work composed of numerous other horizontally oriented rectangles. Each rectangle contains a word embroidered in red thread on various shades of cream to pale tan cloth in assorted stitches and styles. Some of the largest words are Ancestor, Myth, Love, Voice, Fighter, Custodian, Gratitude. Smaller words include Seeker, Care, Watcher, Legacy, Healer, Advocate, Interpreter, Wild, and Catalyst. Interspersed among the words are rectangles made of striped blankets in red, green, yellow, and black.
Marie Watt (American and Seneca, born 1967), Companion Species: Ferocious Mother and Canis Familiaris, 2017, reclaimed wool blankets, embroidery floss, and thread, 108 in x 217 in, Museum Purchase: Funds provided by The Ford Family Foundation and Dr. Loren Lipson. Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, 2017.106.1

Seneca artist Marie Watt created Companion Species: Ferocious Mother and Canis Familiaris with the help of over 200 people who participated in two sewing circles. These collective efforts generated a powerful piece filled with energy and hope. The holiday season can be a time of collective joy and togetherness; it can also be a painful…  Read more

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Community Discover Learn

Write Around PAM: Gail Tremblay

Gail Tremblay (American, Onondaga, and Mi'kmaq), In Great Expectations, There is no Red Leader, 2011, 35mm film, leader, and metallic braid, Museum Purchase: Native American Acquisitions Fund, © artist or other rights holder, 2013.74.1, Photo Credit: Rebekah Johnson.

In this piece by Onondaga and Mi’kmaq artist Gail Tremblay, 35 mm film finds new life, transformed into a woven basket. Tremblay adapts Indigenous weaving practices, traditionally used to make ash splint and sweetgrass baskets, to this new medium. She “enjoys the notion of recycling film and gaining control over a medium that had historically…  Read more

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Community Discover Learn

Write Around PAM: Nan MacDonald

Image Description: Honor the Harvest (Corn Washing Basket). Nan MacDonald. 2014. White ash, sweetgrass, and oak basket. 18 in x 12 in diameter. This tall basket is square on the bottom with pointed bases on the four sides and has a rounded top with a smooth wooden handle that runs over the top diagonally and down both sides, connecting on the bottom of the basket. The intricate woven pattern has larger strips of light wood evenly spaced vertically with two thin horizontal bands connecting them. The smooth wooden lip at the top has a darker grain and then thin strips which are angled diagonally and evenly spaced. They cross the handle against the lip in an x shape.
Nan MacDonald (American, Abenaki, and Mohaw, born 1956), Honor the Harvest (Corn Washing Basket), 2014, white ash, sweetgrass, and oak, 18 in x 12 in diam., Museum Purchase: Funds provided by bequest of Elizabeth Cole Butler by exchange. Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, 2014.17.1

As we shift our clocks back to standard time this weekend and our bodies adjust to the change, it feels like just the right time to pause and reflect on all this recent season has offered. Cooler and wetter weather, colorful leaves, harvests, celebrations, even a busyness of newfound routines. Whatever fall has offered you,…  Read more

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Community Discover Learn

Write Around PAM: Silas Aittauq

Image Description: Spirits. Silas Aittauq. 1986. Serpentine carving 9 in x 4 1/2 in x 1 3/4 in. Sleek gray carving of a spirit with multiple faces. From the angle of the photograph - the body is facing to the right, but the head is turned to face the camera. The face is round with almond shaped eyes and a thin nose carved into it. A slightly opened mouth lies behind a raised strip under the nose. It has bangs that are parted in the middle and angle to each side of the head. The body is leaning forward, right arm bent at the elbow with the hand holding the chin of the turned face. The legs are bent at the knees and there are rounded feet below. The back and space behind the legs has the profile of two additional faces. Long thin noses and plump lips are visible. There are blemishes in the material and scratches across the sculpture. A prominent light colored scratch runs from the right eye, over the lips and chin, over the finger, and down to the armpit.
Silas Aittauq (Canadian, Inuit, and Baker Lake, 1933-2013), Spirits, 1986, serpentine, 9 in x 4 1/2 in x 1 3/4 in, Gift of Meredith and Robert Amon. Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, 2012.127.35

Spirits, by Inuit sculptor Silas Aittauq, carries an energy that seems fitting for this season of Halloween, of harvest, of Dia de Muertos, and of remembering those who have passed. We invite you to take some time today to reflect on, and then write about, your own spirit in this moment. What parts of your…  Read more

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Community Connect Discover

Write Around PAM: Kuna artist

Image Description: Fish Mola. Kuna artist. Cotton. 13 ¾ in x 17 ½ in. Bright red fabric with a fish embroidered on it. The fish is outlined in a thick black line with a bright blue line against it on the inside and a bright orange line on the outside. The fish is triangular shaped and facing the right. It has a large flat tail and small fins in front. Its mouth is small and beak shaped. It has a large black eye with a white outline. Its face is a series of lines of small dots that are yellow and red. Behind the eye, solid colorful lines: blue, black, pink, red, pink, scalloped black, blue, red, blue, black, yellow, red, yellow, scalloped black, blue, red, blue, black, orange, red, orange, scalloped black, blue, red, blue, black, green, red, green, scalloped black, blue, red, blue, black, yellow, red, yellow, scalloped black, blue, red, blue, black, orange, red, orange, scalloped black, blue. The tail has several horizontal lines of varying colors (green, yellow, white, red, orange). There are also lines of various colors between the outline of the fish and the edge of the fabric (black, yellow, orange, and purple). There are four shapes at the corners of the fish. The top left is a triangular shape with a green and black outline and yellow dots. The top right is a shape that resembles a bird with a long tail diving downward. It is outlined in yellow and black and has dark spots. The bottom right also resembles a bird diving and is outlined in green and black with yellow spots inside. The bottom left is flame shaped with blue and black outlines and yellow dots inside.
Kuna artist (Kuna), Fish Mola, cotton, 13 3/4 in x 17 1/2 in, Gift of Barbara Christy Wagner. Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon, 2016.109.1

The Kuna are Indigenous people living in present-day Panama. Mola, the Kuna word meaning “to cover” are hand-sewn, embroidered blouse fronts and backs made and worn by Kuna women. Artists use a technique called reverse appliqué to create Mola, layering two to seven pieces of different-colored cloth together. The artist cuts away parts of each…  Read more

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Connect Discover Learn

Daily Art Moment: Nez Perce artist

Image description: Doll, Nez Perce artist, hide, beads, cloth and hair, 12 x 7 3/4 x 1 1/8 inches. A cloth doll clothed in a beaded hide dress with dark brown hair in pigtails. The doll’s creamy tan face shows wear and has beaded features. Single black beads sandwiched between two white beads compose the eyes, two black beads make up the nostrils and a longer line of red beads topping a shorter row make the mouth. Brown hair is gathered in two pigtails with yellow beads on either side of the head. The doll’s arms stand straight out from the body and have rounded ends representing hands. The doll wears a long hide dress in the same creamy tan as the body that has fringed cuffs and hem. A bright blue beaded necklace with four long peach and white shells is stitched around the neck. A sky-blue beaded belt with long ties wraps around the waist. Two bright blue beaded patches at the hips have hide tassels. Alternating yellow and black beaded diamonds appear just above the fringed hem. The doll wears hide leggings embellished with sky-blue beads and moccasins beaded in yellow and bright blue. The doll appears worn and much loved.

With the school year beginning, I began to think about children and how objects such as dolls are so universal. This Nez Perce doll was surely made for children in the image of women in her community. The clothing is composed of the same materials her relatives wore: soft hide for the dress, leggings, and…  Read more

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Connect Discover Learn

Daily Art Moment: Playing Cards

Image description: Playing Cards, Apache artist, colored ink on paper, 35 cards, each 3 ½ x 2 ¼ inches. Seven handmade playing cards decorated in bright reds and yellows displayed and labeled on a clear plastic holder. The top row of cards shows “Seven Swords” with three vertical swords over another three bisected by a horizontal sword. Next, a space is left for a missing card, “King Swords”. “Knight Swords” is next and shows a figure wearing a hat and yellow and red uniform riding a brown horse. “Page Swords” is last in the row; The figure wears a plumed hat, and its body is depicted as a long rectangle with a black X across it. Red and black dots decorate the body with smaller triangles making up the figure’s legs. The bottom row of cards starts with “Ace Coins” shown at a large yellow circle in center ringed with red and edged in small yellow triangles outlined in red. Two red semi circles bracket the yellow coin on top and bottom. The next card is “Two Coin”, two stacked yellow coins, rimmed with triangles and outlined in red. “Three Coins” shows the same style of coins positioned at 11, 3 and 6 o’clock. The last card in the bottom row is “Four Coins” and it uses the same yellow and red coin show one in each corner of the card. The cards rest on a clear plastic holder and paper labels separate the top and bottom rows.

The Native American art collection of the Portland Art Museum contains a number of surprising objects that have fascinating but little-known histories behind them. This set of Apache Playing Cards is a rare example of a playing card tradition among the Apache with very little published research. There is some documentation that suggests playing cards…  Read more

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Community Discover Learn

Art and Writing During the Pandemic: Celebrating the Write Around Portland Partnership

It has been more than one year since Write Around Portland and the Portland Art Museum began collaborating on weekly, art-inspired writing prompts to sustain our souls and our sense of connection during the pandemic. Write Around Portland staff and writing workshop facilitators have created over 60 writing prompts inspired by works in the Portland…  Read more

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Connect Discover Learn

Daily Art Moment: Jingle

Ojibwa artist, Blouse, 30 x 39 inches, cotton, plastic buttons, tin, and sequins. A black, hip length shirt with elbow length sleeves and a small, rounded collar. Patterned metal jingles set closely together hang from a short yoke edged with a faded peach strip of fabric, stitched and embellished with sequins. The round collar is edged with star shaped sequins and has two long strings that hang to mid garment. Two large black buttons fasten the shirt at mid chest. The sleeves and hem are also edged in evenly spaced sequins. More jingles drop from under the sleeve and garment hem suspended by cloth loops, their colors now ranging from red to faded peach. The shirt’s hem dips slightly at the sides approximately reaching the wearer’s finger tips.

The jingle is a symbol of Native North American women. This blouse with matching skirt, a possible precursor to the jingle dress, is an example of the ingenuity of Native design. This type of dress adornment and dance was first developed to heal and has continued to be a symbol of healing and female empowerment.…  Read more

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Discover Learn

Daily Art Moment: Alison Bremner

Image description: Two Dollars, Alison Bremner, resin and paper on copper, 2 x 1 ½ inches. A small shield-shaped object with a copper hue and details of a two dollar bill. The object is divided in two main parts: the upper and lower portions. The upper portion is shaped like a fan with a curved top that narrows at the sides and is divided from the lower part with a horizontal indentation in the glossy resin that covers the object. The fan contains the top left corner of a two dollar bill. A prominent number two is seen at left along with the elaborate scrollwork in the bill’s border. The words: “This Note Is Legal T…For All Debts Public” is seen at right. A capital letter “F.” and the number “12” are also seen on the plain lighter copper colored background along with part of a circular seal. Below the upper fan shape the shield is further divided in two with a vertical indentation. These two trapezoid shapes come to point at the center and show more of the bill including the numbers “1399” at right, a number “12” at center and a portion of the treasurer’s signature at lower right. The finish is glossy and smooth with beveled edges. the numbers “1399” at right, a number “12” at center and a portion of the treasurer’s signature at lower right. The finish is glossy and smooth with beveled edges.

Alison Bremner’s sculptural work, Two Dollars, slyly plays on the concepts of money and exchange. This small work, only 2 × 1.5 inches, emulates the shape of large copper shields which served as status objects among the Tlingit and other Northwest coast communities, displayed during potlatches to demonstrate wealth. (View an example on our website).…  Read more