Exhibition Examining Native American Images Past and Present Opens October 13

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The Pan-American Exposition Centennial: Images of the American Indian investigates ways in which American Indians have been represented in art during the past century. A critical perspective is introduced by featuring works by both Native and non-Native artists. The exhibition focuses on work by contemporary artists who practice in the Iroquois Confederacy and Western New York region. The Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy, includes Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, and Tuscarora Nations. A full schedule of events, listed below, complements the exhibition:



When

On view October 13, 2001, through January 6, 2002

Museum hours Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m.



Where

Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Third Floor of Rockwell Hall, Buffalo State College



Events



Members-only preview reception

Friday, October 12, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.



Family Workshops



Saturday, October 27, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Peter B. Jones, a potter from the Beaver Clan, Onondaga Nation, will guide participants in creating clay works in the tradition of early Iroquois potters. Works will be fired by the artist and returned to participants. Fee: $10 per child (9 years and older) with accompanying adult. Registration is limited to 20 persons.



Saturday, November 10, 1 to 4 p.m.

Stone carver Tom Huff, a Seneca-Cayuga artist, will run a stone-carving workshop. Files and knives will be used to cut, scratch, and draw into pieces that will be sanded and polished. Fee: $10 per child (13 years and older) with accompanying adult. Registration is limited to 15 persons.



Saturday, December 8, 10:30 to 12:30 p.m.

Educator and filmmaker Joyce Jamieson, a Seneca from the Cattaraugus Reservation, will screen Snowsnake: A Gift from the Creator followed by a craft workshop on constructing an Iroquois longhouse village. Fee: $10 per child (8 years and older) with accompanying adult. Registration is limited to 25 persons.



Workshops are free for children of members at the family ($45) level or higher. Register for workshops by calling (716) 878-6020.



Native Expressions Video Festival

Friday, November 16, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, November 17, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Rockwell Hall Room 124



  • Charlie Hill Live Counteracting Indian stereotypes, producer and director Sandra Osawa documents comic Charlie Hill whose humor "teaches and heals by deflecting racism, sexism, and all the other uglies in our life."



  • Everything Has a Spirit Director and producer Ava Hamilton documents the lack of equal protection for tribal religions and sacred rights. The video has garnered numerous awards including the Chicago International Film Festival's Silver Plaque of 1993.



  • Snowsnake: A Gift from the Creator Director and producer Joyce Jamieson explores the traditional Iroquois winter game of snowsnake. Funded by the New York State Council on the Arts Folk Arts Program, the video discusses all aspects of the game and includes interviews.



  • Stolen Generations Computer-generated animation and silent film are fused in director and producer Darlene Miller's video documenting the effects of boarding schools on Aboriginal people of Canada.



    Admission is $5, $2 for seniors and Buffalo State College faculty and staff, and free for students, children under 12, and Burchfield-Penney Art Center members.



    Panel Discussion

    Imaging Ourselves in the 21st Century: Native American Identity Within a Euro-centric Culture: Sunday, November 18, 2 to 4 p.m.

    Moderator: G. Peter Jemison, Seneca Nation, artist, director of Ganondagan State Historic Site, Victor, New York, and guest curator of the exhibitionand art history, University at Buffalo; Shelley Niro, Turtle Clan, Mohawk Nation, Six Nations Reservation, multi-disciplinary artist working in visual arts, film, and photography; John Mohawk, Seneca Nation, Cattaraugus Reservation, associate professor of American studies, University at Buffalo



    G. Peter Jemison, a Seneca artist and site manager of Ganondagan, a New York State Park, is the guest curator for the exhibition and essayist for the exhibition catalog. Midge Stock, director of the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum in Salamanca, New York, has contributed an introductory historic perspective. Nancy Weekly, head of collections, is co-curator and Joan Vita Marotta, curator of public programs, is the project supervisor.



    Images of the American Indian is intended to be an incisive critique that shows both sides of the issue. It uncovers a history of misrepresentation and disrespect, like that illustrated by biased Pan-American Exposition souvenirs and documentary photographs showing members of the Indian Congress and federal prisoner Apache Chief Geronimo treated as "living exhibits." In contrast the exhibition includes works that sympathetically represent the mistreatment of Native Americans, for example End of the Trail, a bronze sculpture by non-Native artist Charles Cary Rumsey (1879-1922) that depicts the tragic exodus of indigenous people to reservations in the West.



    Early twentieth century works such as Howard D. Beach's studio photographs of the Native Americans who participated in the Indian Congress at the Pan-Am are complemented by works by contemporary Native American artists who address issues of history, identity, and present-day experience. A list of the historic and contemporary artists and amateur photographers includes:



    C. D. Arnold (c. 1844-1927)

    Howard D. Beach (1867-1954)

    Jay Carrier (Wolf Clan, Tuscarora/Onondaga Nations, born 1963)

    Helen Ellis (born 1941)

    Eric Gansworth (Eel Clan, Onondaga Nation, born 1965)

    Charles Graham

    Rick Hill (Beaver Clan, Tuscarora Nation, born 1950)

    Russell Hill (Beaver Clan, Tuscarora Nation)

    Tom Huff (Deer Clan, Seneca/Cayuga Nations, born 1952)

    Joyce Jamieson (Seneca Nation)

    G. Peter Jemison (Heron Clan, Seneca Nation, born 1945)

    Norman Jimerson (Beaver Clan, Seneca Nation, born 1951)

    Cheryl John (Wolf Clan, Seneca Nation, born 1959)

    Rodney John (Wolf Clan, Seneca Nation, 1956-1990)

    Peter B. Jones (Beaver Clan, Onondaga Nation, born 1947)

    Roberta Huff Jones (Seneca Nation)

    William Owen Logan (Turtle Clan, Onondaga Nation, born 1963)

    Jeanette Miller (Snipe Clan, Mohawk Nation, born 1956)

    Nora Naranjo-Morse (Santa Clara Pueblo Tewa Nations)

    Richard E. Nephew (Turtle Clan, Seneca Nation, born 1957)

    Shelley Niro (Turtle Clan, Mohawk Nation)

    Clifford Oliver (Bermuda Mohawk, born 1949)

    Jolene Rickard (Turtle Clan, Tuscarora Nation, b. 1956)

    Milton Rogovin (born 1909)

    Charles Cary Rumsey (1879-1922)

    Tammy Tarbell (Turtle Clan, Mohawk Nation, born 1950)

    Jeffrey M. Thomas (Onondaga/Cayuga Nations, born 1956)

    Kevin Vickers

    Carson Waterman (Snipe Clan, Seneca Nation, b. 1944)



    Historic photographs have been lent from the collections of the Historical Club of the Tonawanda Reservation and the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum. Photographs and objects from the 1901 Pan-American Exposition have been lent from the collections of S. Giallombardo, Joseph and Marilyn Levin, Dr. Charles Rand Penney, the family of the Honorable Congressman William H. Ryan (1899 - 1909), and Dr. E. O. Smith Jr. Most of the artists have generously made their works available for the exhibition. Other lenders to the exhibition include Dr. and Mrs. Scott Goldman, Peter and Roberta Jones, Francoise and Tom Kramrously provided by the New York State Council on the Arts, Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, Native American SUNY: Western Consortium, and Buffalo State College's Office of Equity and Campus Diversity, Native American Student Services, Native American Student Organization, and Auxiliary Services Grant Allocation Committee.
  • Media Contact:
    Lisa Kane, Public Relations Manager, Burchfield-Penney | 7168784529 | kanelm@buffalostate.edu