8/16: Indy's Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians & Western Art

After leaving our daughter's new family in Chicago last August, Steven and I headed toward Indianapolis, Indiana, our next stop in our multi-state Midwest and Southeast tour. We stopped for a picnic lunch just outside the state capital in Eagle River Park where for the first time in years I spotted a cardinal flitting from table to table.

According to a sign, this was the park's pollination habitat.

From the countryside, we headed into Indianapolis aka Indy, Indiana's largest city and capital. 

In White River State Park, an urban park in the heart of the city was the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and American Art. The sandstone building, itself considered a work of art,  was created to showcase Indigenous and Western art, culture, and history.

Several days earlier, Steven and I had spent an interesting time at the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska, the world's largest repository of publicly held quilts. I was quite delighted to learn that the Eiteljorg also had an extensive quilt collection. In addition to being familiar and keeping us warm, the museum reminded us that quilts also serve to document people, places, and events and are visual records.

As a professor from Montana State University wrote, quilts "commemorate significant rites of passage in people's lives: births, christenings, graduations, engagements, marriages, bereavements, and deaths." Distinct quilting traditions have developed through different cultures and regions. Women have played a dominant role in creating these traditions and in creating quilts that tell not only their own stories but those of their communities. Through the exhibit of quilts from the American West, we would learn about the diverse experiences of women in the West.

Nebraskan Mary Willard Baily made Doll Quilt in 1848 when she was just eight years old. Girls in her era learned the skills they were expected to know as adults from small projects like this. 

The act of creating a quilt was often a communal activity and helped to bring women together while creating community among them.

Because of the artistry and labor put into quilts, they often became family heirlooms. When Crazy Quilt (on the left below) was created in 1900, it even included commemorative ribbons, embroidery, drawing, and painting to showcase the maker's talents, likely with the assistance of family members and friends. It was passed down to several generations of women in the artist's family.

The second Crazy Quilt was made in 1894 as a parting gift to Mary Turrell and Charles Turrell, a Unitarian minister, when they moved from New York to Wolfe City, Texas. Included in the quilt were several sets of initials, probably of the women who made it.

On loan from the Alaskan State Museum was Bird Feathers/Skin Quilt created in 1943 by Emily Barr, an Indigenous woman from northwest Alaska, who used King eider, Red-throated loon, cotton fabric, felt, and even unborn seal fur or lanugo! Isn't it a stunner?!

Barr used whole bird skins, a material and technique in a patchwork pattern similar to log cabin quilts that Indigenous peoples from the Arctic used not just for this quilt but was also customary when making parkas and other coverings. I could see how blankets like this were popular souvenirs among tourists visiting the region as I would have wanted one in a heartbeat, too!

It made perfect sense if I had thought more about it that quilts have long been used by women to voice political opinions about the world around them and demonstrate support for political causes. That was especially evident when other means of expression such as the right to vote were not available options. 

The Vietnam Women's Memorial Project Quilt was made in 1987. At the center of the quilt was a figure based on the original sculpture design for the Women's Memorial in Washington, DC.  It was owned by Judith Knopp, a First Lieutenant during the war and also the Nebraska volunteer coordinator for the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project. Quilts have shown support for those serving in the armed forces since at least as far back as the Civil War.

Yet another Nebraska connection was this Red Cross Quilt crafted from 1916-1918 by the women of Martell, Nebraska, to raise money for the Red Cross during WW 1. Citizens paid fifty cents to have their names included on the quilt prior to it being sold at auction.

Just imagine buying the quilt with 672 names on it including the actual signatures of Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt and other notable people! Before women had the right to vote, fundraising quilts like this enabled women to support and participate in political causes.

I thought at first this was an ancient quilt until I noticed the name of it, Albuquerque Foreclosure. Created by former urban planner Kathryn Clark in 2012, the quilt was on loan from the Lincoln museum. Clark used her artistic talents to draw attention to the nation's foreclosure crisis with foreclosed lots on city blocks represented by holes in the material.

Another quilt that gave us pause for thought was this 2017 one by Navajo artist Susan Hudson called Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Since 1492 made with leather, beads, buttons, and yarn. In her quilt, Hudson addressed the terrifying rates at which Indigenous women have been disappearing and killed today and links to the traumatic history of colonization. I read that the quilt signified an open closet with the clothing hanging inside representing different time periods and traditions and symbolized "the love and loss felt for the victims by their families and communities."

I loved seeing how the artists used their talents and passion to create works of art that lent their voice to advocate in the political realm. 

From quilts, we made our way to the more traditional examples of Western art. N.C. Wyeth's first painting of a cowboy on a bucking horse was published on the cover of Saturday Evening Post, an illustrated magazine when he was just 21. Thereafter, his works appeared in the country's best magazines. He also produced seventeen paintings in the new edition of The Last of the Mohicans when it was released in 1919.

An immensely popular writer of Western stories in the 1920s was Zane Grey and one of the leading illustrators of the same period was W. H. D. Koerner. The two collaborated on bringing to life the Western experience. In this painting, Koerner shows characters in a Grey novel. 

We knew immediately that this had to be a Frederic Remington bronze sculpture and the tag confirmed it! This was the last casting done of 1898's The Wicked Pony that Remington stated was based on an event he witnessed of a cowboy being thrown and then holding onto the bronco's left ear. The horse responded by kicking its hind legs.

Before our visit to the museum, I hadn't known that Remington was also a well-known author and painter who wrote and illustrated dramatic stories of the American West. This was one of his paintings.

Cowboys and art: Many artists followed in the traditions of Remington and other famous Western-themed artists. Their focus wasn't just heroic depictions of Western characters but also visual storytelling. Due to movies, Wild West shows, literature, and paintings, there was a significant public interest in cowboys. They were perceived as honest and strong. Another of Remington's paintings:

After Albert Bierstadt studied art in his native Germany, in 1857 he returned to the US where he had grown up and earned the praise of art critics. Two years later on his first trip West, he was part of a group that surveyed the Rocky Mountains and later California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. Bierstadt painted Indian Encampment at Sunset about 1872.

The Scalp was another of Remington's works. Though originally titled The Triumph, Remington depicted a stereotypical warrior as a 'savage' holding the scalp of a foe. How sad realizing that common misconception still persists in much of the media today. 

The museum had an almost overwhelming number of paintings - this one wall was just images of 'Indians' who were often represented as "merciless savages" as stated in the Declaration of Independence. Sadly, all too often Indigenous people were portrayed as enemies of the US, of civilization, and of progress. 

Of course, Western American art didn't begin in the nineteenth century with Remington, Wyeth, Koerner, and their contemporaries who arrived in the West and called themselves Americans. This vast nation was home to many different Indigenous cultures whose art tells us about the people and places well before contact with newcomers. 

The Vessel was carved between 1160 and 1260 by an artist of the  Casa Grandes people who lived in large communities in what is now northern Mexico, Arizona, and New Mexico. Pottery making was a major art form in the huge building complexes and irrigation systems that supported the population. 

The Pipe on the left above was made by a Haida artist in the 19th century from argillite, a stone only found off the coast of British Columbia in my native Canada. I read that figures, bowls, and pipes have long been carved using argillite by Haida people.

As interesting as the Western-themed paintings and sculptures had been, they absolutely paled in comparison for me when we came to the gallery of Native American art that was specific to the state of Indiana. I learned that Mihtohseenionki was a Miami word that meant The People's Place and referred to the Indiana region and all the tribes or nations who had lived there. Each nation has its own story, culture, and history.

The Courting were male and female dolls fashioned by Sandra Brewer, a Lakota in 1964 from leather, shell, glass beads, cloth, wood, and metal.

I wish I had noted the information about this incredible quill vest and pair of shoes. After quills are sorted for thickness and length, they are washed, dyed, and stored until ready to be used. The quills can only become pliable, flattened, bent, and twisted after being softened in the mouth or soaked in water.

There is a variety of decorating techniques to use quills: one option is being wrapped around pipe stems, strands of hair, or narrow leather strips which are then applied to other garments. Can you just imagine wearing such stunning pieces of fashion made of quills?

Glass beads were initially introduced to North American Indians by European traders and explorers. By the end of the 17th century, the mostly Venice-made beads were highly desired. At first, beads were used with quillwork and other forms of decoration until beadwork dominated by 1830. Greater design flexibility, bright colors, and the easier application made beading preferable to quillwork which required more time and patience.

Choctaw Marcus Amerman fabricated the absolutely amazing Buffalo Bill and Sitting Bull in 2006 from glass beads and nylon thread. Growing up in a beading family, Amerman's first stitches were taught by his aunt and he was also inspired by his brother, an award-winning beader. This masterpiece was based on a photo from 1885 of Lakota leader Sitting Bull who was briefly a performer on Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show which toured the US and Europe from 1883-1913.

I learned that beading techniques vary and that beads can be strung on threads and stitched onto flat surfaces in parallel rows; strung on weft threads and woven into fabric; or tied into lace or netting designs. The most time-consuming designs are mostly reserved for special ceremonial garments or for gifts exchanged on important occasions. 

In case you were wondering, Amerman stated that he never has any idea until near the end of one of his works what exactly it's going to look like as he doesn't work from computers. The only 'computer' was in his head!

These other works also caught my attention for moments but certainly didn't stick with me like Amerman's beadwork.

This basket was made from sedge root, redbud, and willow about 1915 by an unnamed artist in the Pomo tribe. 

This gorgeous basket was made using willow and devil's claw (?) circa 1900 by an unnamed artist belonging to the Western Apache. These baskets were so stunning I don't know that I'd ever want to use them as they were intended instead of just admired on a shelf.

Made of yellow cedar, red, black, and yellow paint, Eagle Mask was created by a member of the Bella Bella/Bella Coola tribe in 1890.

Fish Club was carved in 1980 from wood with a sea lion image on its surface. Clubs were used to kill fish after they were caught.

In my early 20s while I was growing up in Ottawa, I bought several stone-cut relief prints from Canada's far north region of Cape Dorset similar to Composition that was created in 1967.  I wonder if any of our four children will want our prints as memories of their Canadian heritage.

How I would love to have touched (and bought!) Drummer/Dancer that was created from whalebone, ivory, and wood?! It just begged to be felt.

Made of serpentine and caribou antler was this 1998 sculpture by an Inuit artist titled Old Woman Singing Traditional Song. 

One of the most unusual and also inspirational exhibits we have ever come across in any museum were the sculptures by Michael Naranjo of the Santa Clara Pueblo in Taos, New Mexico. When have you ever been to a museum and told to Please Touch?! As a child, Naranjo dreamt of becoming a sculptor until he was blinded and had limited use of his right hand after a grenade exploded within hand's reach when he was serving in the US Army in Vietnam. As you can see, he transformed those 'disabilities' into abilities.

Naranjo wasn't able to use tools because he couldn't 'see' what they might be doing. Instead, he had to rely on his left hand when working in clay or wax before they were cast into bronze. Naranjo stated his work was representational. He deliberately chose matte black for the bronzes' patina because, being blind, that was the only  color he 'saw.'

Touching of Naranjo's work was encouraged because "our appreciation of art does not need to come purely from sight. Touching is a basic instinct and a way to experience objects, gather information, and build awareness." 

Naranjo has stipulated that his work be displayed in public places that allow it to be seen and touched as he was so often denied access to art in many places. By having more of his pieces in public places, his goal is for the public to experience the joy he had in creating the work. It was an amazing experience being able to touch and caress these beautiful sculptures! I can't imagine a more inspirational way we could have concluded our tour of the Eiteljorg Museum.

This was the first in a long time I've wanted to add to my very informal collection of unusual bathroom signs.!

Next to the museum was a Discovery Garden with some large-scale sculptures.

Apache Allan Houser, one of the most renowned Native American painters and modernist sculptors of the 20th century, was responsible for this exquisite Morning Prayer. I was delighted that our brand new President, Joe Biden, selected a much smaller Houser sculpture of a horse and rider for his Oval Office just two days ago!

If you ever have the opportunity to travel to, or near, Indianapolis, I hope you will seek out the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art so you can discover your own favorite works. I know you won't be disappointed. What a coup for the Midwest city to be home to such a wonderful museum. However, as a resident of the Western city of Denver, I couldn't help but think a museum of  Western art should have been more at home here in the West! 

Next post: Strolling along White River State Park's riverside promenade and the Congressional Medal of Honor Memorial.

Posted on January 22nd, 2021, from our home in Denver's suburbs at the dawn of a new presidency. May it bring you hope for calmer days ahead even with all the challenges still facing our country and the world. Please continue to be safe and take care of your loved ones.