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emotional response in his audience in indian cultures the institute of chicago artist's ability to communicate successfully with his own people depended largely upon his recognition of the force of tradition the social organization of the various tribes allowed, less. Latitude for experimentation than western cultures and usually compelled him to work in familiar channels the frequent failure to communicate with a non indian audience does not necessarily mean. That the indian artist has failed as an artist but that many of the cultural racial social and political traditions involved in his work have proved to be, almost insuperable, barriers, to understanding yet within this rigid? Framework of tradition there, was sometimes a surprising degree of freedom of expression there are recorded instances of individuals having made, considerable changes in the art and the economy of their tribes perhaps the most striking have been the careers of nampeyó – the famed hopi potter and maría – and julián martínez – of san ildefonso pueblo through sheer individual talent these people achieved a personal triumph by developing a style that not only was copied by other artists but. In time also was regarded as traditional in that particular village although there is no way of knowing how often this happened in the past there are suggestions that. It occurred at. Mimbres among the haida slate carvers and quite possibly in some, areas of the so called mound builder cultures, of the southeast origins of designs the origins of most indian decorative designs cannot be traced accurately today most of them are lost in antiquity many obviously came from natural forms while others are simple developments of geometric! Or lineal motifs some have become so interwoven with alien concepts—western after the advent of the european for example—that it. Is impossible to completely unravel their sources there is evidence however that some of the original forms were creations of individual artists and. Were often inspired by what the indians called a vision the vision is closely akin to a dream to the indian the dream world was a mysterious supernatural land where his soul which, had left his body participated in many strange activities and saw many strange sights since many of the designs or creatures that he saw were regarded as protective forms or beings sent as signs from the spirit world he would carefully re create this dream world during modernism his waking hours if he were not an artist he would occasionally describe his dream creature so that the proper individual could record it on hide in wood or in stone but since these, supernatural vision designs were extremely personal they were usually recorded by the individual himself hence they vary tremendously in aesthetic quality because art designs were regarded as personal property an artist could buy a design or receive it as a gift from its creator but to appropriate and use it for his own purposes was taboo this custom amounted to quasi religious and social the function of art since the early indian peoples travelled extensively their household goods had to have the maximum utility thus indian art objects are, basically intended to perform, a service—for example to act as a container or to provide a means of worship only in, later years could these peoples afford the sophisticated luxury of household possessions that did, nothing but look nice the particular utilitarian form, that indian arts take often reflects, the social organization of the cultures involved political and military societies seem to have found their major art forms in the world of weaponry pageantry of costume and panoply this is most pronounced in the plains aztec and inca civilizations all of which reflect the dominant warrior cult forces active. In their arts those cultures in which life was heavily governed by religion—the so called theologies of america—tended toward a greater degree of. Ceremonial art than those in which life was less ritualized all of the aesthetic expressions that have come down from the maya for, example obviously reflect the considerable weight of theocracy that existed in their world generally but not necessarily the best of indian artwork was applied to those objects intended to please a deity. Soothe the angry gods and placate or frighten the evil spirits through such means the indian sought to, control his environment and the human or, supernatural beings, that surrounded or, threatened him some specific articles were reserved, solely for religious uses and some were for secular needs alone decoration does not always provide a clue as to these museum uses some of the most, highly revered religious articles are completely devoid of ornamentation—in fact they may be rather ugly—while others are highly embellished sometimes plainware bowls were used for food preparation, while other peoples did the same chore in polychrome bowls many objects served a dual function normally they were used for everyday household purposes yet under a different set of circumstances they could fulfill a religious function beneath the surface there was a magic at work and in initiated hands a mundane article might release its supernatural power calling upon unseen forces. To aid. The owner this power might be visually evident in the form shape or decoration of the, object or might simply be believed in no matter what the, physical state or appearance of the object, might be a crow warrior's rawhide. Shield for. Example might be embellished with a symbolic drawing as well as with such materials as sacred eagle feathers and a crane's, head in order to imbue him with such qualities as invulnerability, and supernatural, swiftness and, strength the aim of the indian artist was not merely to set down realistic records but to create the semi magical designs so common in primitive art he quickly realized that he, could not draw a tree as perfectly as it could be made by the creator so with common sense he did not try instead he sought, the spirit or essence of the tree and represented this in his design carvings paintings effigies or realistic portraits are not simply pictures of people. Or objects they embody the essence of. That particular subject as well in a sense this can be called a form of witchcraft since it captures the soul of the object attack or the person this semi? Magical character of indian art is difficult for history the western mind to understand not infrequently the non indian will ask what does that design mean —a question that, makes little sense to the artist he might reply were he so inclined that it meant what he wanted it to mean also confusing to the questioner is the fact that the indian often attaches names to designs largely for convenience when asked an indian will frequently call dream a given design a leaf or an arrowhead when what he actually. Means is that the design is leaflike or leaf shaped and so on but the inquirer immediately translates this to mean that the design signifies a leaf or an arrowhead and. Tries to. Impart a story to the overall visual concept that may have no basis in reality insofar, as the original artist is concerned ritual was often interwoven into the very process of creating indian art western assessment of native american art often centres on. The product rather than the. Process indian artists however give exacting attention to the creative process and interact. With their materials at all stages of creation the iroquois false face mask for example must be carved from the trunk of a living tree—hence the term christmas clip live mask the tree is ritually addressed. Before the carver begins, and the mask and the. Tree are fed tobacco before the two are separated such prescribed ritual is of equal if not more importance than the artistic skill employed in the production of the work if the, ceremonial acts were ignored the article would lose its efficacy—and might even prove dangerously counteractive this ritual aspect of indian art which permeates most of the ceremonial paraphernalia is extremely complex and must be considered throughout the creation of the work of art not all indian art however was religious or political there was also a considerable amount of mundane humorous and even profane art produced by most cultures although much of the eroticism has disappeared in the puritan fires that continue. To. Burn the westerner sufficient examples remain from, prehistoric and recent times to indicate a. Wholly relaxed freedom of expression reflecting a healthy naturalistic, outlook materials working in the materials natural to their respective homelands the various indian, cultures produced art that reflected their environment those peoples living in heavily forested regions for example inevitably became! Gifted sculptors in wood those for whom clay was a major resource became skillful potters and those living in the grasslands became fine basket weavers there is virtually no medium however that has not been explored and mastered by the indian. Jade turquoise shell metals stone milkweed fibre birch bark porcupine quills deer hair llama dung sea lion whiskers—all were used by the artist to lend colour or texture to the finished product in! Many instances such materials became desired. Commodities in themselves to be traded renaissance over great distances for certain objects were not regarded as official unless they were manufactured from a prescribed material and, especially for religious purposes a substitute could not be tolerated often in such cases the materials became in a sense currency for they achieved a standard value within the economy with ready acceptance wherever they. Were in vogue the relationship. Between material and design in indian art was quite different from that in the western tradition the western painter usually imposed a design on. The artificially limited surface of a flat rectangular canvas and the sculptor following predetermined spatial, arrangements imposed a shape on his material on the other hand the indian. Painter and sculptor were less likely to force their materials to conform to a preconceived design they tended instead to adapt their design to the natural outlines of their materials which often happened to be a complete and therefore irregular buffalo hide a tree branch or a stone this naturalism is one of oil paintings the most pleasing aspects of indian art and often demonstrates the. Artist's remarkable ability to incorporate the natural form into his composition regional styles of american indian visual arts the term indian art covers an extremely broad category encompassing all art expressions of the original inhabitants of the americas and their cognate descendants it thus includes not only, varied and completely disparate cultures but also spans great time sequences—from the mid th century back to prehistoric times surviving artifacts clearly demonstrate that ancient man was already possessed of. Considerable aesthetic ability flint for example was carefully flaked into attractive well balanced forms and, stone carving and pottery were capably handled although the dissimilarities between the artistic expressions, of different cultures and different times are great there are also similarities for the borrowing. Of, art forms from distant and occasionally alien peoples was a common practice objects in museum collections reveal for example that prehistoric merchants travelled thousands of miles seeking and bringing back from canvas other tribes such ornamental materials, as feathers shells jade and turquoise. This far flung trade expanded the limits of tribal styles for the indian merchant returned with new ideas as well as materials. In time new designs and motifs became. Part of the stylistic concepts and traditions of his own people intertribal marriage too affected regional styles while in. Some tribes marriage within the group was required in others it was forbidden in. The latter case the girl—who was often the artist—took her own artistic traditions to the new group into which they were subsequently incorporated it is! Becoming increasingly evident that there were common forces at work in the art of various groups even if widespread in time and space there are certain. Symbols that are widely encountered and some would seem to have had similar significance over, a wide area it is likely that trade routes or political hegemony levied the major influences upon this phenomenon and it may be said that the depth and spread of symbols is relatively equal to the migration of the peoples involved in middle america for example the so called plumed serpent motif is to. Be found in, one, form or. Another in almost every culture and this motif extends even into the united states where it is encountered in visual. Form as well as in legend the existence of the feline deity virtually throughout south america from the south up into the northern andean region is another instance of the travel of an idea and a visual element certain customs also have enjoyed wide acceptance. For example the role of trophy heads the use of masked personations and winter, solstice new fire ceremonies and each. Of these customs was accompanied by related visual art expressions despite the similarities between the, art forms of different cultural groups and different times one cannot speak of indian art as though it were a single concept just as there were several hundred native tongues dialects and speech forms so were there an equal number of tribal. Styles motifs and design forms in trying to establish a common aesthetic bond the well schooled researcher generally finds as many differences as he does similarities when two completely different peoples move into a common area such as occurred with the migration of the athabascan navajo into the pueblo southwest the eventual. Result may be a melding of cultures the loss of certain ancient individualities—since each contributes to the new expression—and the, emergence of new aesthetic qualities it is not certain just how skilled the navajo weavers were when they arrived in the southwest but the pueblo people were highly developed in that art subsequently the navajo not only fine learned new weaving techniques and designs but in time also improved upon the acquired pueblo methods transferred the sex role of the weaver from male. To female and matured as far more sophisticated. Craftspeople on the other hand under the same circumstances surprising differences can sometimes be found for. Example while the hopi and zuni people live almost side. By side and under similar cultural conditions it is quite possible to identify, the, art products of both groups without great difficulty this is equally true of cultures in ancient times such as the aztec and mayan or in, another time and another region the sioux and the, crow it, is in those tribes. Or cultural entities that at one time were part of a whole but have subsequently split off that one. Most often finds common themes art elements and cultural patterns so similar as to be confusing to most readily understand some of the artistic impulses active among the indian tribes of the new world it is convenient to take them in geographical sequence north to south regional style north america southwest the aesthetic products of the prehistoric indian artist in north america are perhaps the least well. Known to shop the non indian public this is partly because these early people left few spectacular architectural ruins as compared with their latin american cousins this is not to say that architectural monuments did not exist spanish accounts report that great temple mounds were in use in the southeast, at. The time, of the first european entry in the mid th century but most of these structures were of perishable wood and have long since disappeared—as have most examples of the great use of colour in which the ancient folk gloried and their tremendous range of textiles so many indian materials were perishable that scholars have little by which to judge their, arts and must in. Effect evaluate a people by only a small proportion of their achievement in the united states it is only in the southwest that any major prehistoric architectural sites are to be found the monumental stone cliff dwellings that remain are eloquent testimony to the culture that existed there progressing from a simple pit house through aboveground homes, these people moved out. Onto the plateau regions of arizona and new mexico and built remarkable multistoried structures some—such as pueblo bonito in new mexico—sheltering hundreds of families in over rooms these apartment houses were well. Suited for the demands of their environment their walls were of stone clay and sand mixed as an adobe—although true mixed adobe in block form did not come into. Use until the arrival of the europeans the thick stone walls provided excellent insulation being warm in winter and cool in summer heights reached to seven stories although most villages were of three, or four levels. Major divisions of these early southwestern indians often called, by the generic name anasazi include the hohokam of southern arizona the. True anasazi of northern arizona–new mexico and the mimbres of southwestern new mexico in addition to these groups—each of which produced a style of its own deco distinct from all others—were dozens of lesser subgroups that archaeologists have been studying for decades, in an effort to assemble the pieces of this giant jigsaw puzzle the people living in the pueblos produced some of the most successful indian art, work they were masters of weaving painting and. Particularly of pottery making their weaving techniques long antedated the arrival of spanish sheep a native cotton provided ample fibre for intricate weaves coloured with. Native dyes mineral and vegetable pigments provided, colourful decorations, when applied with a fibre brush to wood clay or to white plastered walls in a fresco technique fortunately. Abundant kaolin deposits yielded high quality clay for the creation of excellent pottery forms although small stone effigies have been found sculpture was not a highly developed art form pueblo art is essentially linear or geometric in design and reveals a. Preference for applied decoration the large underground kivas rooms used for religious purposes were decorated with murals executed in brilliant mineral pigment colours pueblo art became a strongly conventionalized art held to relatively rigid forms this characteristic african was determined no antique impressionist fine prints roman onlinedoubt by the closely knit communal nature of a culture that depended upon close cooperation for survival at its best, early southwestern art is expressionism marked. By technical competence and fine control of line and form but it reflected little experimentation tending more to rework established patterns in many intricate designs because of this conservatism the culture of the contemporary pueblo indian shows striking parallels to that of his ancient ancestors in more recent times the richest variety of art expressions is to be found in the southwest whereas in other regions the arts flourished and waned here they are still active forces in the lives of the indian, people almost all of the crafts practiced in prehistoric times are still practiced today along with some, newly introduced expressions following, early. Trade routes merchants brought new ideas to the pueblos. Departing with the finished products they had sought thus new creations continued to develop and new markets strengthened—as continues. To be true today yet because of its essential conservatism pueblo art remains a closely related continuum of ancient techniques affected more by the introduction of new tools than of new ideas along, the same trade routes came invading tribes from other regions particularly the navajo and apache who subsequently settled in the southwest and in time surpassed. Their teachers in certain arts that they adopted improved? Upon and made their own—notably silversmithing and weaving whereas, pueblo weavers once dominated the textile field the work of the remarkably inventive navajo weavers became highly sought after in the, late th. Century silversmithing another famed navajo art is more recent it was only in that the first navajo smith took up the tools of his! Craft but within the next century navajo jewelry and ornaments acquired a wide appreciation as in the prehistoric era southwest sculpture has failed to develop as a major art form the most active sculptural work, in the southwest is reflected in the carved and painted cottonwood kachina dolls of the hopi and zuni which have enjoyed wide popularity as, collectors' items many variations of these wood carvings are also found in altar. And shrine figurines which are not produced for, commercial consumption the crafts of basketry and pottery are moderately active both. Face the problems of economic balance the problem of the time invested as against the economic return of the craft object exacts a serious price by and large a craftworker today can enjoy a more stable income from manual labour or by clerking in a store than from any creative activity this is particularly true if one. Includes the time required to go into the desert find grasses or pigments then wash grind and process them—all preparatory to the, tedious hours spent actually forming the products for later sale it seems certain that in time the former will entirely disappear and only the luxury scale. Pottery arts will continue even now very little pottery is made for native use it is largely intended for, the outside market although both pottery and basketry are produced in much smaller quantity than they were after first. Outside contact the quality of contemporary work is consistently high specialization. Has long been a factor in southwestern art and has become increasingly so in recent years certain tribes produce almost all of the small carved fetishes or tiny drilled, shell and stone beads the zuni favour intricately design worked silver jewelry with tiny turquoise settings while the navajo make, use of massive silver castings with heavy turquoise sets the navajo also make most of the heavy rugs and, textiles while the hopi supply lightweight ceremonial kilts sashes and similar costume fabrics another art form that may have been brought from the. North but that was more likely adopted from pueblo culture is sand painting more accurately? Termed dry painting the use of a variety of finely ground mineral pigments which are allowed to trickle through the fingers to form a variety of complicated patterns has. Become uniquely navajo these designs provide a focus for! Curing ceremonies midwest and great plains the existence of rich textile art in the prehistoric middle west is known but its range and development are lost in hundreds of years of history from which few examples survive examples of basketry and. Wood are similarly rare enough of these perishable items have survived to indicate that these arts had been mastered but not enough examples remain to enable scholars to judge their aesthetic development what has survived in profusion is stone worked skillfully and in many ways pottery too though not of highest quality and copper ornaments have been found of the relatively perishable substances finely carved and incised shell is common. Which along with bone indicates the artistic range of these early peoples the quantity of objects found is impressive, numerically significant groups the peoples of the region, were active in the production of materials and implements with which to meet the challenge of their environment scholars cannot determine the function of all the recovered examples of stonework but it is known that much of the archaeological wealth was ceremonial in nature indicating a highly organized civilization ritual structures existed such as the so, called effigy mounds —great piles of earth. Fashioned to, represent a variety of animals the, serpent mound in ohio see is an example of this custom truncated pyramids apparently served as large bases for. Wooden temples now long vanished but still in use when spanish explorers? First entered the region monks mound dominating the cahokia mounds near collinsville illinois is the largest prehistoric earthen construction in the new world major cultural expressions from this region included those of the adena hopewell oneota and copper culture peoples their art was extensive making great use of sculptured stone pipes polished ornaments of both stone and copper and incised shell decorations the later, great plains region is. The area most familiar to the average non indian for this. Is the world of the buffalo bill shows television and movie programs and fiction from it came the buckskin and beadwork costume feathered war bonnets colourful porcupine quill decoration and painted shields that personify the american indian in the minds of oil painting most people yet there was no monolithic culture the arts of the great plains indian varied considerably from tribe to tribe some peoples seem to have had superior aesthetic taste demonstrated by their sensitive and inventive developments in the arts very little woodcarving was produced here in proportion to the, other arts yet a respectable body, of wooden bowls clubs effigies figurines and similar objects indicates that the plains artist did not ignore this medium even less pottery? And basketry was produced for containers were primarily made from buffalo hide a great deal of plains art served both decorative and spiritual ends a given design might appear to be primarily a colourful decoration yet to the initiated it was also the, guardian spirit of the owner, colour was originally achieved by mineral pigments or vegetable dyes in time these were supplanted by commercial dyes and trade colours porcupine. Quilling—the use of small quills of the american porcupine erethizon dorsatus which are flattened dyed and then applied to the surface of animal hides or textile materials—is an art produced nowhere else in the world it became outmoded in favour of glass trade beads which were not only technically similar in, their application to quillwork but did not fade and gave a richness of colour unobtainable in, any other way the art forms themselves range from. Realistic to extremely abstract and symbolic often they are narrative in content as with the winter counts those painted records that recounted tribal history by means of annual symbols and the personal history paintings on hide that recount the exploits of the owner not only did the plains indian decorate his home but also his person with carefully coiffured hair facial painting and clothing enhancement and he devoted the same aesthetic attention to his horse as he did to himself creating beautifully decorated gear for special occasions statically displayed in a museum exhibit much of this ornamentation loses the grace of motion when worn as intended the motion of the wearer, and the wafting of, the plains breeze gives the feathered war bonnet or the fringed buckskin a lively grace and colour peripheral north america four other art producing regions of north america include the far west northeast central south and southeast in prehistoric times the central south and southeast were part of the most artistically exciting region of the north american continent this land of temples mounds and monuments was an amazing world and one can truly understand the legends that grew up around the riches that were evident, when the spanish arrived and that are still, found in archaeological excavations testifying to the highly developed civilizations that existed are the beautifully carved shells incised gorgets and intricately decorated clothing ornaments the carved. Stone effigies of ancestor figures or deities which suggest a strong affinity with ancient mexico and the, many bird |