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The Art of Ceremony: American Indian Painting of the 20th Century

April 2, 2011- September 3, 2012

 

Drawn from the paintings of the Heard Museum and of the Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson collection, The Art of Ceremony: American Indian Painting of the 20th Century offers insight into Native artists' visions of ceremonial life within their respective communities. The exhibit opened to the public on April 2, 2011 and will be on display through September 3, 2012 at the Heard Museum's Phoenix campus. (right: Oquwa/J.D. Roybal, San Ildefonso Pueblo, 1922-1978, Pueblo Corn Dance, 1968, Acrylic on paper, 14.63 x 23.13. Acquired from the Heard Museum Guild Arts & Crafts Exhibit in 1969. Heard Museum Purchase, IAC117)

Ceremony has been the principal subject of American Indian easel art since the early 1900s. Whether depicting richly detailed single figures or a complex gathering, artists from many different regions have attempted to convey the power and beauty of ceremonies that are central to their lives.

"Many of the works were created by people who know the ceremonies intimately," says Dr. Ann Marshall, vice president of curation and education at the Heard. "For example, looking at the regalia depicted by Tonita Peña in her work 'Animal Dancers,' it is clear that she knew exactly and in detail how each figure should be clothed. She was a remarkable artist and the only Pueblo woman painting ceremonial subjects in the early decades of the 1900s." Art historian Dr. Jerry Brodie noted that Peña maintained this documentary and realistic style throughout her career.

Apache artist Delmar Boni captures the essence of the Ga'an, who are the spiritual ancestors of the Western Apache people. In his 1984 work "Ceremonial Cave," Boni richly delineates the story related by Apache elders about the Ga'an's role of watching over the Apache. Each group of Ga'an or Crown Dancers is composed of five dancers: four dancers who represent the four sacred directions, and a messenger who communicates with them. Each group is based in a particular area and has its own cave. The dog also plays a central role in the tale of how a young boy became one of the Spirit People, the Ga'an.

Although most work in the ceremonial genre is from the Southwest and Plains, the exhibit will spotlight artworks from other parts of the country as well.

 

(above: Gilbert Atencio, San Ildefonso, 1930-1995, Basket Dance, 1962, Watercolor on paper, 25.5 x 32. Heard Museum Collection, IAC735)

 

Additional texts including wall panel text, object labels and an exhibit bibliography

 
The Art of Ceremony: American Indian Painting in the 20th Century
 
 
Ceremony and ceremonial figures have been important subjects of American Indian easel art since the early 1900s. Much early painting sought to accurately depict in great detail a relatively small number of figures from ceremonies that in reality involved many individuals. In many instances, the artists participated in ceremony, wearing the regalia they depicted in their art and, in some cases, making the regalia. Many of the early easel artists were from the Southwest and the Plains. Their choice of subject matter reflected their own preferences as well as requests of patrons and teachers.
 
Over the decades, some artists have continued in a realistic, narrative tradition, expanding the complexity of the scenes depicted. Others have created more abstract expressions of the spirit and movement of figures in ceremony. Some have chosen to portray religious beings that are evoked through ceremony.
 
Whether depicting richly detailed single figures or a complex gathering, artists from many different regions have attempted to convey the power and beauty of ceremonies that are central to their lives.
 
Artworks in The Art of Ceremony: American Indian Painting in the 20th Century are drawn from the paintings of the Heard Museum's collection and of the Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson Collection, a promised gift to the Heard Museum. The Fenderson Collection primarily includes work by indigenous artists from the United States, with a few pieces by Canadian artists. The Fendersons also collected extensively from a Tzutuil Mayan artist, Nicolás Reanda Quieju, and his depictions of ceremony are included in this exhibit as well. We are grateful to the Fendersons for their promised gift and to the many other donors whose gifts are celebrated in The Art of Ceremony.
 
 
 
Southwest
 
Alfonso Roybal (Awa Tsireh)
San Ildefonso Pueblo, 1898-1955
"Comanche Dance," n.d.
Gouache on paper
 
Comanche dances may have begun as victory dances following Comanche raids more than two centuries ago. The dances are described as spirited and colorful, with male dancers in Plains-style dress and women in traditional Pueblo-style dress. Awa Tsireh has captured that movement in this painting. His style often includes various types of rain clouds or rainbows, with plant elements in the corners.
 
Gift in memory of Mary and Pablo Enriquez, 4636-15
 
 
Tonita Peña (Quah Ah)
San Ildefonso Pueblo 1895-1949
"Animal Dancers," 1920s
Watercolor on paper
 
"Documentary" and "realistic" are words art historian Dr. Jerry Brody used to describe Peña's work. Peña's attention to detail gives these ceremonial figures distinctive facial expressions. Early depictions of ceremony usually showed only a small number of participants, when in reality many more individuals would be present. Animal dancers, including Buffalo, Deer, Mountain Sheep and Eagle, were popular subjects for New Mexico Pueblo artists. Ceremonies that included these figures could be attended by non-Native people, and so it became easier to portray aspects of these ceremonies.
 
Artist Pablita Velarde of Santa Clara Pueblo has said she was inspired by Peña's courage as a woman painting at a time when depicting ceremonies was not encouraged and was done almost exclusively by men.
 
Collection of Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson
 
 
Tonita Peña (Quah Ah)
San Ildefonso Pueblo 1895-1949
Untitled, c. 1939
Watercolor on paper
 
Done in a radically different style with Christian subject matter, this work is quite distinct from most of Peña's paintings. A later work, it commemorates the Coronado Cuarto Centennial in 1940 and depicts a Christian ceremony in which a Catholic priest is blessing people from a number of different tribes. Curator Margaret Archuleta, writing in the catalogue for the Heard exhibit Shared Visions: Native American Painters and Sculptors in the 20th Century, felt the painting was reminiscent of a European style and may have been influenced by military recruitment posters in the Albuquerque and Santa Fe areas.
 
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Byron Harvey III, IAC 539
 
 
Romando Vigil (Tse Ye Mu)
San Ildefonso Pueblo, 1902-1978
"First Man Naming the Birds and Animals," n.d.
Watercolor, ink on paper
 
Art historian Dr. Jerry Brody described Vigil, who began painting in 1918, as a prolific artist. His style of painting was quite varied, but he painted at least one other work very similar to this one, titled "Legend of the Game," which is illustrated in Clara Lee Tanner's Southwest Indian Painting: A Changing Art. The animals are depicted without regard to proportionate size.
 
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Henry S. Galbraith, 3309-285
 
 
Romando Vigil (Tse Ye Mu)
San Ildefonso Pueblo, 1902-1978
"Women's Harvest Dance," c. 1960s
Watercolor, ink on paper
 
The women in Vigil's Harvest Dance present a much more animated and colorful appearance than the figures in his earlier work. Watermelons form the decorative lower border, instead of the artist's more frequent overhead frieze of rain clouds.
 
Collection of Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson
 
 
Gilbert Atencio (Wah-Peen)
San Ildefonso Pueblo, 1930-1995
"Corn Dance," 1970s
Watercolor on paper
 
Striped Kossa (sacred clowns) dance at each end of this procession of Corn Dancers. Many paintings of ceremony at Rio Grande pueblos include a drummer. Drums, representing the sound of thunder, are a primary instrument for accompanying prayer songs in ceremony.
 
Gift from the Estate of Herman and Claire Blum, 3576-36
 
 
Gilbert Atencio (Wah-Peen)
San Ildefonso Pueblo, 1930-1995
"Basket Dance," 1962
 
One of the most versatile artists of his generation, Atencio developed many stylistic approaches to his art that range from abstraction to the realistic figures in "Basket Dance." Commenting on this painting in the Heard's Masterworks of Fine Art exhibit, guest curator and artist Kay WalkingStick (Cherokee) said, "Two women and three men dance in a typically agrarian up-and-down movement against a flat white ground. the footlight line denotes earth" and "...contains dancers in their sacred space."
 
Heard Museum Collection, IAC 735
 
 
Joe Hilario Herrera (See Ru)
Cochiti Pueblo, 1923-2001
"Fertility Ceremony for All Forces of Nature," c. 1984
Tempera on paper
 
Herrera painted this ceremony in the later stages of his career, following a hiatus of approximately 20 years during which he served as governor of Cochiti Pueblo, secretary of the All Indian Pueblo Council and director of Indian education for the State of New Mexico. Commenting on painting ceremony, he told Tryntje Seymour in an interview for her book When the Rainbow Touches Down that "I guess it's easy for me. I know what it is, I know where certain paraphernalia belong... ."
 
Collection of Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson
 
 
Joe Hilario Herrera (See Ru)
Cochiti Pueblo, 1923-2001
Headdress, 1985
 
Herrera made this headdress for the Heard Museum on the occasion of the exhibit When the Rainbow Touches Down. It was intended to be shown with his paintings of ceremony.
 
Heard Museum Collection, NA-SW-CO-I-3A-C
 
 
Joe Hilario Herrera (See Ru)
Cochiti Pueblo, 1923-2001
"Sacred Flute Ceremony," 1983
Pencil, ink, casein on poster board
 
In this painting, Herrera chose to portray a scene in a kiva, reflecting his interest in kiva murals that influenced much of his later work. Herrera told author Tryntje Seymour that his inspiration for his art was his mother, Tonita Peña. In When the Rainbow Touches Down, he told Seymour, "It always comes back to my mother, what she was trying to do, too, even though it was more traditional and two-dimensional."
 
Gift of Valona Varnum, 4183-5
 
 
J.D. Roybal
San Ildefonso Pueblo, 1922-1978
Untitled, n.d.
Watercolor, ink on paper
 
Speaking of Roybal's style, artist Kay WalkingStick (Cherokee) commented on the artist's "sophisticated intensity of the drawing line and the precision of execution." According to the artist's son, Gary Roybal, his father took a somewhat unusual step in choosing to depict not the ceremony itself, but either the preparation for or a break from a Corn Dance with Koshare eating melon, drinking coffee and fixing headdresses.
 
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Henry S. Galbraith, 3309-345
 
 
Fred Kabotie
Hopi, 1900-1986
"Butterfly Water Drinking Dance," 1925
Watercolor on paper
 
Artist and guest curator Kay WalkingStick (Cherokee) included this painting in the Heard Museum's Masterworks of Fine Art exhibit. She noted that Kabotie created shadows that suggest strong sunlight around the dancing figures, "thus transforming the flat beige background into a pueblo plaza. We see space although none is literally described." She saluted Kabotie's "ability to convey so much energy as well as portray exquisitely painted information in his works."
 
Heard Museum Collection, IAC 26
 
 
Neil David, Sr.
Hopi-Tewa, b. 1944
Untitled, 1972
Graphite on paper
 
This Kossa is using a slice of watermelon in an attempt to cheer a youngster who is participating in ceremony. Children learn the ceremonies through participation.
 
Collection of Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson
 
 
Raymond Naha
Hopi, 1933-1975
Untitled, n.d.
Gouache on illustration board
 
Naha excelled at realistic depictions of katsina ceremonies and painted particularly dramatic night scenes.
 
Collection of Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson
 
 
Dan Namingha
Tewa-Hopi, b. 1950
"Symbolism III," 1995
Acrylic on canvas
 
Fragments of katsinam and migration symbols evoke spirits and stories of the Hopi set against a night sky. Commenting on the borders of a similar painting, the artist said in Thomas Hoving's book The Art of Dan Namingha, "Blue is for night or late evening. It's a landscape element in a sense, too, and also refers to one of the Hopi cardinal direction colors-blue is west. I like that blue: it reminds me of night."
 
Gift of Tom Melancon and Elizabeth Dichter, 4647-1
 
 
Dan Namingha
Tewa-Hopi, b. 1950
"Hopi Eagle Dancer," 1998
Acrylic on canvas
 
Namingha conveys a sense of power, color, beauty and swirling movement that veers toward abstraction in this painting from his Bird Series.
 
Collection of Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson
 
 
Otis Polelonema
Hopi, 1902-1981
"Sheep Dance," 1967
Watercolor on paper
 
This ceremony is presented almost as if it takes place on a stage. An abundance of icons representing sky phenomena -- sun, rain clouds, rainbows and a star -- hovers over a dense depiction of a ceremony that features Mountain Sheep dancers. The regalia of the dancers is delineated with great accuracy by the artist, who knew how to weave the garments.
 
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Henry S. Galbraith, 3309-370
 
 
Otis Polelonema
Hopi
Sash, 1960s-1970s
 
Gift of Mr. James T. Bialac, NA-SW-HO-C-141
 
 
Andrew Van Tsihnahjinnie
Navajo, 1916-2000
"Creating First Man and Woman Ceremonial," n.d.
Gouache on paper
 
Art historian Clara Lee Tanner called Tsihnahjinnie "one of the most versatile of all Southwestern Indian artists" for the originality he displayed in style and subject matter. In this painting, the subject matter is a scene from the Navajo Creation Story that takes place in the Fourth World. Blue Body, the sprinkler, and Black Body, the god of fire, have spread a buckskin on the ground with the head facing west. A white ear of corn is placed on a white eagle feather and a yellow ear of corn on a yellow eagle feather, with the tips of the corn pointing to the east. Holding a second buckskin over the corn, the winds of the east and west blow over the corn as other deities walk around the buckskins. The ears of corn will be transformed into First Man and First Woman.
 
Collection of Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson
 
 
Beatien Yazz
Navajo, b. 1928
"Peyote Priest," 1977
Acrylic on board
 
In contrast to his classic style of Navajo ceremonials, Yazz created representations of ceremonial objects associated with the Native American Church, of which he was a member. A peyote bird is shown behind the figure of the priest, which is surrounded by smoke. The style of painting was much more popular with artists from the Plains, where the church originated.
 
Collection of Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson
 
 
Matthew Sheridan
Omaha
Peyote loose-style fan
 
According to curator Daniel C. Swan, feather fans are used to connect to the rich symbolism involving birds in the Native American Church. Using these fans during peyote ceremonies helps carry prayers to the Creator.
 
Bequest of Shirley H. McArdell, 4062-117
 
 
Kiowa
Peyote flat-style fan, n.d.
 
Gift of Ms. Rose L. Schwartz, NA-PL-KI-I-2
 
 
Peyote rattle, 1960s-1970s
 
In the Native American Church, rattles are made of specific species of gourd. The beaded handle of this gourd reflects the Native American Church's ties to Christianity and to recognition of veterans and military service.
 
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Henry S. Galbraith, 3309-257
 
 
Beatien Yazz
Navajo, b. 1928
Untitled, c. 1950s
Gouache on paper
 
This is Yazz's classic Studio Style depiction of ceremonial figures posed in a manner that clearly illustrates their rhythmic dancing. Here he shows a Ye'ii' BiCheii and a figure from the Mountain Way ceremony.
 
Collection of Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson
 
 
Harrison Begay
Navajo, b. 1917
Untitled, n.d.
Tempera on paper
 
This painting shows a scene from a portion of the Enemy Way ceremony, a healing ceremony held during the summer months for the purpose of restoring balance and healing to those who have served in war. Artist Kay WalkingStick (Cherokee) selected this painting for the Masterworks of Fine Art exhibit, for which she was the guest curator. In her catalogue of the exhibit, she noted the challenge of painting so many "interacting individualized figures while balancing the shapes and colors." She felt that emphasis on such paintings as part of the ethnographic record has caused people to overlook their "high degree of aesthetic quality" which, in her opinion, exceeded the ethnographic narrative.
 
Gift of Mr. Read Mullan, IAC 422
 
 
James Wayne Yazzie
Navajo, 1943-1969
"Ye'ii BiCheii Dance," 1961
Watercolor on paper
 
A Ye'ii BiCheii Dance is the culmination of the Night Way chant, a nine-night healing ceremony in which the Holy Beings, or Ye'iis, take human form and bless the ceremony with their presence. Yazzie's painting is done on a plum-colored paper that suggests night, or at least twilight. The Ye'ii BiCheii are the central focus of attention by the spectators, who are differentiated mainly by dress rather than pose or facial expression. More distinctive, however, are the figures on the fringe, treated with individual personality and even humor, including two children with their dog using a branch to tickle a sleeping man.
 
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Read Mullan, IAC343
 
 
Michael Chiago
Tohono O'odham, b. 1946
"Vikitha Dance" or "Great Spring Harvest Dance," 1990
Gouache on illustration board
 
In the desert there are two growing seasons, and this dance celebrates the harvest of winter foods. It features figures who are hunters who wear masks of canvas and turkey feathers. The figure in front is a hunter who is supposed to carry his weapon in the wrong hand to distract the animals. Figures in masks made of painted gourds accompany the hunters, making noise. The artist remarked that the figure with the cloud symbol really doesn't belong in this ceremony.
 
In 1971, Michael Chiago began painting scenes of O'odham village life and ceremony and has participated personally in many of the ceremonies. He was featured as the poster artist for the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market in 1990.
 
Collection of Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson
 
Michael Chiago
Tohono O'odham, b. 1946
"Rain Dance," n.d.
Gouache on mat board
 
This is the Celkona ceremony, which is a winter dance to bring rain. The artist described this ceremony as one in which the doves from the ocean flap their wings to bring clouds. The black bird represents black clouds. Chiago said, "The women dance to show they do the hard work." Men and women singers are included, as are people with basket drums. On reflection, Chiago said he should have placed the Chicken Scratch dance area farther away from the church.
 
Collection of Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson
 
 
Michael Chiago
Tohono O'odham, b. 1946
"Saguaro Wine Ceremony," 1987
Gouache on illustration board
 
In this depiction of the summer ceremony, conducted to bring rain, the Rain House with jars of saguaro wine is shown in the background. Chiago has said, "In the old days, the saguaro provided the people with fresh fruit, syrup and a cake made from the seeds. The syrup-making process produces a juice, which ferments for three days in the Rain House under the care of the Keeper of the Smoke, the village headman and ceremonial leader. Rain songs are sung, and men and women dance at night. At noon of the third day, the headmen gather to recite poems over the baskets of wine. The men of the village sit in a circle and pass the baskets until they are drained. The planting of crops takes place after the wine festival to make use of the rains that are bound to follow. Today, many families still prepare the saguaro wine for their own use, and the custom to cover the wine with a song continues; anyone who accepts a drink of the wine recites a poem, which invariably relates to clouds or rain."
 
Collection of Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson
 
 
Tohono O'odham
Saguaro wine and syrup jar, c. 1950s
Gift of Mr. Fred E. Warren, NA-SW-Pg-A5-3
 
Tohono O'odham
Wine basket, early to mid-1900s
Wine baskets were woven so tightly that they could hold saguaro wine without any special coating added to the fibers.
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Byron Harvey III, NA-SW-Pg-B-67
 
Delmar Boni
San Carlos Apache, b. 1948
"Ceremonial Cave," 1984
Oil on canvas
 
Boni has painted an episode from the Western Apache version of the creation story that was told by Apache elder Rudolph Kane. In the story, a young boy and his spotted dog are hunting deer in a time of famine when the people had not been living the right way. The boy and dog find a cave that is the underground home of the Ga'an. Ultimately, the boy becomes one of the Ga'an and the transformation leads the people to pray and return to the right way of living.
 
Kane's story was told as a part of "Words & Place: Native Literature from the American Southwest," a joint program with the University of Arizona and KUAT. Dr. Larry Evers, professor in the University of Arizona English Department was the producer of the program, which can be viewed online at http://parentseyes.arizona.edu/wordsandplace/.
 
Collection of Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson
 
 
Allan Houser
Chiricahua Apache, 1914-1994
"Apache Fire Dance," 1968
Watercolor on illustration board
 
In this painting of the Fire Dance, Houser has captured the drama of the ceremony, framing the edges of the Ga'ans and spectators in orange from the firelight. Commenting on the painting, artist Kay WalkingStick (Cherokee) saw this style as "reminiscent of the Futurist movement of 1930s Italy." She said, "Everything seems to move; the very air seems actively to whirl around the fire."
 
Gift of Mr. James T. Bialac, IAC 349
 
 
 
Woodlands
 
Cecil Dick
Cherokee, 1915-1992
"Booger Dance," c. 1975
Oil on masonite
 
The Booger Dance is a winter dance done for hundreds of years by the Eastern Cherokee. "Booger" is a variant of "bogey," a term for a ghost. In the dance, which can last for as long as an hour and a half, 10 to 14 masked figures represent threats from harmful powers capable of spreading social or physical contamination. For several centuries, these forces have been most frequently represented as Anglo people, although they could be anyone not Cherokee who behaves in a boisterous, offensive manner. In the ceremony, mockery of these figures assists in defeating their powers.
The artist's daughter has said, "The Booger masks were created to be as ugly as the dancer could make them. The Cherokee word "skilley" means scary ghost. My dad had seen this dance as a child and again as a young adult while attending a Cherokee Stomp Dance."
 
Gift of Rachel E. Dick Rasdal and Cecil Roy Dick, Jr.
 
 
 
Plains
 
Carl Sweezy
Arapaho, 1881-1953
"Peyote Road Man," c. 1927
House paint, pencil on board
 
This painting was selected for the Shared Visions exhibit, curated by Margaret Archuleta and Dr. Rennard Strickland. It is more characteristic of the Euro-American portrait/ photograph style than the more traditional painting being done by other Native artists of the period, who favored figures in powwow regalia in action poses.
 
Gift of Dr. Rennard Strickland, IAC 2367
 
 
Ernest Spybuck
Absentee Shawnee, 1883-1949
"Tipi Peyote Ceremony," 1938
Watercolor, ink, pencil on paper
 
The artist was a religious leader in the Native American Church in his area. He learned the ceremonies from the Delaware, also residents of Oklahoma. The Native American Church is a pan-Indian religion that combines elements of traditional Native ceremonies with Christianity.
 
Writing in Shared Visions: Native American Painters and Sculptors in the Twentieth Century, Margaret Archuleta and Dr. Rennard said, "In this painting, Spybuck used a 'window' technique to allow the viewer to experience the events inside and outside the tipi simultaneously. The technique also established the time of day and season of each event depicted. Spybuck used this format throughout his career."
 
Heard Museum Collection, IAC 2270
 
 
Ernest Spybuck
Absentee Shawnee, 1883-1949
Untitled, 1934
Watercolor on cardboard
 
The subject of this painting is probably a Shawnee War Dance. The War Dance is one of the most important Shawnee ceremonies. Historically, warriors of all ages retold their victories. In some communities, the tradition continued with veterans of the United States military participating. The summer ceremony also honors "Our Grandmother," who affects the success of crops.
 
Unlike so many artists depicting ceremony, Spybuck showed ceremonies with non-Native spectators in attendance. Frequently the people he depicted could be identified as individuals in the community.
 
Gift of the Heard Museum Council, 4425-1a
 
 
Joan Hill
Creek/Cherokee
"White Feather Dance," 1962
Watercolor on paper
 
The Feather Dance is held when ears of corn are ready to be picked for roasting, generally in July or August, and at a certain time of the moon. It is a part of a multi-day ceremony and is a daytime dance. In the dance, men hold sticks with white heron feathers at the tips. Some of the dance movements honor the Sun and are meant to echo its movements.
 
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Henry S. Galbraith, 3309-433
 
 
Oscar Howe
Yankton Sioux, 1915-1983
"Ghost Dance," 1960
Watercolor on paper
 
This semi-abstract watercolor painting merges blanket-wrapped figures with the flames of a night ceremony of the Ghost Dance. This dance arose in the 1870s, at a horrible time in history for Native peoples, and promised the revival of Native cultures and the defeat of the Anglo culture. Howe was one of the first Plains artists to move away from attempts to realistically depict ceremony. He was vocal and eloquent in his rejection of the accepted format for depicting ceremonial figures. His interest did not lie with the traditional documentary precision of earlier artists, but the more abstract evocation of the power and spirit of the ceremony.
 
Gift of Mr. Edward Jacobson, IAC 85
 
 
Dick West (Wah-pah-nah-yah )
Cheyenne, 1912-1996
"Dispute of the Coup," n.d.
Gouache on paper
 
In Plains warfare, the ultimate act of bravery was touching an enemy with a hand, a weapon or coup stick. Recognition for bravery varied among tribes, including a name change to commemorate the event.
 
Collection of Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson
 
"Doc" Tate Nevaquaya
Comanche, 1932-1996
"Winter Sorrow," n.d.
Watercolor, tempera on paper
 
Nevaquaya was inspired by the work of Allan Houser (Chiricahua Apache) and Steven Mopope (Kiowa). He began painting in 1958. As a student at Fort Sill Indian School in Oklahoma, he rejected the stylized paintings students were encouraged to make, instead favoring landscape painting. He became particularly famous for his snow scenes. Here, Nevaquaya elected to show not a ceremony, but the scene following a ceremony as the mourners ride away from the burial scaffold.
 
Nevaquaya also was a noted flutist and maker of flutes. It has been said that some of his paintings evoke the reflective, meditative mood of his flute music.
 
Collection of Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson
 
 
Acee Blue Eagle
Pawnee/Creek, 1907-1959
"The Deer Spirit," c. 1950
Watercolor on artist board
 
Acee Blue Eagle was the founding director of the Bacone College Art Department. In this powerful painting, the artist has used an approach, shared by other artists, which depicts the actual person participating in ceremony and the presence of the spirit he is invoking.
 
Gift of Dr. Rennard Strickland, IAC1952
 
 
Ruthe Blalock Jones (Chu-Lun-Dit)
Shawnee/Delaware/Peoria
"Shell Shaker," 1967
Watercolor on paper
 
Ruthe Blalock Jones has chaired the Bacone College Art Department and is the 2008 recipient of the Spirit of the Heard award. Here she depicts a woman strapping turtle-shell shakers to her legs. She will be participating in a Stomp Dance, so named because of the slow, stomping steps and the rhythm created by the women, who wear shell shakers on both legs. More than a hundred people may join a dance circle as the dance continues.
 
Heard Museum purchase, IAC 56
 
 
Creek
Turtle-shell shakers, 1977
Turtle shell, leather, cloth
 
These shell shakers were used in a Creek Stomp Dance in Oklahoma in 1977. The shakers are hollowed-out shells that have holes drilled in them and are filled with rocks, shot, soda-can lids or anything else that will make them rattle. The traditional Creek and Seminole shakers are made from turtle shells.
 
Gift of Ms. Pauline Gatlin, NA-SE-Cr-M-1A&B
 
 
 
Southeast
 
Fred Beaver
Creek, 1911-1980
Untitled, 1971
Watercolor on mat board
 
Beaver's atmospheric paintings evoke the historic setting in which the Creek lived-their homes, called chickees, and their colorful traditional clothing. Like Ray Naha's paintings, his night scenes are particularly dramatic.
 
Heard Museum Collection, IAC 723
 
 
Fred Beaver
Creek, 1911-1980
"The Orator," 1973
Tempera on paper
 
The artist said, "I wanted to change the non-Indian's image of my people, and I wanted to help my own people understand themselves, especially the young. So I sketched and painted the scenes from my childhood." Beaver's choice of dark paper for some of his paintings added an element of drama to the scene.
 
Gift of Dr. Rennard Strickland, IAC 2330
 
 
Seminole
Woman's over-blouse, c. 1930
Cotton with plastic buttons
 
The Seminole patchwork style of decorating clothing began in about 1920. Although the style was appreciated by the Seminole for its aesthetic qualities, the making of garments was primarily fueled by increasing participation of Seminole women in demonstrating arts for the tourist market, and offering those arts for sale.
 
Gift of Mrs. Ray Meyer, 3308-1
 
 
 
Northeast
 
Norval Morrisseau
Ojibwe, 1931-2007
"Shaman Shifts Assemblage Point," 1979
Acrylic on canvas
 
The artist's unique approach to presenting tradition and ceremony started a new art movement that included an x-ray approach to depicting people and animals, and the use of heavy black lines and brilliant colors. Morrisseau frequently depicted shamanic subjects and transformation.
 
Collection of Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson
 
 
Blake B. Debassige
Ojibwe, b. 1956
"The Landing of the Mohawks No. 5640184," 1984
Acrylic on canvas
 
According to the artist, this painting was done as a maquette for a mural competition that was held to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the forest landing of the Loyalist Mohawks on May 22, 1784. The Mohawks were driven from the Mohawk Valley in New York because of their support for the British in the American Revolution. Each year, the Indians of the Bay of Quinte re-enact the historic forest landing. "The Indians of the Bay of Quinte carry out the symbolic act of setting the Queen Anne communion silver on a white linen cloth placed on an overturned canoe in front of the memorial cairn. A brief religious service is then held."
 
Collection of Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson
 
 
Blake B. Debassige
Ojibwe, b. 1956
"Offering," 1984
Acrylic on canvas
 
The figure is holding an offering of shell wampum. According to art historians Janet Berlo and Ruth Phillips, the association of peace, enlightenment and healing with white shell meant that wampum in belts and strands were considered an appropriate exchange item to seal a legal transaction. The white and purple patterns could be a mnemonic device helping wampum keepers to recall agreements.
 
Collection of Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson
 
 
Guatemala
 
Nicolás Reanda Quieju
Tzutujil Maya, b. 1957
"Baile de la Conquista," 2000
Acrylic on canvas
 
The Baile de la Conquista, or Dance of the Conquest, is a traditional dance of Guatemala. It re-enacts the Spanish invasion led by Don Pedro de Alvarado y Contreras against Tecún Umán, the Quiché King.
 
Collection of Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson
 
 
Guatemala
Mask of Quiché Mayan Chief Tecún Umán, 1973
Wood, paint, glass
 
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Earl W. Bender, NA-CA-Gu-I-5
 
 
Guatemala
Mask of Pedro de Alvarado, 1973
Wood, paint, glass
 
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Earl W. Bender, NA-CA-Gu-I-6
 
 
Nicolás Reanda Quieju
Tzutujil Maya, b. 1957
"Folklorico de Guatemala," c. 2000
Acrylic on canvas
 
In this painting, Reanda Quieju depicts numerous ceremonies of Guatemala through time, beginning with indigenous Mayan ceremonies. He places a Mayan temple next to a Catholic church. In the upper right is the "Ceremony of the Woman at the Rock," shown in a full painting in this exhibit.
 
Collection of Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson
 
 
Nicolás Reanda Quieju
Tzutujil Maya, b. 1957
"Ceremony of the Woman at the Rock," 1975
Oil and latex paint on flour-sack canvas
 
According to the artist, this painting represents a tradition in the town of Nahualá. Different towns have different customs, and in Nahualá the residents perform a ceremony relating to their work. In Nahualá, they make grinding stones, but before they can take the stone, the women must light candles and offer copal incense to the stone and take a special cross that has been hewn by their husbands. The yellow candle represents the day, and the white candle represents peace. Their husbands tell them where the rock is so that the women know where to perform the ceremony. They go before the rock and ask if it's okay if they work it and pull out the stone. The volcano is Zunil. Her huipil (blouse) is specific to Nahualá and is decorated with embroidery.
 
Gift of Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson, 3504-7
 
 
The Fenderson Collection
 
"Museums should nurture, not embalm culture." - Albion Fenderson
 
In 2010, the Heard Museum lost a good friend in Albion Fenderson. Albion joined the board of trustees of the Heard Museum in 1979 and for many years chaired the board's Collections Committee, despite the fact that he lived in Modesto, California, where he had been the marketing genius at Gallo Winery since 1952.
 
Albion's wife Lynne shared his enthusiasm for collecting, and together they made gifts to the Heard's collection that include major works by Fritz Scholder (Luiseño), Kay WalkingStick (Cherokee) and Harry Fonseca (Nisenan Maidu/Hawaiian/Portuguese). Most recently, Lynne donated three important pieces by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (enrolled Flathead Salish). In a 1993 Heard exhibit of 50 selected works from the Fenderson Collection, Albion stated, "Today's Native artists are creating some of the most exciting, most creative, most gifted, and least appreciated art in America." He wanted to see "America's only truly indigenous art" shown and collected by all of the major art museums. The Collection of Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson is a promised gift to the Heard Museum. We are celebrating that promised gift in this exhibit.
 
 
Art of Ceremony Bibliography
 
Archuleta, Margaret and Rennard Strickland. Shared Visions: Native American Painters and Sculptors in the Twentieth Century. Phoenix, Arizona: The Heard Museum, 1991
 
Archuleta, Margaret. For the Love of It: The Albion and Lynne Fenderson Collection. Phoenix, Arizona: The Heard Museum, 1993.
 
Berlo, Janet C. and Ruth B. Phillips. Native North American Art. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1998.
 
Bernstein, Bruce and W. Jackson Rushing. Modern by Tradition: American Indian Painting in the Studio Style. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Museum of New Mexico Press, 1995.
 
Blomberg, Nancy J., ed. [Re]inventing the Wheel: Advancing the Dialogue on Contemporary American Indian Art. Denver, Colorado: Denver Art Museum, 2008
 
Brody, J.J. Indian Painters and White Patrons. Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press, 1971
 
Callander, Lee and Ruth Slivka. Shawnee Home Life: The Paintings of Earnest Spybuck. New York, New York: Museum of the American Indian, 1984
 
Dieterich, Mary G. Mayan Life: Source and Symbol. Phoenix, Arizona: The Heard Museum, 1996.
 
Grantham, William. Creation Myths and Legends of the Creek Indians. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida, 2002.
 
Hill, Greg A. Norval Morrisseau: Shaman Artist. Ottawa, Canada: National Gallery of Canada, 2006
 
Hoving, Thomas. The Art of Dan Namingha. New York, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2000.
 
Kurath, Gerturde and Antonio Garcia. Music and Dance of the Tewa Pueblos. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Museum of New Mexico Research Records #8, 1970.
 
Morrisseau, Norval. Norval Morrisseau: Return to the House of Invention. Toronto, Ontario: Kinsman Robinson Galleries, Key Porter Books Limited, 2005.
 
Seymour, Tryntje Van Ness. When the Rainbow Touches Down. Phoenix, Arizona: Heard Museum, 1988.
 
Smith, Chadwick Corntassel and Rennard Strickland. Building One Fire: Art + World View in Cherokee Life. Tahlequah, Oklahoma: The Cherokee Nation, 2010.
 
Speck, Frank and Leonard Brown with Will West Long. Cherokee Dance and Drama. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1983.
 
Strickland, Rennard. Spirit Red: Visions of Native American Artists from the Rennard Strickland Collection. Norman Oklahoma: Fred Jones Museum of Art the University of Oklahoma, 2009.
 
Swan, Daniel C. Peyote Religious Art: Symbols of Faith and Belief. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 1999.
 
Tanner, Clara Lee. Southwest Indian Painting: A Changing Art. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Press, 1973 (2nd edition).
 
WalkingStick, Kay. So Fine: Masterworks of Fine Art from the Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona: Heard Museum, 2002.

 

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