Myth and Reality: The Art of the Great Plains

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Myth and Reality: The Art of the Great Plains

on view through December 30, 2007

Fenimore Art Museum presents Myth and Reality: The Art of the Great Plains, an exhibition of more than 25 narrative artworks by Plains Indian artists chronicling 19th-century life and culture on the Great Plains. Drawn from Fenimore's Thaw Collection and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, these artworks tell the stories of the Plains Indians and unravel some of the myths surrounding the Great Plains. This exhibition will be on view through December 30, 2007.

For America and most of the world, the Great Plains evokes images of painted tipis, savage buffalo hunts, and warriors on horseback wearing elaborate feather headdresses. Frederic Remington, as well as other artists, anthropologists, explorers, businessmen, and Hollywood moviemakers have all had a hand in shaping a mythic vision of the American West. These stereotypes promoted in popular culture were so pervasive that many people came to accept them as fact.

Native American artists, however, created complex and individualized renditions of the reality of their own life and times. This exhibition features Plains artists' representations from their own culture through four distinct subject areas: Horses, Women, The "Other" and the Battle of Little Bighorn. Each subject explores a richer, more nuanced, and personalized account of life on the Great Plains as experienced by the people that lived there.

Life histories and important events, such as battles, were recorded in narrative drawings and paintings on buffalo hides, muslin and paper. This exhibition includes several pictorial representations of the well-known confrontation between the United States Cavalry and the Plains Indians, The Battle of Little Bighorn, which took place in June of 1876 in today's south-central Montana.

Myth and Reality: The Art of the Great Plains was guest curated by Joe D. Horse Capture, A'aninin (Gros Ventre), Associate Curator, Africa, Oceania and the Americas, Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The exhibition is funded in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Wall texts from the exhibition

The complex relationship between distinct cultures creates a remarkable dynamic, especially when one culture attempts to make a pictorial record of the other. The exaggerations and inaccuracies of the resultant imagery can have an intense impact on both cultures.

Native American artists, however, created complex and individualized renditions of the reality of their own life and times. This exhibition features Plains artists' representations from their own culture through the lens of four distinct subjects: Horses, Women, The "Other" and the Battle of Little Bighorn. Each subject explores a richer, more nuanced, and personalized account of life on the Great Plains as experienced by the people that lived there.

Women

Although they were usually overlooked in historic accounts, Plains women played, and continue to play, an important role in traditional culture. They were the life-blood of the family. Women were responsible for the maintenance of the home and the activities that took place inside: raising children, feeding their families and providing comfortable shelter. They also devoted much of their time to making fine clothing and storage containers, and decorating objects using techniques that had been passed down to them. In traditional ceremonies on the Plains, women always initiate the ceremony because they have the sacred gift of creating life.

When explorers and anthropologists visited Native American people, they focused on interviewing men, and imposed their values onto Native American people, even though Native American men viewed Native American women as equals. Hence, very few narratives of historic Native American women exist today; but their stories live on in the oral tradition of their people and in the objects the women created.

Many images of Native American women are romanticized. Either portrayed as stoic or downtrodden, these portrayals do not accurately reflect women's importance in traditional culture. Their story is complex and reflects the nature of their multiple roles.

The "Other"

Many non-Native American artists have portrayed Native American people. These images rarely represent Native Americans as individuals. Instead, the artists were fascinated with the notion of an exotic yet generic "other" that the Native American subject provided. Frederic Remington (1861-1909), an American artist who greatly shaped how Americans perceived the West, provided a romanticized view of Native American life, often depicting Native Americans as noble savages or ruthless warriors. Even today's "Western" artists portray Native American people as if they were living in the past-frozen in an idealized timeless era. These images still account for much of the romanticism that is associated with historic Native American culture. But it was not just non-Native American artists that created images of the West.

Native American artists also created powerful renditions of their own life and times. Life histories and important events, such as battles, were recorded in narrative imagery painted on hides and muslin as well as on paper. The artists established individual identity with depictions of clothing, regalia, and ornamentation. These artworks leave us with first-hand accounts of many important historical events. When Native American artists portrayed non-Native Americans, usually soldiers, they were typically drawn as targets and all were depicted as if they were one person repeated many times.

Little Bighorn

One of the most well-known confrontations between the United States Cavalry and Native Americans was the Battle of Little Bighorn which took place in June 1876 at the Bighorn River in today's south-central Montana. Over the years this battle has been referenced by many names: Battle of Greasy Grass, Custer's Battle, Custer's Last Stand, and Massacre at Bighorn. Each of these terms is imbued with a certain prejudice, yet each provides insight into the cultures that created them. The term "Greasy Grass River" is the Native American reference for today's Bighorn River.

Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Cavalry were part of a larger American force that was defeated by the Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes at Little Bighorn. The defeat of the flamboyant Custer and the loss of his entire cavalry unit was called a massacre by the popular press. The fallen soldiers were considered heroes and immortalized in story, artwork and song.

Because the infamous Custer lost his life at the hands of Native American people, skewed narratives and descriptions have been assigned to this event. Despite these biased accounts, important recollections by the Native American people who participated in this event exist in the form of narrative artwork. Often overlooked, these depictions were created well after the battle took place. Native American artists drew from their memory a battle whose victory, featuring prominent leaders such as Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, played a critical role in Native American history. The art in this section was made to tell their side of the story.

Horses

The stereotypical image of a Plains man mounted on his trusty steed, dressed in full battle regalia, and riding with the wind has been present in the minds of both Native American and non-Native American people for decades.

Popular images of Native Americans on horseback, however, barely hint at the pervasive cultural importance of the horse. The introduction of the horse to the Plains people in the early 1700s radically altered the way they lived and hunted, waged war, defined social relations, participated in sports, and practiced religion. A gift from the Spanish to the south, the horse brought much needed relief to the tribes of the Plains. They could travel farther, own more material, and hunt easier with the horse. With the encroachment of settlers into traditional Native American territory and the displacement of many tribes, the horse became the vehicle for the emergence of the warrior culture.

Images of horses are ubiquitous in Plains art, particularly in works documenting war, social status, and the spiritual power associated with this powerful animal. Native American artists gave form and meaning to the creature upon whom their lives and cultures depended. This sacred animal was imbued with powers that would protect its rider during battle.

Today, the majority of Plains people do not own or ride horses on a daily basis. Instead, the horse is revered for its historic importance.

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