233. Trade (Gifts for Trading Land with White People)

 

Trade (Gifts for Trading Land with White People) Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. Virginia. 1992 C.E. Oil and mixed media on canvas.

Illustrates historical and contemporary inequities between Native Americans and the United States government.

Theme: 

Historical/contemporary inequities btwn Native American and the U.S. gov

Form: 

Large mixed-media canvas, Trade, part of the series "The Quincentenary Non-Celebration

Function: 

Express the degradation of Native American culture caused by the U.S gov - mainly through trade

Content: 

Layers of images, paint, and objects to suggest layers of history/complexity (trade); triptych arrangement reminiscent of a medieval altarpiece; collage w/ pieces that featured stereotypical images of Native Americans; blocks of white, yellow, green, and red (Native heritage, blood, warfare, anger, sacrifice); raw brushstrokes (emotional/social chaos); outline of canoe (trade/cultural connections) - empty and stuck; clothesline w/ Native-themed souvenirs (cheap goods in exchange for lands lost) - how Native life has been commodified

Context: 

Artist born of Native American Reservation; Trade, expecially the notion of private ownership of land, was misunderstood by the Native and non-Native worlds; cited Abstract Expressionist movement (1940s-50s)

JAUNE QUICK-TO-SEE SMITH:

• from the Confederated Salish & Kootenai American Indian Tribes of the Flathead Indian Nation
• created this piece to "commemorate" the "Quincentenary Non-Celebration" of the European occupation of North America -- focuses specifically on the American Indian social issues of poverty, unemployment, disease, & alcoholism (all of which in some way can be traced back to the European occupation)
• made to emphasize the lack of equality between Europeans and Indian Americans -- in history and in today's world
• Smith stated that if Trade could speak, it might say: "Why won't you consider trading the land we handed over to you for these silly trinkets that so honor us? Sound like a bad deal? Well, that's the deal you gave us."

TRADE (GIFTS FOR TRADING LAND WITH WHITE PEOPLE):

• divided into three pieces = a triptych = reminiscent of medieval devotional triptychs 
• "a large mixed-media canvas"
• collage elements (newspaper clippings, images of conquest) + abstract expressionist painting (geometric shapes + "prominent brush-strokes + dripping)
• multi-layered to emphasize the history of the occupation & the complexity of the situation
• includes many items that represent how the American Indians have been represented by the Europeans (emblems of sports teams, toy arrowheads & tomahawks, pages from comics, gum and tobacco wrappers, etc)
• makes use of images of Indian American men in historical dress smoking and photos of deer and buffalo as well
• canoe = representative of the possibility of trade and cultural connections-- but in this piece, it's stuck and motionless
• red paint = representative of American Indian blood (& the violent actions the Europeans took to acquire the New World) & warfare & Smith's heritage & anger (she also makes use of white, yellow, & green)

Cross-Cultural Comparisons: Multi-Media Works and Installations

1. Paik, Electronic Superhighway
2. Osario, No Crying Allowed in the Barbershop
3. Shonibare, The Swing (after Fragonard)