Collecting Haudenosaunee Art from the Modern Era

arts

Article Collecting Haudenosaunee Art from the Modern Era

Scott Manning Stevens

Native American and Indigenous Studies Program, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA; [email protected]

Received: 18 October 2019; Accepted: 15 March 2020; Published: 29 April 2020

Abstract: My essay considers the history of collecting the art of Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) artists in the twentieth century. For decades Native visual and material culture was viewed under the guise of ‘crafts.’ I look back to the work of Lewis Henry Morgan on Haudenosaunee material culture. His writings helped establish a speciﬁc notion of Haudenosaunee material culture within the scholarly ﬁeld of anthropology in the nineteenth century. At that point two-dimensional arts did not play a substantial role in Haudenosaunee visual culture, even though both Tuscarora and Seneca artists had produced drawings and paintings then. I investigate the turn toward collecting two-dimensional Haudenosaunee representational art, where before there was only craft. I locate this turn at the beginning of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s administration in the 1930s. It was at this point that Seneca anthropologist Arthur C. Parker recruited Native crafts people and painters working in two-dimensional art forms to participate in a Works Progress Administration-sponsored project known as the Seneca Arts Program. Thereafter, museum collectors began purchasing and displaying paintings by the artists: Jesse Cornplanter, Sanford Plummer, and Ernest Smith. I argue that their representation in museum collections opened the door for the contemporary Haudenosaunee to follow.

Keywords: Haudenosaunee; Seneca arts program; crafts; authenticity; cultural speciﬁcity

What are the parameters of Native American art in relationship to modern or contemporary art? Do tribal and regional idioms fall away? Do formalist concerns prevail? Can art be individualistic rather than communitarian in its subjects? All these are questions are asked by scholars and viewers alike. A variety of studies have addressed these questions over the last two decades and produced such works as Bill Anthes’ 2006, Native Moderns: American Indian Painting, 1940–1960, or Jennifer McLerran’s 2012, A New Deal for Native Art: Indian Arts and Federal Policy, 1933–1943 alongside important surveys such as Native North American Art by Janet Catherine Berlo and Ruth Phillips or David Penney’s North American Indian Art, both of which have sections dedicated to modern and contemporary Indigenous arts.1 Even before the above-mentioned scholars turned to the works of Native American artists in the modern era, there were already debates about the about the so-called ‘primitive arts’ in relation to the objet d’art. Anthropologist Sally Price, wrote provocatively about the tension within Western museums concerning the ethnographic artifact and the same object when considered under the rubric of art. More recently, Sylvia Kasprycki has examined the politics if identity and representation in contemporary Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) art.2 In this essay I am not concerned with traditional Haudenosaunee handicraft—no matter how beautiful—but rather those Haudenosaunee artists in the modern era who

1 See (Anthes 2006; McLerran 2009; Berlo and Phillips 2014; Penney 2004). 2 See (Kasprycki 2015).

Arts 2020, 9, 55; doi:10.3390/arts9020055 www.mdpi.com/journal/arts Arts 2020, 9, 55 2 of 16 self-consciously adopted Western notions of fine art in the forms of two-dimensional representational art, non-traditional sculpture, and later new media, such as photography and film.3 In that same vein, as a Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) scholar interested in both our historic material culture and contemporary artistic expression, I could not help but wonder where twentieth century Haudenosaunee art fits into the larger world of Indigenous modernisms, which occupy and define a different tradition than the Euro-American notion of “Modern art”.4 On the Trails of the Iroquois was an exhibit mounted in Bonn, Germany, curated by Sylvia Kasprycki(2013). 5 It was an extremely ambitious retrospective survey covering some 400 years of Haudenosaunee visual and material culture—spanning from the seventeenth century up to the present. I was one of the contributors to the catalog of the same title and was present at the opening. I recall commenting that if the Six Nations had an official National Museum of Haudenosaunee Art and Material Culture that I imagined it would look something like the exhibit in Bonn. Materials had been brought together from major North American and European collections and a number of more obscure private collections as well. Aside from the inspiring pieces that survived from the early colonial period and the beautiful beadwork and handicrafts of the nineteenth century, I was most impressed by the inclusion of more contemporary pieces of art from Haudenosaunee artists of the twentieth century. Some of these works were familiar, like those of Ernie Smith, which I recognized from the Rochester Museum and Science Center where they had been since the 1930s, but others were wholly new to me and came as a revelation. It led me to wonder, what was the history of collecting Haudenosaunee art created during the modern era? With all the prescriptive notions of authentic (aka traditional) Indian handicrafts, who were those collectors that first saw the value of non-traditional media and forms? Of course, those who know Native cultures beyond the stereotypes know that we have always been innovators—that is certainly part of Haudenosaunee tradition. We were among the earliest North American Indigenous peoples to encounter European explorers and colonial settlers. Like other Native nations of the Northeast, the real onslaught began in the seventeenth century. There had been fleeting contacts with explorers and traders in the sixteenth century, but the full-scale colonial invasions began in the early seventeenth century. In addition to encountering new diseases and new religions, we also encountered new technologies and the products they produced. We know that all of these elements had a dramatic effect on the way of life and arts and crafts of Native peoples. Scholars of the history of material culture have long noted Indigenous habits of adaptation and innovation when it came to using and repurposing newly available manufactured goods, such as copper kettles, glass beads, woven cloth, and steel tomahawks.6 The particulars of Haudenosaunee arts and material technologies have been studied systematically by settler scholars since the work of Lewis Henry Morgan (at the least) and of course these same handicrafts were bought and used by settler consumers long before that. Iroquois basket sellers were so common a sight in parts of Ontario, Quebec, and New York that they were the frequent subject of the mid-nineteenth century genre painter Cornelius Krieghoff (Figure1). Yet almost all these traditional arts might be designated as ‘applied arts,’ since all had a level of utility or sacred function, and most were vulnerable to replacement by industrially manufactured goods as the nineteenth century progressed.

3 Important exhibitions and retrospectives have similarly focused on themes regarding modern or contemporary aesthetics and Indigenous cultures, such as Fritz Scholder: Indian, Not Indian, curated by Truman Lowe and Paul Chaat Smith in 2008 at the National Museum of the American Indian or Shapeshifting: Transformations in Native American Art, curated by Karen Russell et al. in 2012 at the Peabody Essex Museum. Both of these exhibits raised important issues about our expectations of Indigenous art in contemporary North America. 4 In keeping with ongoing eﬀorts to reclaim our rightful national names rather than those assigned to us by settlers I will use Haudenosaunee instead of the French term Iroquois, and likewise, Kanien’kehá:ka for Mohawk and Onondowagah for Seneca. 5 See also, (Keating 2012). Like the exhibition catalog, Keating’s study surveys over four hundred years of Haudenosaunee material and visual culture. 6 See (Turgeon 1997; Elliott 2003; Shannon 1996; Stevens 2018). Arts 2020, 9, 55 3 of 16

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Figure 1. Cornelius Krieghoff, Krieghoﬀ, Basket Seller from Kahnawake, 1847–1852.1847–1852. Oil Oil on on canvas, the McCord Museum, Montreal, QC. https://www.musee-mccord.qhttps://www.musee-mccord.qc.cac.ca/en/photographic-services-and-copyright//en/photographic-services-and-copyright/ rates-for-photographic-reproductions/.rates-for-photographic-reproductions/.

In part, part, my my personal personal interest interest lies lies in inthe the expa expansionnsion of Haudenosaunee of Haudenosaunee arts artsto include to include the two- the dimensionaltwo-dimensional representational representational arts artsdrawn drawn from from settler settler traditions. traditions. Just Just as as Haudenosaunee Haudenosaunee artisans adapted to working with glass beads, thus expandingexpanding their decorative skills beyond quillwork and shell wampum,wampum, so so too too were were other other Native Native artists artists drawn drawn to European to European traditions traditions of drawing of drawing and painting. and painting.Some of theSome earliest of the Haudenosauneeearliest Haudenosaunee artists toartists take to up take settler-style up settler-style representational representational art were art were the theCusick Cusick brothers, brothers, David Davi andd Dennis,and Dennis, from thefrom Tuscarora the Tuscarora nation in nation the early in the decades early of decades the nineteenth of the nineteenthcentury. Scholars century. may Scholars debate may whether debate towhether accept to William accept Sturtevant’sWilliam Sturtevant’s discussion discussion of their styleof their as styleestablishing as establishing what he what calls “Earlyhe calls Iroquois “Early Iroquois realist art” realist (Sturtevant art” (Sturtevant 2006). What 2006). is clear What is thatis clear these is that two theseself-taught two artistsself-taught were among artists the were ﬁrst withinamong our the communities first within to produce our communities representational to drawingsproduce representationaland paintings of drawings Haudenosaunee and paintings culture. of While Haudenosaunee David Cusick culture. provided While drawings David thatCusick would provided serve drawingsas the originals that would for engraved serve as illustrations the originals to for ancient engraved Haudenosaunee illustrations legends to ancient and Haudenosaunee history, Dennis legendsCusick illustratedand history, contemporary Dennis Cusick Tuscarora illustrated and contemporary Onondowagah Tuscarora (Seneca) and life Onondowagah in the 1820s (Figure (Seneca)2). lifeJanet in Berlo the 1820s(2013 ,(Figure pp. 178–81) 2). Janet notes Berlo that (2013, stylistically pp. 178–81) the works notes of that both stylistically of these brothers the works had of much both inof thesecommon brothers with regionalhad much and in self-taughtcommon with settler regional artists and of the self-taught Federalist settler period. artists They of have the aFederalist naïve or period.folk-art They quality have to them,a naïve but or they folk-art focus quality exclusively to them, on Haudenosauneebut they focus excl culture.usively They on Haudenosaunee are not the only culture.Haudenosaunee They are paintersnot the only in this Haudenosaunee period using thispainters style in that this Berlo period labels using ‘intercultural’. this style that Other Berlo artistslabels ‘intercultural’.like Thomas Jacobs Other and artists George like Wilson, Thomas either Jacobs Onondowagah and George or TuscaroraWilson, either (we cannotOnondowagah be certain or as Tuscaroratheir surnames (we existcannot on be both certain reservations), as their paintedsurnames works exist collected on both on reservations), the Cattaraugus painted Reservation works collectedreminiscent on inthe style Cattaraugus to Dennis Reservation Cusick. They reminiscen feature Nativet in style ﬁgures to Dennis dressed Cusick. in the They hybrid feature styles Native that figuresprevailed dressed among in Haudenosaunee the hybrid styles people that in prevailed the early nineteenthamong Haudenosaunee century (Figure people3). in the early nineteenth century (Figure 3). This turn toward two-dimensional artistic representation marks a shift in Haudenosaunee visual culture, though there remains little evidence of its true impact until the early twentieth century. The turn of the century also marked the nadir of Native American history: the Indian Wars had gone on intermittently from the end of the Civil War until 1890, when they concluded with the Massacre at

ArtsArts 20202020,, 99,, xx FORFOR PEERPEER REVIEWREVIEW 44 ofof 1616

WoundedWounded Knee;Knee; IndianIndian boardingboarding schoolsschools hadhad beenbeen tatakingking upup thethe tasktask ofof forcedforced assimilationassimilation andand inflictinginflicting traumatrauma onon generationsgenerations ofof NativeNative childrenchildren sincesince thethe 1870s,1870s, eveneven asas ththeireir familiesfamilies leftleft behindbehind werewere confinedconfined toto desperatelydesperately poorpoor andand under-resounder-resourcedurced reservations,reservations, withwith populationspopulations atat historichistoric lows.lows. WhileWhile NativeNative culturescultures ofof thethe farfar WestWest hadhad exexperiencedperienced thethe fullfull onslaughtonslaught ofof AmericanAmerican settlersettler cultureculture forfor lessless thanthan oneone hundredhundred yearsyears atat thatthat titime,me, culturescultures ofof thethe EasternEastern WoodlandsWoodlands hadhad enduredendured ongoingongoing colonialcolonial dispossessiondispossession andand forcedforced assimilationassimilation forfor somesome threethree centuriescenturies byby 1900.1900. YetYet thethe HaudenosauneeArtsHaudenosaunee2020, 9, 55 areare amongamong thethe mostmost culturallyculturally intactintact IndigenousIndigenous nationsnations inin thethe region,region, thoughthough4 of 16 understandablyunderstandably heavheavilyily acculturated.acculturated.

FigureFigure 2.2. DennisDennis Cusick, Cusick, SenecaSeneca School School House House,,, c.1820. c.1820. WatercolorWatercolor Watercolor and andand ink inkink on onon paper, paper,paper, with withwith permission permissionpermission of of thethe Rock Rock Foundation. Foundation.

FigureFigure 3.3. ThomasThomas Jacobs, Jacobs, FourFour Iroquois Iroquois Women Women,,, c. c.c. 1850. 1850. WatercolorWatercolor Watercolor and and ink ink on on paper, paper, with withwith permission permissionpermission ofof thethe RockRock Foundation.Foundation.

EvenThisEven turn so,so, towardhistorianshistorians two-dimensional ofof materialmaterial cultureculture artistic havehave representation longlong notednoted marks thatthat aseveralseveral shift in handicraftshandicrafts Haudenosaunee amongamong visual thethe Haudenosauneeculture,Haudenosaunee though therehadhad allall remains butbut dieddied little ouout evidencet asas soonsoon ofasas itsEuropeanEuropean true impact manufamanufa untilcturedctured the goods earlygoods twentieth becamebecame availableavailable century. throughThethrough turn trade.trade. of the ThisThis century waswas alsomostmost marked apparentapparent the withwith nadir traditionaltraditional of Native pottery,pottery, American whichwhich history: hadhad largelylargely the Indian beenbeen Wars usedused had forfor cookinggonecooking on purposespurposes intermittently inin thethe fromNortheastNortheast the end andand of waswas the quicklyquickly Civil Warreplacedreplaced until withwith 1890, coppercopper when kettlkettl theyeses concludedandand otherother EuropeanEuropean with the cookingMassacrecooking vesselsvessels at Wounded (Bradley(Bradley Knee; 2005,2005, Indian p.p. boarding174).174). OtherOther schools artsarts hadevolvedevolved been andand taking changedchanged up the taskwithwith of thethe forced introductionintroduction assimilation ofof EuropeanandEuropean inflicting materialsmaterials trauma suchsuch on asas generations wovenwoven cloth,cloth, of Nativeglassglass beads,beads, children andand since tradetrade the silversilver 1870s, (Gibb(Gibb even andand as FredericksonFrederickson their families 1980).1980). left ThebehindThe long-termlong-term were confined fatefate ofof anyany to desperatelyofof thesethese traditionaltraditional poor and artsarts under-resourced andand craftscrafts waswas uncertainuncertain reservations, byby thethe with twentiethtwentieth populations centurycentury at historic lows. While Native cultures of the far West had experienced the full onslaught of American settler culture for less than one hundred years at that time, cultures of the Eastern Woodlands had endured ongoing colonial dispossession and forced assimilation for some three centuries by 1900. Yet the Haudenosaunee are among the most culturally intact Indigenous nations in the region, though understandably heavily acculturated. Even so, historians of material culture have long noted that several handicrafts among the Haudenosaunee had all but died out as soon as European manufactured goods became available Arts 2020, 9, 55 5 of 16 through trade. This was most apparent with traditional pottery, which had largely been used for cooking purposes in the Northeast and was quickly replaced with copper kettles and other European cooking vessels (Bradley 2005, p. 174). Other arts evolved and changed with the introduction of Arts 2020, 9, x FOR PEER REVIEW 5 of 16 European materials such as woven cloth, glass beads, and trade silver (Gibb and Frederickson 1980). The long-term fate of any of these traditional arts and crafts was uncertain by the twentieth century as the age of mechanical reproduction was moving into high gear and handicrafts were identified as the age of mechanical reproduction was moving into high gear and handicrafts were identified with the past in a majority culture enamored with progress. Only nostalgic notions concerning withcollecting the past Indian in a majoritycrafts of culturea bygone enamored era or the with desi progress.res of salvageOnly nostalgic ethnographers notions concerningfor traditional collecting (i.e., authentic)Indian crafts Indian of a bygone goods eracreated or the any desires demand of salvage for such ethnographers objects, but forlike traditional most fads, (i.e., this authentic) demand would Indian wanegoods created(Hutchinson any demand 2009). for After such objects,the 1920s but likesalvage most ethnography fads, this demand was would replaced wane by (Hutchinson ever growing 2009). Afternumbers the 1920sof tourists salvage now ethnography seeking exotic was souvenirs replaced from by ever the growingremote American numbers ofWest. tourists now seeking exoticAs souvenirs Jennifer McLerran from the remote notes in American her study West. of the New Deal policies’ impact on Native arts, both John AsCollier, Jennifer head McLerran of Roosevelt’s notes in Bureau her study of Indian of the NewAffairs, Deal and policies’ Rene d’Harnoncourt, impact on Native head arts, of both the JohnIndian Collier, Arts and head Crafts of Roosevelt’s Board, considered Bureau of Indiantourism A andffairs, the and souvenir Rene d’Harnoncourt, trade an imminent head ofthreat the Indianto the Artsquality and and Crafts authenticity Board, considered of Native tourism American and arts the souvenir(McLerran trade 2009, an chp. imminent 1). Yet threat these to men’s the quality attention and wasauthenticity focused of on Native the American American Sout arts (hwestMcLerran and 2009 not, the chp. Northeast. 1). Yet these They men’s likely attention thought was the focused Native on communitiesthe American Southwestin the East andfar too not thedistant Northeast. from our They an likelycient traditions thought the and Native arts communitiesto be much effected in the East by tourism—iffar too distant indeed, from our there ancient was traditionsany tourism and amongst arts to be the much surviving effected reservations by tourism—if of indeed,New York there State was andany tourismNew England. amongst By thethis surviving period many reservations eastern Nati of Newves had York adopted State and either New Pan-Indian England. motifs By this in period their artsmany or easternPlains Indian Natives regalia had adopted and crafts either as a Pan-Indian means of being motifs read in theiras Indian arts or by Plains the majority Indian regaliapopulation and aroundcrafts as them a means (ibid., of beingp. 87). read I still as remember Indian by childh the majorityood trips population to the annual around Border them Crossing (ibid., p. Parade 87). I still at Niagararemember Falls, childhood a Native-organized trips to the annual event Border meant Crossing to commemorate Parade at Niagara the Jay Falls, Treaty a Native-organized of 1794, which guaranteesevent meant our to commemorateunimpeded crossing the Jay Treatyof the ofU.S. 1794, and which Canadian guarantees border. our For unimpeded years there, crossing during of my the childhood,U.S. and Canadian Harold border.Johnson For (Tuscarora) years there, led during the parade my childhood, wearing Harolda full Plains Johnson headdress (Kanien’kehá:ka) and riding led a horse.the parade Even wearing as a boy a I full knew Plains it was headdress inaccurate, and bu ridingt for athe horse. non-Native Even as onlookers a boy I knew this it made was inaccurate, the event ‘Indian’.but for the Still, non-Native it must be onlookers noted that this while made White the event expectations ‘Indian’. about Still, itIndian-ness must be noted may thathave while influenced White ourexpectations craftspeople about to Indian-nessalter their art may to accommodate have influenced that our market, craftspeople it was toalso alter the their tourist art tomarket accommodate that had longthat market,helped perpetuate it was also the the producti touriston market of our that traditional had long arts helped such as perpetuate beadwork theand production basketry (Phillips of our 1999)traditional (Figure arts 4). such as beadwork and basketry (Phillips 1999) (Figure4).

Figure 4. GeorgeGeorge Barker, Tuscarora womenwomen sellingselling beadworkbeadwork atat NiagaraNiagara FallsFalls,, c.c. 1870.1870. Detail Detail from from a Stereoview photograph, public domain.

Much ofof what what we we know know about about those those traditional traditiona arts wel arts know we from know earlier from collections. earlier collections. Speciﬁcally, Specifically,there existed there a great existed collection a great of collection Haudenosaunee of Haudenosaunee material culture material assembled culture byassembled the nineteenth by the nineteenthcentury anthropologist century anthropologist Lewis Henry Lewis Morgan. Henry Morgan Morgan. made Morg his careeran made as a his self-taught career as anthropologist a self-taught anthropologist by working primarily with the Onondowagah (Seneca) in Western New York State in the 1840s. He published his landmark study The League of the Ho-dé-no-sau-nee, or Iroquois in 1851 and would go on to be considered one of the founders of the field of anthropology in the United States. A large part of his success lay in his close work with Onondowagah cultural informants Ely and Caroline Parker of the Tonawanda Seneca. Perhaps now more important to students of material culture than his deeply problematic racialized notions of cultural evolution, are Morgan’s writings

Arts 2020, 9, 55 6 of 16 by working primarily with the Onondowagah (Seneca) in Western New York State in the 1840s. He published his landmark study The League of the Ho-dé-no-sau-nee, or Iroquois in 1851 and would go on to be considered one of the founders of the ﬁeld of anthropology in the United States. A large part of his success lay in his close work with Onondowagah cultural informants Ely and Caroline Parker of

Artsthe 2020 Tonawanda, 9, x FOR PEER Seneca. REVIEW Perhaps now more important to students of material culture than his deeply6 of 16 problematic racialized notions of cultural evolution, are Morgan’s writings on Haudenosaunee arts, ontools, Haudenosaunee and clothing, arts, along tools, with and the clothing, collection along of the with same the which collection he amassed of the same for thewhich State he Museumamassed forin Albany. the State Morgan Museum published in Albany. his Morgan description published of that his collection description which of hethat had collection prepared which in the heThird had Annualprepared Report in the of Third the Regents Annual of theReport University of the Regents on the Condition of the Un ofiversity the State on Cabinetthe Condition of Natural of the History State Cabinet and the Historicalof Natural andHistory Antiquarian and the CollectionHistorical Annexedand Antiquarian Thereto. Collection This prosaically Annexed titled Thereto 183-paged. This prosaically work, with titled over 183-pagedtwo dozen work, colored with lithographic over two plates,dozen ascolored well as lithographic etchings of plates, material as objectswell as embedded etchings of in material the text, objectsrepresents embedded a landmark in the in text, the preservation represents a oflandmark Haudenosaunee in the preservation material culture of Haudenosaunee (Figure5). Without material this culturetext and (Figure the surviving 5). Without objects this from text Morgan’s and the collectionsurviving certainobjects individual from Morgan’s crafts mightcollection likely certain have individualbeen lost. crafts might likely have been lost.

Figure 5. Haudenosaunee needle b bookook from H.L. Morgan Report on the State Cabinet and Antiquarian Collection, 1850. Color Color lithograph, lithograph, public domain.

The statestate ofof New New York York saw saw these these objects objects as representing as representing the antiquarian the antiquarian legacy oflegacy its past, of its whereas past, whereasfor Haudenosaunee for Haudenosaunee people these people objects these represented objects represented our living our cultural living inheritance. cultural inheritance. Over the threeOver thegenerations three generations that followed that Morgan’s followed mid-nineteenthMorgan’s mid-ni centuryneteenth collecting century activities, collecting much activities, of the technicalmuch of theknowledge technical that knowledge went into that the went production into the ofproduction these culturally of these distinct culturally objects distinct would objects be lostwould to thebe losteﬀects to the of forced effects assimilation, of forced assimi displacementlation, displacement from sites offrom production, sites of production, and shifts inand markets shifts in and markets tastes. andBy the tastes. early By twentieth the early century, twentieth for example, century, Sarahfor example, Hill of the Sarah Cattaraugus Hill of the Seneca Cattaraugus Reservation Seneca was Reservationthe last known was weaver the last of known traditional weaver basswood of traditional burden strapsbasswood (McLerran burden 2009 straps, p. (McLerran 89). Other forms2009, p. of 89).ﬁngerweaving Other forms were of alsofingerweaving dying out withwere the also ready dying availability out with ofthe industrially-produced ready availability of knit industrially- ware and wovenproduced goods. knit Morgan’sware and collectionwoven goods. would Morgan’s serve as collection a sort ‘craft would hoard’ serve for lateras a artisanssort ‘craft interested hoard’ for in later artisans interested in preserving or reviving Haudenosaunee arts and crafts; though the collection was dealt a severe blow in 1911 with the fire in the State Capitol building in Albany. The bulk of the Morgan collection was on display in the galleries reserved for them in that building when the fire broke out. Up to a third of the collection was lost or badly damaged. Luckily a young Onondowagah anthropologist, Arthur C. Parker, a direct descendant of the same Parker family that had been central to Morgan’s research, worked for the State at the time of this catastrophe. He was

Arts 2020, 9, 55 7 of 16 preserving or reviving Haudenosaunee arts and crafts; though the collection was dealt a severe blow in 1911 with the fire in the State Capitol building in Albany. The bulk of the Morgan collection was on display in the galleries reserved for them in that building when the fire broke out. Up to a third of the collection was lost or badly damaged. Luckily a young Onondowagah anthropologist, Arthur C. Parker, a direct descendant of the same Parker family that had been central to Morgan’s research, worked for the State at the time of this catastrophe. He was determined to rebuild this collection that represented the material and artistic heritage of Haudenosaunee culture. Scholars have long noted the enduring legacy of Arthur C. Parker on contemporary Haudenosaunee arts. It was his vision in this dark period of ‘salvage ethnography’ that saw a way forward to cultural revival. In addition to material culture, Parker was aware of the profound importance of Haudenosaunee oral culture. He was not alone in these insights, but he did have access to institutional support that would prove invaluable during his Depression-era activities. The spiritual tradition of the Longhouse religion, as influenced by the prophet Handsome Lake, was maintained all along by our Faithkeepers and Clan Mothers. These beliefs did not require the support of outside funding or anthropologists to account for their survivance, to use Gerald Vizenor’s term. Although Parker’s vision of an arts and crafts revival did require much-needed capital in order to be successful. Parker joined the staff of the Rochester Municipal Museum, as it was then known, when it became clear that Albany would not provide the necessary funds to rebuild the Morgan Collection (Hauptman 1981, p. 137; McLerran 2009, p. 88). It was during his time at the Rochester Municipal Museum that the events of the Great Depression created a timely opportunity for Parker to propose an initiative to revive and support the traditional arts among artisans of the Onondowagah population. Founded in 1935, the Seneca Arts Project would, over the course of six years, support the work of over 100 Indigenous artists in New York State—almost all of them Onondowagah, with some few drawn from other Haudenosaunee communities as well. Parker and his cohort set out to build up the collections of the museum in Rochester with authentic Haudenosaunee artifacts that, even when explicitly reproductions of past works, qualified in the minds of the museum staff as authentic because they were produced by Haudenosaunee artists and made of the same materials and, whenever possible, by similar techniques employed hundreds of years ago. Parker’s own notions of art as culturally specific were deeply essentialist and grounded in early twentieth century notions of race:

Making Indians imitators of that which they did not create racially had done much to exterminate the Indian or to make him a poor spirit. Our arts project as a relief measure thus seeks to capitalize on the best in ancient art and to redevelop it as a racial contribution. We are saving the old arts and passing them on to the youth of the reservations and the very eﬀort made to achieve this is reawakening interest in the Native pattern of thought. The plan has commercial as well as idealistic features in that it will provide a better type of manufactures for trade. Instead of cheap and tawdry souvenirs that have nothing of the old art in them our workers will now make objects that have ethnological value. They will be typical of the days when Indian art was original and pristine. (Parker 1935, cited in McLerran 2009, p. 89)

I would particularly like to focus on the earliest Haudenosaunee visual artists in this group whose works departed from traditional crafts such as beadwork, carving, and basketry and began to experiment with representational painting. These three artists could be said to represent a pictorial turn in Haudenosaunee art, and all were connected to the Seneca Arts Project: they were, Jesse Cornplanter (1889–1957), Sanford Plummer (1905–1974), and Ernest Smith (1907–1975). When Parker went about assembling his team of artists and craftspeople, he quickly identified the most talented individuals living on the Onondowaga reservations at Alleghany, Cattaraugus, and Tonawanda. Prominent among them was Jesse Cornplanter, a direct descendant of the late eighteenth century Seneca leader of the same surname (Hauptman 1981, pp. 146–50). Born in 1889 he had already lived an eventful life by the 1930s. Noted as an artistic prodigy at nine years old, he was Arts 2020, 9, 55 8 of 16 encouraged to practice drawing; at 24 he starred in a silent film version of the Song of Hiawatha in 1913, he then served with distinction in the First World War earning a Purple Heart, and later learned the traditional woodcarving skills necessary to produce sacred medicine masks (a.k.a. ‘false faces’). Cornplanter was also well rehearsed in Haudenosaunee folklore and storytelling—a culture bearer of Arts 2020, 9, x FOR PEER REVIEW 8 of 16 sorts. In addition to teaching carving skills to those involved with the Seneca Arts Project, Cornplanter, whoCornplanter, had been who illustrating had been scenes illustrating of traditional scenes Senecaof traditional life since Seneca he was life a since boy, washe was asked a boy, to provide was asked the toillustrations provide the for illustrations the folklore for which the hefolklore was now which dictating he was to now an amanuensisdictating to asan partamanuensis of the Seneca as part Arts of theProject. Seneca Parker Arts hadProject. been Parker aware had of Cornplanter’s been aware of earlier Cornplanter’s drawings earlier well beforedrawings the artswell project,before the having arts project,selected having several selected of them several to serve of asthem illustrations to serve as to illustrations his 1922 Seneca to his Myths 1922 Seneca and Folk Myths Tales and. These Folk naïveTales. Theserustic drawingsnaïve rustic bear drawings some relation bear some to the relation drawings to of the the drawings Cusick brothers of the Cusick and those brothers Haudenosaunee and those Haudenosauneeartists that followed artists their th example.at followed They their are notexample. as stylized They as ar thosee not earlier as stylized examples, as butthose they earlier have examples,the immediacy but they of an have insider’s the immedi view ofacy his of culture an insider’s (Figure view6). Whatof his isculture worth (Figure noting 6). is theWhat style is worth of his notingdrawings is the does style not of seem his todrawings progress does over not the seem years to and progress his early over drawings the years are and diffi hiscult early to distinguish drawings arefrom difficult those decadesto distinguish later. Perhapsfrom those as decades important later. as hisPerhaps participation as important in the as Seneca his participation Arts Project in was the Senecathe fact Arts that Project Jesse Cornplanter’s was the fact that version Jesse of Cornplanter’s these Legends version of the Longhouse of these Legends, as they of werethe Longhouse titled, were, as publishedthey were titled, as a book, were complete published with as a Cornplanter’s book, complete illustrations, with Cornplanter’s in 1938. illustrations, in 1938.

(a) (b)

Figure 6.6. (a(a)) Jesse Jesse Cornplanter Cornplanter illustration illustration to Tales to Tales of the of Longhouse the Longhouse, 1938., ( b1938.) Jesse (b Cornplanter) Jesse Cornplanter drawing drawingfrom 1905 from used 1905 by Arthurused by Parker Arthur as Parker illustration as illustrati in 1923.on Public in 1923. domain. Public domain.

News in our small communities of one of our me membersmbers publishing a book would be noteworthy now but would would have have been been immense immense news news in in the the 1930s. 1930s. It is It hard is hard to express to express to people to people outside outside of our of communitiesour communities what what pride pride there there is in is inany any Native Native achievement, achievement, especially especially among among my my grandparents’ grandparents’ generation, who grew up recovering from the traumatrauma of boarding schools and having internalized White attitudesattitudes aboutabout Indian Indian inferiority. inferiority. My My Kanien’keh Kanien’kehá:kaá:ka grandparents grandparents were were quick quick to point to point out anyout anyand alland Native all accomplishments—beNative accomplishments—be they the skyscrapersthey the skyscrapers erected by Kanien’keh erected byá:ka Kanien’kehá:ka ironworkers or ironworkersthe fact that anor Osagethe fact Indian, that Mariaan Osage Tallchief, Indian had, Maria become Tallchief, America’s had ﬁrst becomeprima America’s ballerina sometime first prima in ballerinathe 1950s; sometime as a young in boy the I 1950s; was not as sure a young what thatboy meant I was but not I knewsure what my grandparents that meant werebut I proudknew thatmy grandparentsshe was Indian. were Today proud in the that post-Red she was Power Indian. days whenToday one in presumesthe post-Red all Native Power people days are when proud one of presumestheir heritage, all Native we forget people those are long proud periods of their in American heritage, history we forget when those it was long considered periods somethingin American to historyovercome. when I mention it was all considered this because something in a recent to conversation overcome. withI mention the Onondowagah all this because artist in Peter a recent Jones, conversationhe told me it occurredwith the to Onondowagah him in the early artist 1960s Peter to go Jones, to art schoolhe told because me it occurred he had seen to him books in illustrated the early 1960s to go to art school because he had seen books illustrated by Seneca artists, specifically Jesse Cornplanter and Ernest Smith. 7 This recognition of possibilities is crucial in marginalized communities. Jones probably had not seen the works of Sanford Plummer, the artist most influenced by European and American training of the three mentioned above. Plummer studied at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design and the National Academy School of Fine Art, both in New York City, as a young man and produced refined paintings in what is sometimes referred to as the illustrator style for the

7 In conversation 5 August 2019.

Arts 2020, 9, 55 9 of 16 by Seneca artists, specifically Jesse Cornplanter and Ernest Smith.7 This recognition of possibilities is crucial in marginalized communities. Jones probably had not seen the works of Sanford Plummer, the artist most influenced by European and American training of the three mentioned above. Plummer studied at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Arts 2020, 9, x FOR PEER REVIEW 9 of 16 Design and the National Academy School of Fine Art, both in New York City, as a young man and produced refined paintings in what is sometimes referred to as the illustrator style for the Seneca Seneca Arts Project (Hauptman 1981, p. 221) (Figure 7). He was proposed as a potential muralist for Arts Project (Hauptman 1981, p. 221) (Figure7). He was proposed as a potential muralist for some some WPA period projects and his individual paintings are in collections in museums in Buffalo, WPA period projects and his individual paintings are in collections in museums in Buffalo, Rochester, Rochester, and Newark (ibid., p. 156). Not much is recorded of his career beyond the 1940s and and Newark (ibid., p. 156). Not much is recorded of his career beyond the 1940s and perhaps it is perhaps it is simply that his elegant early twentieth century style never translated to viewers beyond simply that his elegant early twentieth century style never translated to viewers beyond the realms the realms of illustration and public art. Compared to the dynamism of the American art scene from of illustration and public art. Compared to the dynamism of the American art scene from abstract abstract expressionism and beyond in the 1940s and postwar period, the works of a Beaux-Arts expressionism and beyond in the 1940s and postwar period, the works of a Beaux-Arts trained regional trained regional painter were not likely destined to have a large impact. When I have spoken to painter were not likely destined to have a large impact. When I have spoken to Haudenosaunee artists Haudenosaunee artists of generations older than myself, none mentioned Sanford Plummer’s work of generations older than myself, none mentioned Sanford Plummer’s work as having an impact on as having an impact on them or even being very familiar with them. We know Plummer remained them or even being very familiar with them. We know Plummer remained close to his community and close to his community and died in Gowanda, a village on the border of the Cattaraugus Seneca died in Gowanda, a village on the border of the Cattaraugus Seneca Reservation, in 1974. An excellent Reservation, in 1974. An excellent collection of some twenty of his watercolors is housed at the collection of some twenty of his watercolors is housed at the Newark Museum of Art. Newark Museum of Art.

Figure 7. SanfordSanford Plummer, Plummer, “Meeting of Hiawatha and [t [thehe Peacemaker]”, Peacemaker]”, 1936. 1936. Watercolor Watercolor on on paper, paper, with permissionpermission ofof thethe NewarkNewark MuseumMuseum ofof Art.Art.

By farfar thethe most most prolific prolific of of the the thee thee painters painters recruited recruited by Parkerby Parker was was Ernest Ernest Smith Smith (Cornelius (Cornelius 1999, pp.1999, 164–68). pp. 164–68).Born Born on theon the Tonawanda Tonawanda Reservation Reservation in in 1907, 1907, Smith Smith grew grew up up quite quite poor poor andand waswas a self-taught artist who had left school before graduatinggraduating to help support his family;family; he receivedreceived no formal educationeducation beyondbeyond that.that. His artistic talent waswas innate and the focus of his work throughout his career waswas on on depicting depicting various various aspects aspects of hisof culturehis culture from from ancient ancient Haudenosaunee Haudenosaunee folklore folklore to images to ofimages quotidian of quotidian life in earlier life in periods earlier ofperiods Haudenosaunee of Haudenosaunee history. Thehistory. bulk The of his bulk original of his worksoriginal are works held byare the held Rochester by the Rochester Museum Museum and Science and Center Science (previously Center (previously known as known the Rochester as the Rochester Municipal Municipal Museum). ManyMuseum). of these Many are oilof paintingsthese are andoil paintings the rest are and watercolors the rest orare pen watercolors and ink drawings. or pen and Parker ink speciﬁcallydrawings. Parker specifically charged Smith with illustrating scenes from Haudenosaunee history, beginning with the Creation Story and the fall of Sky Woman to Turtle Island (Figure 8). The influence of Jesse 7CornplanterIn conversation is apparent 5 August 2019. in some of his paintings’ style at the beginning of the Arts Project (Figure 9). In many ways it was his depictions of daily life in a reimagined past that captured my imagination as a boy. The somewhat flat illustrator style presents us with a dignified, if not idealized, version of Haudenosaunee life free of the endemic poverty and cares of contemporary reservation life during the Great Depression (Figures 10 and 11). What likely strikes any student of Smith’s art is that his style changes remarkably within short periods of time and occasionally he seems to return to an earlier style, closer to Jesse Cornplanter. We cannot know if Smith was ever exposed to the works of the Native artists from the Southwest who were developing an analogous “Studio style” at the same

Arts 2020, 9, 55 10 of 16 charged Smith with illustrating scenes from Haudenosaunee history, beginning with the Creation Story and the fall of Sky Woman to Turtle Island (Figure8). The influence of Jesse Cornplanter is apparent in some of his paintings’ style at the beginning of the Arts Project (Figure9). In many ways it was his depictions of daily life in a reimagined past that captured my imagination as a boy. The somewhat flat illustrator style presents us with a dignified, if not idealized, version of Haudenosaunee life free of the endemic poverty and cares of contemporary reservation life during the Great Depression (Figures 10 and 11). What likely strikes any student of Smith’s art is that his style changes remarkably within short periods of time and occasionally he seems to return to an earlier style, closer to Jesse Cornplanter.Arts 2020, 9, x FOR We PEER cannot REVIEW know if Smith was ever exposed to the works of the Native artists from10 of the 16 Southwest who were developing an analogous “Studio style” at the same time under the instruction of time under the instruction of Dorothy Dunn in Santa Fe. She taught at the Studio School at the Santa Dorothy Dunn in Santa Fe. She taught at the Studio School at the Santa Fe Indian School from 1932 until Fe Indian School from 1932 until 1937 (Berlo and Phillips 2014, p. 260). There is a slim possibility 1937 (Berlo and Phillips 2014, p. 260). There is a slim possibility Smith would have been exposed to her Smith would have been exposed to her through the museum, but the timeline is possibly too short through the museum, but the timeline is possibly too short given Smith’s relative geographic isolation given Smith’s relative geographic isolation (beyond the museum in Rochester). At other times it (beyond the museum in Rochester). At other times it seems Smith may have been influenced by the seems Smith may have been influenced by the cartoon style of Walt Disney whose feature length cartoon style of Walt Disney whose feature length films were tremendously popular at this time. There films were tremendously popular at this time. There is a smoothness and flatness to some paintings is a smoothness and flatness to some paintings from 1939 onward, and a hard edge to Smith’s depictions from 1939 onward, and a hard edge to Smith’s depictions that appear to have more visual similarities that appear to have more visual similarities with the human figures in Disney’s Snow White than the with the human figures in Disney’s Snow White than the rougher drawings of Jesse Cornplanter that rougher drawings of Jesse Cornplanter that influenced his earlier paintings (Figure 12). Whatever the influenced his earlier paintings (Figure 12). Whatever the influences were, copies of Smith’s paintings influences were, copies of Smith’s paintings were easily adapted to serve as illustrations to any number were easily adapted to serve as illustrations to any number of works or as decorative prints of works or as decorative prints illustrating scenes of Haudenosaunee history or everyday life. illustrating scenes of Haudenosaunee history or everyday life.

Figure 8. ErnestErnest Smith, Smith, Sky Woman , 1936. 1936. Oil Oil on on board, board, with with permissi permissionon of the Rochester Museum and Science Center.

Arts 2020, 9, 55 11 of 16 Arts 2020, 9, x FOR PEER REVIEW 11 of 16 Arts 2020,, 9,, xx FORFOR PEERPEER REVIEWREVIEW 11 of 16

Figure 9. Ernest Smith, Handsome Lake Preaching in the Longhouse, 1936. Watercolor on board, with FigureFigure 9. 9.Ernest Ernest Smith, Smith, Handsome Handsome LakeLake PreachingPreaching in th thee Longhouse, Longhouse, 1936. 1936. Watercolor Watercolor on on board, board, with with permission of the Rochester Museum and Science Center. permissionpermission of of the the Rochester Rochester Museum Museum and and Science Science Center.Center.

Figure 10. Ernest Smith, Woman Preparing Corn, 1937. Watercolor on board, with permission of the FigureFigure 10. 10.Ernest Ernest Smith, Smith,Woman Woman Preparing Preparing Corn,Corn, 1937.1937. Watercolor Watercolor on on board, board, with with permission permission of ofthe the Rochester Museum and Science Center. RochesterRochester Museum Museum and and Science Science Center. Center.

Figure 11. Ernest Smith, Women Hoeing Corn,, 1937.1937. WatercolorWatercolor onon board,board, withwith permissionpermission ofof thethe FigureFigure 11. 11.Ernest Ernest Smith, Smith,Women Women HoeingHoeing CornCorn,, 1937.1937. Watercolor Watercolor on on board, board, with with permission permission of ofthe the Rochester Museum and Science Center. RochesterRochester Museum Museum and and Science Science Center. Center.

Arts 2020, 9, 55 12 of 16 Arts 2020, 9, x FOR PEER REVIEW 12 of 16

Figure 12. Ernest Smith, Smith, TheThe War Party ,, 1940. 1940. Watercolor Watercolor on on board, board, with with permission permission of of the the Rochester Museum and Science Center.

What Arthur Arthur Parker Parker valued valued in in both both Cornplante Cornplanterr and and Smith’s Smith’s works works was was their their adherence adherence to his to instructionshis instructions to represent to represent all allaspects aspects of ofHaudenosaunee Haudenosaunee culture, culture, while while reviving reviving an an iconographic vocabulary that would be identifiably identifiably ‘Iroquois’ in in the minds of the viewer. It was to a great extent not only a plan for cultural revival but also for cultural branding. Native artisans had strayed from traditional craftscrafts andand decorativedecorative motifs motifs that that had had distinguished distinguished Haudenosaunee Haudenosaunee material material culture culture in the in thepast past and and adopted adopted an easyan easy Pan-Indianism Pan-Indianism or else or else simply simply appropriated appropriated Plains Plains styles styles asa as shorthand a shorthand for forIndigeneity. Indigeneity. Parker’s Parker’s quest quest for afor return a return to cultural to cultural specificity specificity demanded demanded that Haudenosaunee that Haudenosaunee artists artistspractice practice traditional traditional arts and usearts traditionaland use folklorictraditional themes folkloric and visualthemes motifs and invisual their representationalmotifs in their representationalworks. He meticulously works. He recorded meticulously various recorded elements various of designelements and of design iconography and iconography in his scholarly in his scholarlypublications publications and the Seneca and the Arts Se Projectneca Arts supplied Project him supplied with artisans him wi whoth couldartisans turn who his could scholarly turn work his scholarlyinto contemporary work into practice. contemporary In six years, practice. the Seneca In six Artsyears, Projects the Seneca was estimated Arts Projects to have was produced estimated some to have5000 piecesproduced of traditional some 5000 Haudenosaunee pieces of traditional arts and Ha craftsudenosaunee along with arts murals, and craf paintings,ts along andwith dozens murals, of paintings,illustrations and for dozens printed of materials. illustrations Not for only printed were certainmaterials. arts Not and only techniques were certain that had arts been and on techniques the brink thatof being had been lost now on the revived brink withof being new lost practitioners, now revived but with the new printed practitioners, materials gavebut the interested printed materials members gaveof the broaderinterested public members resources of forthe learning broader about public traditional resources Haudenosaunee for learning culture. about traditional HaudenosauneeWorld War IIculture. was a major disruption in the movement begun by Arthur C. Parker and supported by theWorld WPA, War but II the was skills a major that disruption it reintroduced in the tomoveme Haudenosauneent begun by communities Arthur C. Parker were and not supported forgotten. byThe the fact WPA, that Senecabut the artistsskills that now it had reintroduced works in museums to Haudenosaunee and had published communities their were illustrations not forgotten. made Thethe possibilityfact that Seneca of the artists life as annow artist, had commercialworks in mu orseums otherwise, and had a genuine published possibility. their illustrations Representational made thepaintings possibility and of illustrations the life as an allowed artist, commercial for new outlets or otherwise, to those a individuals genuine possibility. in our communities Representational with paintingsartistic interests. and illustrations Both the Onondagaallowed for Faithkeeper, new outlet Orens to those Lyons, individuals and the Seneca in our ceramic communities artist, Peterwith artisticJones, pursuedinterests. college Both the degrees Onondaga in the Faithkeeper, fine arts with Oren the notion Lyons, of and becoming the Seneca commercial ceramic artists.artist, Peter Oren Jones,Lyons pursued received college a BFA from degrees Syracuse in the Universityfine arts with inthe the1950s notion and of becoming spent several commercial years illustrating artists. Oren and Lyonsdesigning received for a a greeting BFA from card Syracuse company University before returning in the 1950s to his and home spent reservation several years and illustrating painting scenes and designingfrom Haudenosaunee for a greeting culture card company and history before (Figure return 13).ing Jones to his was home amongst reservat oneion of and the earlypainting cohorts scenes of fromstudents Haudenosaunee to attend the newlyculture founded and history Institute (Figure of American 13). Jones Indian was amongst Art in Santa one Fe of inthe the early mid cohorts 1960s and of studentswent there to withattend the the intention newly founded of becoming Institute a commercial of American artist Indian as well; Art but in findingSanta Fe he in much the mid preferred 1960s andhis classes went there in ceramics with the to theintention figurative of becoming drawing and a commercial painting classes, artist switchedas well; hisbut artisticfinding medium he much to preferredclay (Figure his 14 classes). Works in byceramics both Lyons to the and figurative Jones have drawing been collected and painting by art classes, museums switched and ethnographic his artistic mediumcollections. to clay Jones (Figure is represented 14). Works in aby wide both variety Lyons and of collections, Jones have including been collected the Indian by art Arts museums and Crafts and ethnographicBoard and Institute collections. of American Jones is Indianrepresented Arts inin thea wide mid-1960s. variety Manyof collections, others would including follow, the suchIndian as Artsthe Heard and Crafts Museum, Board the and Southern Institute Plains of American Museum Indian in Anadarko, Arts in the the mid-1960s. Bruce Museum Many in others Connecticut would follow, such as the Heard Museum, the Southern Plains Museum in Anadarko, the Bruce Museum in Connecticut and Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Museum of Anthropology in Frankfurt, the Woodland Cultural Center in Brantford Ontario, and the National Museum of the American Indian.

Arts 2020, 9, 55 13 of 16 and Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Museum of Anthropology in Frankfurt, the Woodland Cultural Center in Brantford Ontario, and the National Museum of the American Indian. ArtsArts 20202020,, 99,, xx FORFOR PEERPEER REVIEWREVIEW 1313 ofof 1616

FigureFigure 13. 13. OrenOren Lyons,Lyons, GreatGreat Tree Tree ofof PeacePeace,,, 1971.1971.1971. OilOil onon canvas,canvas, withwithwith permissionpermission ofof thethe artist.artist.

Figure 14. Peter Jones, Old Singer, 2016, Clay, with permission of the artist. Figure 14. PeterPeter Jones, Jones, OldOld Singer Singer,, 2016, 2016, Clay, Clay, with permissionpermission of the artist.

TheThe TuscaroraTuscarora artistartist andand educatoreducator RichardRichard HillHill likewiselikewise acknowledgedacknowledged inin aa publishedpublished essayessay thatthat hishis artisticartistic modelsmodels werewere bothboth ErnestErnest SmithSmith andand JessJessee Cornplanter.Cornplanter. OfOf themthem hehe wrote,wrote, “My“My influencesinfluences havehave beenbeen ErnestErnest Smith,Smith, aa SenecaSeneca painterpainter whowho taughttaught meme thatthat paintingpainting hashas aa rolerole toto playplay inin thethe educationeducation ofof thethe IndiansIndians ofof thethe fufuture;ture; [and][and] JesseJesse Cornplanter,Cornplanter, SenecaSeneca artistartist whosewhose workwork taughttaught meme

Arts 2020, 9, 55 14 of 16

The Tuscarora artist and educator Richard Hill likewise acknowledged in a published essay that his artistic models were both Ernest Smith and Jesse Cornplanter. Of them he wrote, “My influences have been Ernest Smith, a Seneca painter who taught me that painting has a role to play in the education of the Indians of the future; [and] Jesse Cornplanter, Seneca artist whose work taught me that we have a grand tradition in storytelling and that the visual artist has become the storyteller of this generation” (Hill 1996, p. 131). Clearly the recognition that both of those Depression-era artists received in their lifetimes had a larger effect than their respective styles of drawing or painting. Arguably it was the redeployment of Haudenosaunee cultural idioms into their visual representations that inspired later generations of Haudenosaunee artists. Once the possibility of becoming an artist opened up to Haudenosaunee youths there was no stopping its tremendous and liberating appeal. The 1960s and 1970s saw the continuing and persistent growth and revival of craft work and contemporary arts throughout the Haudenosaunee homelands. By 1976 Haudenosaunee promoters of the arts formed the Association for the Advancement of Native North American Arts and Crafts in Niagara Falls, NY. The founding directors were all active Haudenosaunee cultural practitioners: Huron Miller, Elwood Green, Michael Mitchell, Carson Waterman, and Allen Jock. They, along with researchers and interviewers, Christina Johannsen and Alisa Myke, would after several years of research publish Iroquois Arts: A Directory of a People and Their Work in 1983 (Johannsen and Ferguson 1983). This a magnum opus of sorts, covering the craftspeople of twelve reservations and interviewing and recording the works of 568 individual Haudenosaunee artists. Arthur Parker in his wildest imagination could never have predicted that number. In the final five decades of the twentieth century there was a considerable movement by Haudenosaunee artists into new and mixed media and these artists would reach broad acclaim and some established international reputations for themselves and their culture. While Native artists such as Oscar Howe, Fritz Scholder, and T.C. Canon are usually identified with the Native Modernism developed in the Plains and the Southwest in the late 1950s and early 1960s, their art usually touched on Native American themes in a broader manner with less reference to specific Native national cultures and their content concerned the American Indian experience in a postwar period of burgeoning inter-tribal political activism. This occurred at the same period that the United States Congress instituted its so-called “Termination and Relocation” policies, which aimed at dissolving reservations and encouraging Native people to move to urban centers, with the ultimate goals of detribalization and assimilation. Haudenosaunee people were likewise increasingly politically engaged in this same period, but their artists still tended to draw on a culturally specific visual vocabulary. By the 1970s the influence of Fritz Scholder can be seen in the work of Clifford Maracle (Kanien’kehá:ka). In a painting like “Back to School” in which a figure in a blue boarding school student’s uniform stands behind a Native man in traditional dress, both rendered more abstractly, signals a critique of the boarding school experience from a broadly Indigenous North American perspective, since Maracle was from the Tyendinaga Reserve in Ontario. We do not see the Haudenosaunee-specific references that will develop as we move into the late 1980s with the foregrounding of a more ethnically specific iconography, such as we find in the paintings of Carson Waterman (Onondowagah). It was also a period when the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) was being formulated as the Haye Foundation began to turn over its voluminous artifacts to the Smithsonian Institute to serve as the core collection of the newly planned National Museum of the American Indian. The 1989 National Museum of the American Indian Act called for the creation of a national museum on the capital mall in Washington, DC, with a smaller portion of the collection to be housed in the former U.S. Customs House in lower Manhattan. This new museum was to be very different from its Smithsonian siblings—the NMAI would have to address the deep distrust many Native people had concerning museums, be it the fact that they sometimes held the human remains of our ancestors or alienated so many objects of our cultural patrimony from their source communities. One way to address this long-term problem was to commit to community consultations and another way would be the employment of Indigenous museum Arts 2020, 9, 55 15 of 16 professionals and curators. This would occur at both its New York City site and in the site on the Mall in Washington. The New York museum opened first in 1994 and was followed by the capital museum ten years later. Among the dozens of Native scholars and artists who consulted with and held positions at NMAI, two Haudenosaunee scholar-artists, Rick Hill and Jolene Rickard, both contributed to exhibits and long-term collecting strategies. In order to shed the assumption that NMAI would deal only with Native cultures in the past, many curators and educators now at NMAI argue for the inclusion of contemporary Native American art. This policy would have the effect of promoting contemporary Indigenous art exhibitions and the collection and display of that art at a national museum. The 1990s saw figures like Shelley Niro (Kanien’kehá:ka), Alan Michelson (Kanien’kehá:ka), and Jolene Rickard (Tuscarora) all achieve recognition through individual and group exhibits, and all collected by major art museums. Other exhibitions have focused solely on Haudenosaunee contemporary artists at least since the 2000s and have done much to familiarize the art viewing public with our cultural idioms and our social and political concerns—often foregrounded in the work of our artists. Exhibits such as the 2003 Lifeworlds—Artscapes: Contemporary Iroquois Art, curated by Sylvia Kasprycki and Doris Stambrau in Frankfurt, Germany, traveled to Zurich, Switzerland and then Brantford, Ontario. It featured artists who remain at the center of the Haudenosaunee artworld today: G. Peter Jemison, Katsitsionni Fox, Peter Jones, Alan Michelson, Shelley Niro, Ryan Rice, and Jolene Rickard among others. In 2008 Ryan Rice would curate Kwah I:ken Tsi Iroquois (Oh so Iroquois/Tellement Iroquois) in the Ottawa Art Gallery in Canada. It featured work by twenty-three prominent Haudenosaunee artists working in a variety of media from painting, assemblage, video, site-specific installations, and sculpture. All of these artists are represented in major museums and private collections at this point and several have shown work at international venues like the biennials of Venice, Sao Paulo, and Sydney. There are no formal definitions of Haudenosaunee art, but these artists all show a deep regard for the cultural heritage that formed them and their culture’s visual sovereignty, which they uphold in their work. We frequently hear discussions about Indigenous sovereignty in today’s political discourse; our right to self-governance and political autonomy is by its very nature at odds with the settler colonial nation states in which we live. Added to that general political struggle are specific notions such as linguistic sovereignty, food sovereignty, and visual sovereignty (Raheja 2010, pp. 198–200). In each case, Native communities are reclaiming the sovereign identities that they were denied through attempts at assimilating Indigenous peoples into the American or Canadian cultural mainstream. We were systematically denied the right to speak our languages, produce and procure our traditional foods, and value and practice our own cultural aesthetics and the arts. There is no easy definition for visual sovereignty but the Indigenous artists who resist prescriptive definitions of what is or is not art, or conversely, what is or is not authentically Indian, are engaging in a praxis of visual sovereignty. The roots of collecting Haudenosaunee art from the modern era are entangled with the ethnographic projects of the Rochester Museum and the WPA and larger desires for cultural revival held by the Haudenosaunee artists involved in those early projects. While traditional handicrafts among the Haudenosaunee were indeed reclaimed at this cultural low point in our communities, the Seneca Arts Project also opened a way for Haudenosaunee artists interested in non-traditional media such as drawing and painting to make professional advances through public arts commissions, published illustrations, and museum collections. Their success, while modest and regional at the outset, signaled to a younger generation in their home communities the possibilities that existed for Haudenosaunee artists beyond our traditional crafts and the venues in which they were sold. Young artists from our small constellation of reservations in the U.S. and Canada began to imagine themselves as artists, and more importantly, as Haudenosaunee artists.

Funding: This research received no external funding. Conﬂicts of Interest: The author declares no conﬂict of interest. Arts 2020, 9, 55 16 of 16

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