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What could you create from a lump of clay?
How about from a buffalo hide? What could you make from a handful of porcupine quills? For centuries, Native Americans turned ordinary things into beautiful and useful works of art. Native art is about the spiritual connection between humans and nature. The artists often say a prayer of thanks to the animal, plant, or rock that gave them the material for their art.
Native American art goes back thousands of years. Yet Native artists have always used new ideas and materials in their work. Long before the Europeans arrived, different Native groups influenced each other’s art. They traded shells, feathers, copper, and paint. Europeans brought beads, ribbons, and silversmithing. Native Americans used these things in their own way. They created a blend of the old and the new.
◀ Look at this Seminole doll’s patchwork dress. It’s a combination of traditional design and modern technology. A sewing machine stitched the pieces together.
▲ For centuries, Native Americans painted on things like tanned hides, ceramic vessels, rattles, masks, drums, and shields. They also painted on the walls of tepees and rooms. Europeans showed them painting on paper and canvas.
The Inuit had no words for art or artist until they met Europeans. Yet they were great carvers. They carved stone, bone, ivory, and wood. They made them into many things, from cooking pots to good luck charms. Today, tourists buy most Inuit carvings.
The Pueblo people of New Mexico have made and decorated ceramics for centuries. The youngsters still learn this art from their elders. They listen to stories about Clay-Old-Woman. She lives in the clay and gives life to their pots and figures. While gathering clay, potters thank her for her generosity. ▶
▲ The U.S. government wanted to end Native resistance in the West. In 1875, 72 Native Americans from various tribes were sent to a jail in Florida. One was Bear’s Heart, a Cheyenne. He took up drawing in jail. He drew scenes of his life, from buffalo hunts to prison troop inspections.
◀ Today’s Native American artists are like many other artists: they’re looking for unique ways to express their ideas. This mask is an example of that.
Native Americans are the only people who have created an art form using porcupine quills. Quillwork probably started among Eastern Woodlands people. Later it was brought to the plains by tribes following the buffalo. Quills are sorted by size. They’re washed and dyed. Then they’re softened in the mouth. They’re pulled between the teeth to make them flat. Quills can be used in weaving, embroidery, or braiding. ▶
