Challenging Indian Stereotypes
(photographed at the Gilcrease Museum of Art Invitational Exhibition)
With the onset of the 1992 Quincentennial, my work began to address issues of stereotypes directed at Indian people, a practice that is common in this country in subtle yet destructive ways. One series, Honest Injun, confronts viewers with painted photographs of commercial products that reinforce the myth of "Indians" (read: noble savage or new age gurus) by using Indian names and images to sell merchandise that has little if anything to do with Indian people. Audiences were receptive, but with this awakening came the next step of replacing these stereotypes with the truth.
is a response to that dilemma. I have chosen current commercial products that perpetuate the invisibility of native people in contemporary society (advertising that makes our customs, our ceremonies, in fact our entire culture seem trivial and even laughable) and counter them with black and white documentary style photographs that illustrate the diversity of who Indian people really are.
History has proven that a successful way to eliminate a people is to deny their culture. We remember the obvious attempts of boarding school practices, but we can equate racist commercialism as an attempted genocide as well. Who can take us or any of our culture seriously when we a re portrayed as cartoon characters everyday?
The time for us to challenge these stereotypes is now.
