Áakiiwilaxpaake (People of the Earth)

Date2022

Maker Wendy Red Star Native American, Apsáalooke/Crow, born 1981

Label TextStories are embedded in our DNA and our ancestry, all the stories that our ancestors carried and that we possess in our bodies. I think everyone that we take a portrait of [for this project] carries these amazing and important stories; they represent those voices in this work. ---Wendy Red Star Native people—their histories and stories—have largely been excluded from the American art canon. Red Star examines past artworks and historical documents in order to question this exclusion and to reinsert Native voices into the making of an inclusive, nuanced, collaborative version of American art history. Using layers of visual information for this artwork, including Japanese artist Yoshida Hiroshi’s (1876‒1950) woodblock print of Mount Tahoma (Rainier) from SAM’s collection (2004.21) as the backdrop, the artist reimagines the Seattle skyline as being activated by portraits, taken specifically for this project, of Indigenous women and children from the Seattle region, honoring the humanity and resilience of their collective and personal stories. First row Tallou Kankanton and Ahnu Zaiyari Kankanton Munoz Second row Leanne Rye Brock and Montana Brock Tinner, Lisa Wilson McCaul, Megan Castillo, Nitalusa Angelova, Helen Beauty Sekaquaptewa, Isabella Rice, Kynoah Eule, Archer Rice Third row Kari Karsten, Jennifer A. Brown, Epiphany Couch, Naomi McCaul, Georgia Erickson, Miriam Zmiewski-Angelova, Jalissa Rice, Tala Brown, Tavi McCaul, Sunset Eule Fourth row Shannon Morrison, Anja Littlecreek, Olivia Vann (tse go ne la), Reed Von Sekaquaptewa, Sophia Vann (tse a nv ni), Diane Pebeahsy, Carmen Selam, Sally Bruhn, Denise Stiffarm, Tiarraray Square, Nashoba Angelov Tribal nations represented in this project: Aaniiih (White Clay), Dena’ina, Bristol Bay Native Corporation, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Chahta (Choctaw), Seminole, Tlingit, Cherokee, The Sac and Fox Nation, 14 Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Numunuu (Comanche), Hopi, Diné (Navajo), Mvskoke, Chickasaw, Spuyaləpabš (Puyallup), Apsáalooke, Eastern Shawnee of Oklahoma, St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, Seneca Nation

Object number2022.44

ProvenanceCommissioned from the artist by Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2022

Photo CreditPhoto: Scott Leen

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, American Art: The Stories We Carry, Oct. 20, 2022 - ongoing.Published ReferencesPierce, Jerald. "These 5 exhibitions are worth exploring during Native American Heritage Month." The Seattle Times, Weekend Plus, Oct. 28, 2022: p. 6. Pierce, Jerald. "Re-imagining American art: Seattle Art Museum offers a more expansive, inclusive look at U.S. art." The Seattle Times, The Mix E5, October 30, 2022: reproduced. [A version of this article appears online on October 25 with the headline: “How Seattle Art Museum is working to make its American art galleries more inclusive,” https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/visual-arts/how-seattle-art-museum-is-working-to-make-its-american-art-galleries-more-inclusive.]

Credit LineBruce Leven Acquisition Fund

Dimensions84 x 62 x 12 in. (213.4 x 157.5 x 30.5 cm)

MediumArchival inkjet prints, Dibond, LED lights, electrical components, wood, milk plexiglass