Native American Art History Research Paper

Some of the creek indian art was made of wood (wood carvings). Clay was another natural resource that they used (pottery). When english (Britains) started taking land they migrated and had to use beads. They also weaved baskets and put art on these baskets.

Museums serve as a way to connect with the public on a large scale, and the knowledge held within exhibits can be a fruitful experience for those who choose to visit these institutions. Experiencing all that a museum has to offer, no matter how well intentioned, can at times be confusing and overwhelming to the individuals visiting the site. The Smithsonian’s Museum of the American Indian dedicates itself to Native Americans in North and South America, and worked tirelessly with varying tribes to create a new standard. Some visitors and scholars found their work to be successful in design and approach while others found it to be lacking in execution. This institution does not approach Native American history in a familiar fashion; however it does cover an expansive period of time, and produces a great amount of detail while generating powerful emotions.

No ruins were as good as the Incas they cut stones with block fits exactly that nothing would fit between. The people were also hunters. They invented an advanced water system. They raised llama and alpaca for wool. These people were well known for their working metals. There greatest art was ceramic which had real and mythological features painted on them. These people believe in the sun god and nature god also did human sacrifice for religious purposes. The women just like the Aztecs watched over the kids and did house work; they also were healers and midwives. Their women were taught to be women at the age of 8 and 9, at this age some were sacrifice for the gods. There burials were like moneys but rapped in string then dressed, were the body was place vertically and things surrounded the body.

From as early as the time of the early European settlers, Native Americans have suffered tremendously. Native Americans during the time of the early settlers where treated very badly. Europeans did what they wanted with the Native Americans, and when a group of Native Americans would stand up for themselves, the European would quickly put them down. The Native Americans bow and arrows where no match for the Europeans guns and cannon balls. When the Europeans guns didn’t work for the Europeans, the disease they bought killed the Native Americans even more effectively.

It is always fascinating to see how people used to live in the past and how they performed their day-to-day tasks. The tribe website states that the members of the Chitimacha Tribe are fantastic basket weavers. This is a tradition that has been passed down though families for thousands of years, this is a really exciting fact because it shows how long it has been in practice and how it is something that is very important to the tribe (Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana). Being able to weave baskets is a really good skill to have because it can be used for their own use, in the home for storage, they could be traded for other goods, and it is also a really good pass time for people as well. As a tribe, the Chitimacha do not sell the baskets but if you were to know a member of the tribe you could buy one from them (Chitimacha Tribe of

Ceramic making is still a popular tradition today in the Americas, especially on Native Indian Reservations, like in Western, North Carolina. The use of ceramics, however, is quite different than the way it was used by the natives during the Middle Woodland Period. Today, pottery is mainly made for decoration or art purposes by modern day Americans, but according to Wallis (2011), about 3,000 years ago the use of pottery became a very common use and practiced tradition among the native people who lived during that time period. The Swift Creek culture and the Cherokee Indians had very similar methods in formulating ceramics. The archaeological findings of these artifacts states that one group had been more advanced designs on their vessels. This reason is most likely because of the materials that one group was able to access in their area that the other group did not have available. One group was also more traditional and spiritual in making their vessels, which caused them to create more complex designs and methods while designing their ceramics (Block 2005). By looking at the similarities of both groups pottery styles, archaeologists were able to determine the minor but very distinctive differences, that one group processed in their art, than the other. By comparing each group’s ceramics by looking at

Native American art is a profoundly expressive culture that has been a way of life for so many Native Americans. Native American art history has advanced over thousands of years and is composed of several idiosyncratic styles from the differentiating cultures of diverse Indian tribes. From Navajo to Hopi, each tribe has a particular history, which consists of many types of Native American arts including beadwork, jewelry, weaving, pottery, carvings, kachinas, masks, totem poles, and more. To truly understand Native American art, we will explore Native American art history, its subjects, and if Native American art has a spiritual connection to it.

George Gustav Heye Center - The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian is a fascinating building at the Bowling Green area of Lower Manhattan. It’s close to Battery Park that displays an elegant view of the water. You can see ferries floating by headed towards Staten Island, since South Ferry Terminal is nearby. It allows you to appreciate the hidden gems of the city located in the outskirts Manhattan. One of those very treasures is the museum mentioned previously.

As Edgar Degas once said, “ Art is not what you see, but what others make you see”. The St. Louis Art Museum is a place for artist to display their art and give spectators the option to see art from a new perspective. This was the case for me. As we walked up to the beautifully structured building that stood so tall and wide, my expectations were extremely high. At first glance I notice the bronze statue of King Louis IX of France riding high on his horse. From this statue alone, my expectations of the art museum grew stronger. I have never been to an art museum before, so I wasn’t sure of what to expect. My first expectation was to see huge detailed sculptures right as I walked through the door. That expectation didn’t come true.

In the early history of the United States, even before Europeans set foot in North America, there were Native Americans all across the continent. Native Americans lived in tribes and were nomadic. Although they were nomadic, they would also inhabit “permanent villages” where they would live year-round. On the occasion that those “permanent villages” were abandoned, left behind would be artifacts from their culture that explained a great amount about their lifestyle and traditions. These popular artifacts were most commonly found in southwest and northeast regions such as the Great Plains, the Great Basin, and the Mississippi River Valley.

When most people look at a piece of pottery the first thing that comes to mind is the significance of the symbols and the stories behind these symbols. There are some symbols of Hopi pottery that have stories behind them and some that are symbols of either lost significance or the story is unknown. Some of the symbols we think of as symbols, are really the potters own design. Most people make the mistake that symbols and designs are the same thing, but in fact they are very different. Hopi potters, mostly women, have been instrumental in both preserving and developing traditional symbols and innovating designs in response to changes in and challenges to their culture.

Totem poles were used for different things in each tribe. For example, in the Lillooet tribe mortuary poles were used to mark grave sites (“Lillooet” American History). In the Haida totems were used as a way of indicating rank in lineage (“Haida” American History). For the Tlingit tribe mortuary poles are given as wedding gifts to be placed outside the home of the newlyweds (“Tlingit” American History). “Wood carving was probably the preeminent Bella Coola art. Masks, entry poles, house frontal poles (with entry through a gaping mouth), and carved posts were often painted and decorated with crest figures. They had no fully developed totem pole” (“Bella Coola” American History). “The Kwakiutl were artists. Even in utilitarian items, visual art was joined with rhetoric, mythology, and performance art to glorify the kin groups. Wooden objects, such as massive house posts, totem and commemorative poles (non aboriginal), masks, rattles, feast dishes, and other objects used for crest displays were carved and/or painted” (“Kwakiutl” American History).

Ojibway Indian men usually wore breechcloths and leggings. The women wore dresses and kept their hair in neat braids. Their shoes were called moccasins. They were made out of deer or moose hide. Customarily, they wore leather headbands with feathers in the back. The Ojibway Indians made pictures, belts, purses, and other objects out of beads. They loved to use wampum beads in their artwork. Wampum beads are purple and white beads made from shells. The Ojibway Indians make beadart by sewing the beads onto leather so they can be placed individually or sewn into strips. They make the strips by stitching the beads into a string. This is usually done by hand or sometimes with a bowloom. Beadart takes years to master and is very time consuming for the Ojibway Indians. The Ojibway also made dream catchers out of sticks and feathers. They believed that the dream catchers would protect them from bad dreams.

Myths play a large role in Native American totem poles, this is not really a surprise because Native people believed in more superstitious things. They believed that many living beings in nature had either spirits or gods. With these outlooks on nature and life, those beliefs came back to their carvings on totem poles. Respecting spirits and gods of the land was huge for Native Americans, such as showing

Art is a very realistic aspect among the Native Americans. In fact, what we call primitive art is actually symbolic objects from the process of a sacred ceremony. This concept is one not easily understood. Furthermore, this concept by Sam Gill is explained in Native American Religions. Sam Gill shows that Native American Art is different in meaning because of its contents then what modern societies consider art. Nonliterate people produce objects of beauty through ceremonial performances and rituals that keeps the cosmos in order, while modern societies over look these factors.