Painting inside of an open book. Woman with blonde hair is crying. Talk bubble reads, "I'm part Cherokee but I can't prove it."

Savages and Princesses: The Persistence of Native American Stereotypes

Jan. 28–March 16, 2024
Forsyth Galleries | Memorial Student Center, MSC 2428

A Program of Exhibits USA with Texas Commission on the Arts and The National Endowment for the Arts
This exhibition features adult themes. Viewer discretion is advised.

The exhibition intends to counteract the disappearance of Native portrayals. It embraces Native Americans’ power to replace stereotypical images that permeate the current pop culture landscape. Recognizing that stereotypes often occur without conscious awareness, the exhibition includes didactic information that explores common stereotypes about Native peoples that are falsehoods, followed by the truths behind them. The exhibition’s artists use the unexpected—humor, emotion or shock—to encourage viewers to question and challenge stereotypes, even unspoken, unacknowledged ones.

The artists represented are:

Matthew Bearden (Citizen Potawatomi-Kickapoo-Blackfeet-Lakota) mixed media artist, painter, Tulsa, OK

Heidi BigKnife (Shawnee Tribe), jeweler, Tulsa, OK

Mel Cornshucker (United Keetoowah Band), ceramic artist, Tulsa, OK

Tom Farris (Otoe-Missouria-Cherokee), mixed media artist, Norman, OK

Anita Fields (Osage-Muscogee), ceramic artist, Stillwater, OK

Shan Goshorn (Eastern Band Cherokee), photographer, Tulsa, OK

Juanita Pahdopony (Comanche), sculptor, Lawton, OK

H. Poole (Caddo-Delaware), draftsperson, Oklahoma City, OK

Zach Presley (Chickasaw), collage and digital artist, Durant, OK

Hoka Skenandore (Oneida-Oglala Lakota-Luiseño), mixed  media artist, Shawnee, OK

Karin Walkingstick (Cherokee Nation), ceramic artist, Claremore, OK

Micah Wesley (Muscogee-Kiowa), mixed media artist, Norman, OK

The exhibition was made possible in part by a grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

 

Inside the Exhibition

Collage of Native American and the phrase "Still Alive."

Hoka Skenandore, Heroes and Villains #8, 2016; acrylic on vinyl album, 12 x 12 inches; Courtesy of the artist.

Native American figure.

Juanita Pahdopony, Kitsch Me, I’m Indian! 2016; cast concrete, acrylic, aluminum cones, buckskin, rhinestones, paper, 9 x 27 x 8 inches; Courtesy of the artist.

Drawing of woman.

K.H. Poole, Lazy, 2016; acrylic, watercolor paper, time stamp receipts, 14 x 11 inches; Courtesy of the artist.

Series of portraits.

Heidi Bigknife, Bloodlines or Belief Systems, 1991; black and white photo on Agfa paper, aluminum, Plexiglass, acid-free matte board, steel bolts, nuts, 11 x 14 inches; Courtesy of the artist.

Text over image of teepees reads, "I think it might just be time to play it safe for a while, I mean after all genuineness is way overrated and these teepees are not going to paint themselves."

Zachary Presley, Genuineness, 2015; archival digital print, 20 1/2 x 20 1/2 inches; Courtesy of private collection.