Native American Arts Initiative Project
Phase One Report

Introduction

The Native American Arts Initiative (NAAI) is a project of the Michigan State University Museum and is funded by a grant from Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA). The project started in the fall of 2000 and has the purpose of strengthening Native American arts in Michigan. Native American artists remain little known outside of their immediate communities in spite of several attempts to develop organizations and to coordinate promotion on a state-wide basis. Existing state arts and cultural support systems are under-utilized by Native American artists. The NAAI is a means of assessing the needs of the artists and developing new or expanded methods to meet these needs through establishing programs and funding opportunities that are culturally sensitive.

It should be noted that the NAAI is not an attempt to create another membership organization. Rather our goal is to coordinate with existing organizations and institutions in the state to promote an improvement and expansion in Native American arts services. Another note is that the reader will find that the terms Indian and Native American are used interchangeably within this report. Many of the laws governing Native Americans refer to Indians. The U.S. Constitution makes reference to Indian tribes. Many of the Native Americans who participated in this project will, in casual conversation, refer to themselves or their families and relatives as Indians. There are over five hundred tribes in North America, each with a different name in their own language. While there is no standard accepted use, native persons usually have a strong opinion about one or another of the several possible terms by which they could be referred to. If you want to know how a native person wishes to be referred to you need to ask them. Two of the members of the coordinating committee for this project are of two different tribal affiliations. In light of all of the foregoing we decided to use the terms Indian and Native American interchangeably.


In this report we will first have an overview of the existing situation for Native American artists in the state. Following this we will review the process that was followed during the first year of this project. Next we will analyze the data collected from Native American artists and others who provided information to us, either at our regional meetings or by other means. Lastly we will make recommendations drawn from this process.

Historical Overview

Several attempts to organize and or provide support for Native American artists have been made in Michigan. In the 1930s, the Works Project Administration (WPA) organized native artists to produce traditional arts. The production went well but the project failed to establish a lasting marketing scheme and the effort died with the demise of the WPA. The federal education legislation of the last three decades provided funds that sometimes were used to provide employment for native artists to work in state public schools on an intermittent basis. The Great Lakes Indian Artists Association and the Great Lakes Native Basketmakers Association are two more recent examples. These organizations held art exhibits and conferences for a few years but for various reasons were not able to sustain themselves. Many other institutions and organizations have held art auctions, award ceremonies, and done surveys of artists. Michigan State University Museum has worked on several of these projects as support and sometimes in a leadership role. The artists' needs have been noted but have defied clear definition and, even more, have been difficult to address in a sustained manner.

The Native American communities and their artists are widespread and diverse. Urban groups are composed of individuals with ties to tribes from across Michigan and from all of North and South America. Reservation communities are both large and small. Some Native American communities are Christian and others hold largely to traditional native beliefs. Native American artists work from both within and without their native cultural traditions. Some native artists are innovating with new materials and ideas, while other artists work with solidly traditional materials and art forms. Native American artists produce work for use in their own families or ceremonies and also produce work for sale to non-native collectors, institutions, and tourists.

This situation has taken a long time to develop and goes hand in hand with other developments in Michigan native history. Politically the tribes in Michigan have struggled to define their relationships with the U.S. government since the late 1800s. Treaties that at first seemed to guarantee the tribes' right to self-government and to stay in their Michigan homelands were later erroneously interpreted to have terminated the tribes' political existence. Since the 1870s the status of the Michigan tribal governments, and consequently the native individuals that the governments represent, has been an issue debated in the state and federal courts, in the court of public opinion, and often within the tribal communities themselves.

The social upheaval caused by this political uncertainty has played a significant role in the economic situation that the natives of today experience. Denied access to their resources even as basic as trees, bark and grasses used in traditional artwork, denied the economic freedom within which to develop social institutions to adequately and comfortably pass on many traditional art forms, the Native American people of Michigan have had to struggle to keep many of their artistic traditions alive. Some traditions have died out, others have experienced revivals, while the rest have barely survived.

Today, however, we see a resurgence of traditional art forms paralleling the resurgence of the tribes' political strength. Starting in the mid-1930s with the passage and implementation of the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA), a few of Michigan's tribal governments were formally recognized by the U.S. government. Since that time, in a tedious process, in which the rules have drastically changed many times, nearly all of the tribal governments within the State have now become federally recognized. Michigan has a total of twelve federally recognized tribes and has the second largest Native American population east of the Mississippi.

Along with recognition came a limited but gradually increasing acknowledgement of the right of self-determination. As the tribal governments have become stronger and secured federal legislation such as the 1975 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (PL 93-638), they have been increasingly exercising their sovereignty as acknowledged in the U.S. Constitution (Article 1, section 8).

What had this lack of recognition of the tribal governments meant to native artists? While art is a part of any culture and the day-to-day lives of the individuals within that culture, art also has a larger public presence. This presence is shown in architecture and public sculpture, it is underwritten by public funds from government and public foundations, it is woven into the very fabric of social and political culture. During the time when the tribal governments were weakened by an uncertain existence, when individuals rights and natural resources were denied them, traditional native arts were individualized and seldom if ever were allowed to take their rightful place in the larger public sense, either within native communities or recognized within the non-native society. This had enormous effects on the artists and their development, and conversely had an enormous effect on the native cultures as a whole.

Native cultures of the United States and the individuals within them have been the object of many broad generalizations over the centuries of contact with non-native cultures. Either friend or foe, both were taken to the extreme. As “bloodthirsty savages” they were hunted down and nearly exterminated with a self-righteousness born of fear and misunderstanding. As “noble savages” they were considered to be the example of mankind living in an uncluttered and unadulterated benevolent innocence. Unfortunately the remnants of these images of natives still exist today, often in the form of harmful stereotypes that permeate many levels of modern society. Both of these generalizations are wrong and lead people to unrealistic expectations of native people. Native Americans were and are human with all of the baggage that comes with the territory: wisdom, cruelty, benevolence, shortsightedness, vision. This has contributed to artistic expressions being individualized and internalized within the native cultures, and most often being trivialized by the dominant culture.

With the developments in the last half of the 20th century strengthening tribal governments and with the advent of strong economic development following the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988, much has changed. The building of the tribal casinos and other tribal government buildings has provided an opportunity for some tribes to start giving public support and encouraging a public presence for native artists, however, the revenue from the casinos varies widely from tribe to tribe and there are several tribes that do not operate casinos at all. The role of art within the native communities is beginning to take its proper position within the social fabric of native culture. Thus, native art is becoming more publicly visible to non-natives but also to members of the native cultures themselves.

One tribal chairman speaking at a large tribal educational gathering in the late 1990s noted that this is the first generation of Native Americans to have more rather than less. Natives have more land, and in some cases, some land rather than none. They have more opportunities in education, in healthcare, and in artistic expression.

However, the status of Native Americans under federal laws is a matter of the political relationship of their tribe to the United States and not merely a matter of a racial distinction. The Native American populations within Michigan are divided into two main categories: reservation and urban. Nearly all of the reservation population is comprised of citizens of federally recognized tribes. These are people for whom their political status is clearly delineated. For them, Tribal and Federal legal framework exists which establishes the rules governing art and commerce. On the other hand, urban populations are comprised of members of federally recognized tribes and non-enrolled natives from across all of North and South America. For the non-enrolled people legal status is often unclear. While looking “like an Indian” many cannot prove ties to, or chose to not associate with, any federally recognized tribal entity. Others are certain of their ancestry but are not eligible to enroll because they don't meet residency requirements established by their tribal governments.

The urban native populations were increased by well meaning but misguided U.S. government programs in the 1950s that relocated reservation populations from across the country to cities in the hope that these individuals would find better opportunities. These people were ill-equipped to deal with the urban environment and in large degree the experiment failed, leaving many former reservation Indians now with tenuous ties to their homelands and tribes. The cultural and social resurgence of tribal cultures in recent years has had some benefits for the urban populations, but in most cases the economic advantages have not come to the Native Americans in the cities.

Federal legislation designed to stem the tide of non-Indian artists producing Indian style art and marketing it as Indian-made was passed in 1990. The Indian Arts and Craft Act was a good start in protecting Native American artists. This act was hard to enforce, however, and subsequently the Indian Arts and Crafts Enforcement Act of 2000 was passed. While these laws provided benefits to native artists, the rules adopted to implement the acts created an additional problem; only enrolled members of Federal or State recognized tribes are considered Indians for the purposes of the acts. Formerly, non-enrolled Native Americans could obtain a certificate stating their heritage from the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of Interior and could then sell their work as Indian-made. With the new rules in force, however, most of the urban Native American population was left out, as well as others in rural areas that weren't enrolled. Thus there are many Native Americans with substantial blood quantum who are now outside the law when they produce art that is traditional within their families.

This is a time of transition for Native American cultures and artists. Most of the artists have been accustomed to work only on individual and local projects small in scale. Opportunities have been limited. As these barriers start to be lifted new ideas need to be embraced. The role of the artist and artwork within native culture is in flux. Adaptations to any change can be difficult. When this change is fundamental in character it is more difficult. It is in this context that this project began.

Process

We conceived a process that would first go out into the native communities. We did this by holding public hearing around the state. Meeting announcements were passed out at pow wows and other cultural gatherings, sent by mail and e-mail, posted on several listservs around the state, and individual artists were called to inform them about the meetings.

Evening meetings were held during September, and October of 2001, in Traverse City, Sault Sainte Marie, Mount Pleasant, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing and Dearborn. We provided a light meal and beverages at each meeting. The format of each meeting was a brief presentation on the overview of the project followed by a facilitated discussion. Sign up sheets were provided to list all participants. Comment sheets were provided to each participant so that written suggestions and concerns could be collected which would be augmented by the meeting notes.

In addition to the comment sheets filled out at the meetings, we received comments by telephone, fax, e-mail and in person from many individuals who were unable to attend the meetings. We also had several people who did attend the meetings but failed to return a comment sheet.

Along with the public meetings, we began the establishment of a website and listserv, in order to collect additional data and to disseminate our findings in order to get comments from all participants and other interested individuals. The printing of the report and website posting of the report, along with providing copies of the report by e-mail and/or postal service delivery is the final step in our first year goals.

Collected Data and Analysis

We collected comment forms from forty-five participants at the seven regional meetings. In addition we received personal communications, either face-to-face or by e-mail, fax, or telephone, from an additional twenty-nine individuals. Countless others let us know informally of their interest in the outcome of this project. Fifty-three of the participants were people who have tribal affiliation or ancestry. The remaining nineteen were non-natives.

The majority of the participants were from federally recognized tribes in Michigan. We had several artists who are from other mid-western states and the Great Plains. The remaining few were from eastern U.S. tribes, Canadian tribes, or elsewhere in the Americas.

The non-natives were mostly from institutions and organizations wanting to connect and/or collaborate with Native American artists. Elementary through post-secondary educators were represented as well as museum professionals. Local arts councils and the MSU Extension Service were also represented.

The types of art practiced by the participants were widely varied. Orators, storytellers, writers, and composers all working with the spoken, sung or written word were evident at each of our meetings. Traditional arts were represented by beadworkers, basketmakers, potters, barkworkers, quillworkers, and carvers in wood or stone. Performing arts represented were theater, drumming, dancing (traditional and contemporary), and singing.

Most of the participants have access to e-mail and are interested in the listserv and web site that are part of this project. Only a few, however, had web sites of their own. On the other hand, many of the personal communications that arrived by telephone or face-to-face were from individuals who didn't use or have a computer. The dates we chose for these gatherings were selected to avoid important previously scheduled community activities such as pow wows, as well as to take advantage of the in-kind donation of meeting space and food from local host organizations. We did this so that we would be able to afford to hold more regional meetings instead of only three or four. At each site we prepared for 20-30 participants but at some of the sites we discovered local conflicts after we had set our dates. Following the meetings, we were also contacted by many artists, both in person and by e-mail or phone.

Our announcements reached the native community in the state and large numbers of people are now watching to see what comes of this effort. Much skepticism exists within the native communities about programs of this type and many have a wait-and-see attitude. Lots of organizations have been attempted and lots of short-term programs have come and gone leaving little lasting benefits for the native artists. We came to realize that many of the key players in the native arts in the state had either attended one of our sessions or had made known that they would be ready to participate or support our efforts when we proved that we would be around for a while.

The overwhelming majority of the participating artists have access to e-mail. This, however, could be partly because of how much we relied on the Internet to spread the word about our meetings. Several of the comments were about coordinating many of the web-based resources that already exist that are set up by individual artists or small groups. Discussions were held by members of the Great Lakes Artists Association a few years ago to establish a web-based marketing site but did not result in a finished project. The possibility of moving forward on this idea was raised at several of the meetings.

While Internet communication is fast and reaches many Native American artists we had comments that we need to maintain mailing lists and prepare printed material for mailings. There are still large numbers of native artists not on-line. It was mentioned that we need to avoid the current trend among several federal programs that have on-line only applications for their proposals and no longer mail information packets.

Artists having problems with defining their status as Native Americans raised this as an important issue. Because of differing enrollment criteria at the federally recognized tribes in the state and with some tribes having closed their enrollment process for internal political reasons, many individuals are not enrolled while their parents or siblings are enrolled. Artists who have been known for decades as Indian artists are now being told that to keep on selling their artwork as Indian art is in violation of federal laws. We also have artists of Canadian, Mexican, and South American Indian descent who fall outside of the laws. This situation is an unintended consequence of otherwise good legislation.

The networking involved in this project has helped to dispel the artificial limitations that have been previously associated with what we call Indian art. During the lengthy debate on the federal Indian art legislation, the U.S. Congress finally defined Indian art as art that is the product of Indian labor, no matter what it looks like or what material from which it is fashioned. Even among the Native American population it is common to not recognize the full spectrum of artistic expression as art. As an example, a traditional dancer and singer who didn't have a self-image as an artist offered to help us contact some of the artists in his community but contended he was not an artist. We had a very broad cross section of artists make comments and suggestions. Theater, prose, poetry, dance, basketry, quillwork, storytelling, pottery, beadwork, painting, were all represented. Our comments came from long established artists making a living with their artwork and they came from people just starting out and hoping to network with other artists. Our goal of reaching beyond the common impression of “Indian” art was successful.

Teachers and administrators from elementary, secondary and higher educational institutions came to find out how to encourage their native students and how to make contact with individual artists and with tribal organizations. The number of networking requests was of particular interest. A desire for a clearing-house of information on native artists and tribal information was presented on more than one occasion. These requests for artist lists from non-native educators and institutions and requests for tribal information contacts indicate that these needs are not being adequately addressed currently. Teachers want accurate information that is pertinent to the tribes in Michigan. They've been largely unsuccessful in obtaining this information.

Several of the participants made comments that dealt with the need for assistance with state bureaucracy. A native artists' ombudsman office was mentioned by one participant and subsequently supported by others. When we mentioned this idea at later meetings, it seemed to answer many of the concerns that were being raised. It was stated that Native American artists are most often not familiar with the grant application process and are not prepared with the resources necessary to gain access to this process.

The increasing strength of tribal governments within the state and the construction of major tribal facilities have created the potential for collaborations where few existed before. Many of the discussions at the meetings touched on how this is having an effect on native artists. The casino construction has not only created the need for art used in decoration but also provided the revenue to support the purchase of this art. Public construction projects on the reservations are moving forward at a pace unthinkable twenty years ago.

Recommendations

We have developed nine recommendations as the outcome from the first year of this project:

1. Establish an ombudsman's office to deal with Native American arts issues and give technical assistance to artists and artists' organizations. Many of the problems that caused past projects to lack staying power can be traced to not having a central office with paid staff and relying on volunteers for all of the administrative work. The project would prosper when committed volunteers were available but would quickly fail as the volunteers burned out. This could be within the state government, perhaps in the History, Arts and Libraries Department, or perhaps funded in one of the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs funded partnerships. The needs of the artists would be addressed by providing a clearing-house of native arts networks and marketing contacts, and by providing technical assistance to artists in their contacts with state funding resources.
2. Continue the cataloging of Native American artists. Over the years there have been several efforts to catalogue native artists and their work. The results from these previous efforts needs to be combined with continuing updates in order to create a comprehensive state-wide contemporary catalogue.
3. Establish and maintain a website with links to artists contact lists and tribal outreach contacts. The needs expressed by museums and public education officials would be addressed by the maintenance of a website with links to artists contact lists and tribal outreach contacts. Many independently developed native artists resources exist but with no unifying central clearing house to link to the material. Other material is sketchy and needs further development.
4. Establish a Native American Arts Festival. This could be in a permanent host location or it could be held at various venues in different years. Partnerships with tribal governments in this project should be explored.
5. Establish Native American Arts Awards. Awards would be given for all of the various arts, both traditional and contemporary. A project of this type could lead to compilation CD's, books of collected works of award winners, film festivals, etc. Some of these are already being done and could be showcased; others would arise as the market was developed. An awards ceremony could be held in conjunction with the previously mentioned arts festival.
6. Strengthen support for existing Native American programs. The established native and non-native institutions that have experience in the native arts fields should be encouraged to expand internship/apprenticeship programs for developing artists. Work should be done to have degree programs for native artists in the art schools at colleges and universities in the state. Support for individual artists and native arts organizations should be explored through new initiatives such as the existing Center for Great Lakes Culture, a potential Woodland Indian Arts Institute, and/or short term professional development workshops.
7. Establish guidelines for arts and cultural organizations regarding language use that is culturally appropriate and factual. Misconceptions exist about when Native Americans exist. Everyone knows that Indians are a part of history. Fewer know that they are a part of today. Even the people who grasp this fact intellectually often make unconscious use of the past tense when referring to Native Americans. Worse yet, sometimes even the historical presence of Native Americans is inadvertently ignored. When this happens it leads to furthering the misunderstandings of Native American cultures and contributions to modern day society. An example is a comment like "Did you know??? Art, music, storytelling and preserving our heritage have been an important part of life in the U.P. [Upper Peninsula] since the days the earliest settlers arrived?" This was taken from an April, 2002, Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA) e-mail communication to the arts and cultural community of Michigan. This statement ignores the historical and contemporary presence of Native people in the state. MCACA should lead the way in making sure that all language in printed form by arts organizations reflects both the proper historical context for Native Americans and also speaks appropriately in the present or future tense when addressing Native American issues.
8. Develop and promote a standard procedure for recognition of non-enrolled individual native artists. A so far unused provision in the rules implementing the Indian Arts and Crafts Act and the Indian Arts and Crafts Enforcement Act allows an unenrolled native artist that is acknowledged as being an Indian artist by a federally recognized tribe to be considered legally an Indian under the law. Tribes have not used this process because there are no formal procedures outlined in the law except to say that tribes can't charge a fee for this recognition. There has been no incentive for tribes to get involved in a potentially sticky political issue. Facilitating the development of a standard procedure for this individual recognition as an Indian artist and urging its adoption by the legislative bodies of the federal tribes in the state could help many of the state's urban and non-enrolled Indian artists. It would be highly unlikely that all of the twelve federal tribal governments would adopt the procedure but if it was adopted by only a few it would be considerable progress.
9. Convene a meeting to review these recommendations and develop strategies to implement them.

Summary

This first year of this project has been a success. Amid the changing world of Michigan's Native American population several ideas and procedures have been proposed that, if implemented, will positively affect the lives of Indian artists. Additionally, the development of resources has been proposed that will help bridge the gap between those who wish to respectfully learn accurate information about Native American artists and the native communities. Most importantly, this project has increased the awareness of Native American artists' issues by promoting artist-to-artist networking and also networking with those wanting to showcase Native American artwork.

Report prepared by Frank Ettawageshik and Marsha MacDowell, May 2002




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