a beautiful tradition: ingenuity and adaptation in a century of plateau women’s art
TRANSCRIPT
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A Beautiful Tradition:
Ingenuity and
Adaptation in a Century of Plateau
Women’s Art
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Adaptation—
The modification of a person, process or object to adjust to new or changing
resources, purposes, circumstances or surroundings.
Ingenuity—
The application of creativity and imagination; ingenuity is the process of developing and executing new ideas—often by building on existing skills and resources while incorporating new ones.
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The Plateau region includes eastern Oregon and Washington, northern Idaho, NW Montana, and southern British Columbia.
Map of the Plateau Region and PeoplesCourtesy of the Wellpinit, WA, school district
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Tribal Territories in Montana, 1855
The Plateau Tribes of Western Montana are: Kootenai, Pend D’Oreille, and Salish.After 1855, the Flathead Reservation was
established, diminishing their land base.
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Cultural attributes of Plateau tribes
• Fishing cultures, harvesting salmon from the rivers.• Hunted, but were not totally dependent on big game for
food in the same way Plains tribes relied on bison.• Harvested edible plants in abundance; processed and
stored fruits, vegetables, roots, meat and fish for later use. • Lived in semi-permanent villages, moved seasonally
for harvesting and fishing. Some traveled to hunt bison.• Created a language-based geographical map by
naming many locations in reference to their resources.• Egalitarian societies; not stratified; women could lead. • Raised horses (some, like the Cayuse and Nez Perce) The Appaloosa is a Nez Perce breed.• Peaceful; generally not “military” cultures.• Long history of intertribal trade and social relations
(including conflict) with tribes of other regions, including the Blackfeet, Crow, and Shoshone.
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Traditional Arts of the Plateau
Carving— created elaborate designs in stone, wood and bighorn sheep’s horns; carved items include utensils, dishes, tools, and ceremonial objects.
Basketry— coiled and twined baskets of various shapes and sizes, from many kinds of plant fibers; used for food/plant harvest & storage, transport, personal belongings, and clothing (twined hats similar to small baskets). Geometric patterns and plant dyes.
Decorative arts— decorated some clothing, many utilitarian objects; used shells, beads, bones; colored with dyes and pigments; fringes; some quillwork; imbrication.
Leather work— tanned hides, painted, fringed, decorated. Used rawhide for parfleche, painted with pigments made from mineral, animal and botanical ingredients.
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Plateau Art: Painted Parfleche
Media—rawhide, paint made from minerals and animal fats, leather ties
Function—meat cases, transporting goods, general storage, gifts
Design style—geometricMotífs—triangles, bars, diamonds, primary colors Similar to Blackfeet,
Gros Ventre and other N. Plains tribes in style, design and color.
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Plateau Art: Coiled Basketry
Materials—cedar root (darker), beargrass (lighter)Technique—coiled with reinforced rimDesign style—geometric, stair-step patternsFunction—harvesting, cooking, transporting
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Plateau Arts: Twined Bags
Materials/Media: Corn husk Indian hemp (apocynum) Beargrass, dogbane Jute (after 1900) Plant-based dyes Aniline dyes (20th
cent.)
Techniques: Twining Imbrication (false embroidery)
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Corn Husk Bags: Beauty & Utility
Function Harvesting edible
plants Storage of edible roots
Decoration & Design Geometric patterns False embroidery Use of natural materials
from own environment
Cultural Esthetic Materials, design/style
and composition—as well as bag—are part of cultural identity.
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Technique: False embroidery (Imbrication)
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Adaptation for new function: recycling harvest bag into belt
bag
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Intertribal Trade: Plateau, Northern Plains, Great Basin
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Fur trade brings new medium for Plateau art
Bead types and sizes:
Pony beads = over 1 cmSeed beads = less than
1cmOpaque (solid color)Translucent (semi-clear)Cut (faceted edges; also
called “Russian” beads)Greasy (appear murky)
Beads were made in Czechoslovakia, Italy,
Russia and other eastern European countries.
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The influence of Chippewa, Cree & Métis beadwork on Plateau art
Tri-foliate designs, Scalloped
edges, Wide color range, Arbitrary
coloring, Reuse of materials,
Multicultural heritage
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Early Foliate and Floral Designs
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Transformation of the Flower Motíf
Twined flowers: Geometric, abstract design
style Twining technique is limited
to straight lines and sharp angles resulting in rectilinear shapes
Beaded flowers: Realistic, naturalistic style Two-needle appliqué permits
creation of curvilinear shapes and enhances realism. Flowers look real and identifiable.
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Stars & Flowers in the 20th Century
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Realism in Composition and Style
Plateau women used two-needle appliqué stitch technique for tightly-beaded curvilinear shapes. Native songbirds and flowers, like the glacier lily on the right, were done in realistic representation. Background (left) is contour style.
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Boarding School Era and the influence of Victorian esthetics, 1880s-1920s
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World War I: Indians as Americans
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Ingenuity and 20th Century Design
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Continuity of Cultural Identity through Women’s Art and
EstheticsMother and daughter in
ceremonial dress, Flathead
Reservation, July, 1906
Cornhusk bag from 1940, with 8-point “star” motíf— an artistic emblem of cultural identity
Woman’s beaded belt pouch with
foliate design, circa 1890-
1920
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“Everything that I try to make, I try to make with the utmost quality in mind. I
don’t approve of making something with a frivolous attitude. Because no matter where that piece goes, I go with it,
because I put something [of myself] into it… …Following traditional aesthetics means you have to strive… You have to strive in a sense not for personal worthiness, but for an honoring statement to the Creator for what He has given you—to give respect to everything He has provided.”
— Joanne Bigcrane, Pend D’Oreille quill & bead artist, A Song to the Creator, p. 129-132
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Created by Laura Fergusonfor the Montana Historical
Society
In conjunction with the temporary exhibit Tradition, Design, Color: Plateau
Indian Bags from the Fred Mitchell Collection
Copyright 2009, Montana Historical Society, Helena, MontanaWith Funding by the Montana Office of Public Instruction