A special exhibition celebrating Indigenous Appalachian artists through a generous partnership with WVU Libraries and the WVU Humanities Center
WVU Art in the Libraries: Indigenous Appalachia Exhibit and More Opportunities for Engagement
Presentation by Sally Brown, WVU Libraries Exhibits Coordinator and WVU Art in the Libraries Program Chair, lead curator of Indigenous Appalachia
What makes someone an Artist?
Art is a broadly descriptive term for any creative expression including visual forms of all media, craftwork, writing, tool-making, clothing, expressing and practicing culture and ancestry and religion. Indigenous art is a widely studied, revered, and celebrated field in global society.
What constitutes being an Appalachian?
People define this identity in many ways with different kinds of maps. For the purpose of this exhibit, Appalachian refers to being from or situated within the states included in the Appalachian region of TURTLE ISLAND (the traditional name many Indigenous North Americans used and still use to refer to the Native North American continent), including displaced peoples whose communities are originally from Appalachia.
Who is considered Indigenous?
This can be defined broadly, strictly personally, ethnographically, genealogically, or, as an artifact of colonization, by a federal or state government’s recognition of one’s tribal nation. There is no single definition just as there is no one definition as to who is an American. “Indigenous communities are not static. Every time we move, encounter other peoples, marry into communities, adopt people, and so on, we incorporate elements into the larger society. However, when this occurs, we don't necessarily change who we are. We are simply adding to the pot of complexity and choice.
Think about America: what America strives to be, Indigenous communities have been here for thousands of years. Indigenous communities had gender equality, equity, race was non-existent, and territories had fuzzy boundaries, and so sharing Turtle Island peace became the standard for getting by.” - Joe Stahlman, Director, Seneca-Iroquois National Museum
In the U.S. individuals might self-identify as Indigenous, Native, Native American, American Indian, Alaska Native, and/or self-identify as a citizen or relative of a particular Indigenous nation, tribe, or community. Today there are 574 Federally-recognized such nations, tribes, or communities regarded as sovereigns by the U.S. government (they interact with the federal government on a government-to-government basis). Some tribes might be recognized exclusively by state governments; other groups of Indigenous individuals have no government recognition as a group but affiliate with each other because of a shared heritage (perhaps all descend from a single tribe or they simply affiliate as Indigenous people who perhaps descend from numerous tribes); and some individuals do not consider themselves to be affiliated with any Native nation, tribe, community, or group. Some citizens of sovereign Native nations (such as Haudenosaunee) claim solely their tribal nationality and do not claim or vote for the U.S. president as their leader.