Nov
30

Using tribal traditions to interpret a modern necessity

An online exhibition shows how Native artists are creating messages of strength, resilience and hope during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inside a glass exhibit case just to the right at the top of the grand staircase in the American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery are three finely crafted Native American objects made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Look carefully or you will miss them.

Skilled beadwork artists and basket makers, three Native women from the Northwest Coast, Midwest and Northeast used a variety of materials and techniques from their tribal traditions to create what has suddenly become a contemporary necessity: protective face coverings.

“Each mask carries a message of strength, resilience and hope and two appear in the online exhibition Masked Heroes: Facial Coverings by Native Artists presented by the First American Art Magazine, which included more than 100 works by 73 artists,” the text on the exhibit case reads.

On view in the Renwick are:

“Yellow Cedar Face Mask,” 2020, by Vicki Lee Soboleff (Haida/Tinglit) (Soboleff’s “Just Ovoid It,” also made from yellow cedar, appears in the online exhibition.)

Face mask created with traditional materials and techniques
“Yellow Cedar Face Mask,” 2020, by Vicki Lee Soboleff (Haida/Tinglit)

“Ononkwashon:a (Medicine Plants),” 2020, by Marlana Thompson (Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne) made from velveteen, flannel, beads, sweetgrass, sage and leather; and

Face mask made with traditional techniques and materials
“Ononkwashon:a (Medicine Plants),” 2020, by Marlana Thompson (Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne) made from velveteen, flannel, beads, sweetgrass, sage and leather

“MMIW,” 2020, by Katria Mitten (Miami Tribe of Oklahoma) and made from cotton, ribbon, beads, bone and shell.

Face mask made with traditional materials and techniques
“MMIW,” 2020, by Katria Mitten (Miami Tribe of Oklahoma) and made from cotton, ribbon, beads, bone and shell.

Learn more about these masks at SAAM’s blog site: Eye Level

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Posted: 30 November 2020
About the Author:

John Barrat is the senior writer and editor for the Office of Communications and External Affairs. He has 25 years of experience publicizing research by Smithsonian scientists, from astrophysics to paleontology. He has contributed to numerous publications, including Inside Smithsonian Research, the Smithsonian News Service, Smithsonian Research Reports and Smithsonian Insider.