Two hundred years ago, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led an expedition across the United States to try to reach the Pacific Ocean. Stepping on that sand for the first time changed the face of America forever. It also changed the lives of thousands of Native Americans who had been living there long before any Europeans set their sights on the continent.
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith's installation, 200 Years: Change-- No Change, which will open at the Palmer Museum of Art on Tuesday, was created to show how America has changed and stayed the same since the Lewis and Clark expedition.
The installation is being presented in conjunction with Penn State's Lewis and Clark: The Unheard Voices conference being held Nov. 16-18. The national conference deals with the consequences expansion has had on Native Americans and other marginalized groups -- the consequences traditional tellings of the expedition don't discuss.
"The aim of the conference and the arts related projects was to focus on some of the unheard voices on the Lewis and Clark expedition," Bruce Trinkley, member of the conference planning committee, said. "And, as the title says, the impact on Native Americans and the environment that maybe won't be on the minds of people when they celebrate opening the west."
Quick-to-See Smith agreed to create the installation as an extension of the conference. The installation is broken into two parts: change and no change. In the section devoted to change, Quick-to-See Smith's son, Neal Ambrose-Smith, took pictures of 20 different people that Lewis and Clark would encounter if they took their expedition today. The only explanations that accompany each photo include the first name of the person pictured and the ethnic affiliation that each gave to Quick-to-See Smith to identify themselves.
The point?
To show how the types of people living in America have grown from a majority of Native Americans 200 years ago to people from many different backgrounds today.
The second part of her exhibit, no change, includes a variety of objects, such as a rain poncho and a mirror. To Quick-to-See Smith, these represent things in America that haven't changed since the expedition.
"Native Americans are still dealing with some of the problems they dealt with in colonial times," Dana Kletchka, Palmer Museum educator, said. "She's making a political statement."
Quick-to-See Smith, who is Flathead Salish, a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nations, is deeply connected to her heritage. Her painting "Indian Country Today" has been on display at the museum since 2000. It uses what she calls the "coyote sneak-up" to make people understand the issues Native Americans deal with every day.
"The image isn't what you think at first," Kletchka says, describing the painting. "It draws you in. There's an image that most are able to recognize right away, but then the layers are revealed as you look closer."
"Indian Country Today" is a rough sketch of the United States on the outside. The coyote sneak-up comes when you look at what the United States is made of in her painting. It is put together with newspaper clips of various things that were going on in Native Americans' lives when she created the piece in 1996. One clip describes education on Indian reservations and another is an advertisement for a company called Savage Tans. The painting explores the advancements Native Americans have made and the ignorance that still exists in America related to Native Americans.
Quick-to-See Smith's installation runs through Jan. 6 and is free to the public. "The exhibit is an amazing way to look at a contemporary issue," Kletchka said. "Installations are more spontaneous, but more personal. People may come and be surprised about how passionate she [Quick-to-See Smith] is about her work."
