MAYOWA AINA
CHID 480 Advanced Special Topics: Indigenous Knowledge Visualization
Native arts, architecture, and other forms of expression. Explore the historical uses and layering of indigenous knowledges and the privileging of some stereotypical forms of native expression over others.
The ultimate outcome of this course was to chose a piece within the Here and Now: Native Artists Inspired exhibit at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture and explain, in the form of a research paper and presentation, the various layers of encoded knowledge and meaning within our chosen piece. This class was one of the most memorable experiences for me as a student because it challenged me to combine culture, policy, history, and economics in terms of their real-world implications and create knowledge. I was able to see how each of these fields influenced and manifested themselves within a particular artist who in turn transferred his experience into a piece of art. While the production of an in-depth research paper tested my skills as a student and provided me with new ones, class discussion forced me outside of own comfort zone and caused me to challenge my own beliefs, assumptions, and point of view.
Read my Final Research Paper - Learn more about the artist, Aaron Nelson-Moody - Read the Artist Interview
Other Perspectives...
Through this course I was privileged to work with Aaron Nelson-Moody, a Coast Salish Native Artist, who produced the Copper Repousse Spindle Whorl that was the subject of my final research paper. Initially, I thought that I would want to investigate a monumental piece that made an obvious political or social commentary. But Mr. Nelson-Moody’s work, with it’s unassuming presentation and quiet confidence (it is displayed just inside the entrance of the exhibit - I passed by it at least twice before I really saw it) intrigued and confused me a bit, so I decided to look into it. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to perform a phone interview with him in order to aid my research into his spindle whorl.
Prior to conducting the interview, I wasn’t sure which direction my research would to take and had reached a wall. However, speaking with Mr. Nelson-Moody and making connections to the material we had learned in class, opened up a number of ways that I could look at his piece and explain the different layers of meaning and knowledge encoded within it. I decided to look at the piece in three ways: as a functional tool, as an art piece, and as a contemporary commentary on a historical narrative. Most importantly, from working with Mr. Nelson-Moody and taking this course, I learned of the many valid and legitimate ways of understanding, despite how differences may make them appear. By that, I mean, that despite the fact that I can look at the piece one way and the artist can look at the piece another, neither viewpoint is valid or invalid - all that these various viewpoints do is create an opportunity for discussion and learning. This particular work is intensely personal to the artists and I am thankful that he shared his stories, his background, and his inspiration with me.
As a result of this course, I believe that I approach my coursework in a more humble yet confident way than I had before. I am a much more active participant in the academic part of my education, more aware of my own social and political location and how that affects how I see the world, and more open to ways of seeing the world that may be different from my own but also legitimate.
Excellence...
“I am requesting that you share your paper and the interview with the Burke folks and with Nelson-Moody. I think you displayed an extremely nuanced and thoughtful analysis throughout your entire paper” (Professor Belarde-Lewis).
I worked extremely hard on this paper. In part because I really enjoyed the class and I wanted to do well, but also because I wanted to do the piece and the artist justice. After learning, in the class, about the historic injustices committed against native communities and realizing how important and complex native art is, I had to be careful and respectful of the way that I presented the information that I found. Historically, native art has been outlawed, stolen, destroyed, and unlawfully sold. Contemporarily, native artists are, and their art is, many times stereotyped or relegated to “Indian arts and crafts.” Negotiating the balance between what it means to produce Native art and the interventions that Native artists can make as well as entering into an already nuanced and complex conversation is personal, difficult, and requisite of care.
As a student, I am dedicated to excellence and above-average work and it is always my goal to improve and do better than the last time. I was very proud of the work that I had done in the course and to receive the above comment from my professor was extremely validating and reflective of all the effort that I put into my research paper. I hope to share my experience in this class as evidence that I can and do excel at the things that I involve myself in. As a personal standard, I constantly strive to do my best, every time.