Jessica Crabtree

The other definition of “taking the family out for fast food”…

Photo from National Geographic.

July 26, 1796: Birth of painter George Catlin

George Catlin was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, into the large family of a Revolutionary War veteran. His mother’s and grandmother’s accounts of their experiences as Indian captives may have sparked his early fascination with Native Americans that later became a lifelong passion. As a young man he abandoned a law career to accompany expeditions researching and documenting indigenous peoples throughout North and South America.

During the 1830s, he traveled extensively through the Midwest and the Great Plains, where he spent weeks and months at a time among the Indian nations of the Mississippi and Missouri river valleys – becoming one of the first Europeans to do so. The notes and drawings he compiled during this tour formed the basis of his collection of documentary paintings, which he later published in a two-volume work entitled Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians. He amassed a huge collection of artifacts and kept a detailed record of the customs and appearances of the Native American peoples he encountered. His total output consisted of more than 600 original paintings and over 700 drawings and sketches, making him one of the premier painters of Native Americana.

Catlin attempted unsuccessfully to sell his portfolio to the United States government as a public historical exhibit; eventually he sold his original works to a private collector. He spent much of his later career traveling, writing memoirs, and marketing his work in European tours. He died in New Jersey in 1872; his works were later donated to the Smithsonian Museum.

About His Work

George Catlin is certainly not a painter who became famous solely on account of his artistic skills. In technical terms, his works range from mediocre to downright primitive, as some critics have labeled it. What drove his career was an almost obsessive desire to portray Native Americans from across the continent in the most original setting possible.

Like Edward Curtis, he felt compelled to portray the appearance and customs of peoples whom he felt were a “vanishing race.” In some cases, this proved to be fateful; for example, his extensive work among the Mandan barely preceded a smallpox epidemic that reduced their number to a mere handful. As a result, Catlin’s depictions of the Mandan are valuable today because no artist after him was able to produce such a successful pictorial record of them.

Above: The White Cloud, Head Chief of the Iowas; Below: Mandan Buffalo Dance

There is much controversy over the duplicity in Catlin’s portrayals of Indians. On one hand, his genuine appreciation of Native Americans fueled his eagerness to preserve their cultural record; on the other, he stooped to using white models in Indian apparel for some paintings, and staging performing acts similar to later wild west shows as part of his marketing scheme. Both of these contributed to spreading and reinforcing damaging stereotypes that are still prevalent today.

Right: Sha-kó-ka (“Mint”), a Mandan girl (1832)

The fact remains that his personal mentality in regards to American Indians was far ahead of his time. Whatever his motives in promoting his own work, and his means for marketing it, his profound respect for the cultures he encountered was remarkable, and would have still been uncommon a generation or more ahead of his time.

His confidence in the character of Indian society as a whole was boundless. “The very use of the word savage, as it is applied in its general sense, I am inclined to believe is an abuse of the word, and the people to whom it is applied,” Catlin asserted. Towards the end of his career, he remarked, “No Indian ever betrayed me, struck me with a blow, or stole from me a shilling’s worth of my property.” And this at a time when Indians were still perceived largely as inferior humans predisposed toward aggression and brutality. (continue reading…)

I’m proud to announce that my blog is now available as an e-newsletter. Now you can have monthly highlights delivered right to your Inbox!

Keep up to date on the latest posts from Jessica Crabtree Native American Portraits & Wildlife. Categories include:

*Artist’s Tip Bag – hints and ideas from behind-the-scenes of pastel painting
*Sneak Peek: In Progress – a step-by-step view of my latest painting in the making
*This Day in History – biography, important events & perspectives from Native American history
*Recommendations - links and reviews for websites, media, and academic resources
*Pic Picks: Best of Wildlife – amazing shots of wildlife from all over the web

…And much more. Signing up is easy and totally free (and your information is safe – I’ll never share your e-mail address with anyone). To add your name to my mailing list, click the “newsletter” link at the very top of this page, or fill in the newsletter form on the sidebar to your right. Or just click here.

Don’t forget you can always follow my blog via RSS feed. If you’ve enjoyed my blog, or have suggestions for improvement, please drop me a line and let me know your thoughts. I’m always glad to have your feedback – that’s what makes blogging worthwhile!

Purple is the most mysterious and elusive color in the spectrum, and the rarest color found in nature. The expense of purple pigments is responsible for its association with royalty throughout history – a distinction for which it is best known. Garments dyed with the Tyrian purple manufactured from murex snails were a status symbol throughout Europe and Asia, and for many centuries were worn only by the wealthiest tier of society, including kings and queens, giving rise to the name “royal purple.” For the Phoenicians who originally produced this dye, the color became a national signature; their name comes from the Greek “phoinikes” meaning “purple.”

Elsewhere in the world, the indigo and purple shells of certain clams and whelks were ground into wampum beads by Native Americans of the eastern seaboard. These beads were woven into belts for record-keeping purposes and for legal and ceremonial contracts.

Purple combines characteristics of both cool and warm color groups, making it balanced and tranquil. It is easily incorporated as a secondary color anywhere black, blues, or browns are used, and is best balanced by accent colors with opposite characteristics, such as yellow or orange.

Q: What’s the difference between purple and violet?
A: Purple is a color, the combination of blue and red. Violet is a light signature or a range in the light spectrum. It marks the far end of the visible light spectrum and has the lowest wavelength and the highest frequency humans can see short of the ultraviolet range. True violet can’t be reproduced through the primary color scheme, so for all practical purposes, we use purple.

National Geographic Photo Gallery: Life in Color – Purple

Something remarkable is happening in Indian country; Tribes whose lands were once taken from them are setting an example for how to restore the environment.

A must-see showcase of Native American communities across North America that are using their traditional understanding of ecology to restore and protect natural habitats. Photography by Jack Dykinga.

View this feature: NatGeo Photography – Native Lands

Here’s a story for love of irony…
The Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team has been denied the opportunity to participate in the World Lacrosse Games in Great Britain – the sport’s equivalent of the world cup – after the US government refused to recognize their national return passports.

The scuffle over passport jurisdiction is not new, since the territory of the Six Nations straddles both the US and Canada, resulting in a slew of on-going border disputes. But although these documents had been recognized in the past, when the Iroquois team participated in previous matches, recent regulation changes and international travel red tape have left the passports issued by the Iroquois Confederacy considered “sub-standard.”

Indian Country Today: Iroquois Nationals Forfeits First Game

New York Times: Bid for Trophy Becomes a Test of Iroquois Identity

Onondaga Nation: The Iroquois and Lacrosse

The irony of this is so obvious that it’s hard to swallow; in the first place, since the Iroquois invented the game of lacrosse, and it is one of their most important sacred traditions; in the second place, because it’s a slap in the face to the very sovereignty of the Iroquois Nations (yes, I said sovereignty, because they exist legally as a distinct nation within the United States). We’re talking about the very same government that helped to give us our sovereignty.

This issue seems to illustrate the way the world’s major powers exercise their own arbitrary judgment over the rights and self-determination of indigenous peoples in general – and even sovereign states – who have the misfortune of being too small to matter. It’s a sorry picture, but that’s the way it is.

House Resolution 331: Recognizing the sovereignty of the Iroquois Confederation and acknowledging its particular contribution to the foundation of the United States (PDF)

See also:

The Founding Sachems: Indian Traditions of Democracy

A Few Thoughts on the Fourth: The Native American Face of Independence Day

I’ve just released the 2010 edition of my digital portfolio. It’s powered by the Issuu publishing module, an incredibly sophisticated script that converts standard media documents into digital magazines. The function and appearance are similar to Flash, but the load time is minimal.

Click here to view it as a magazine in full-screen mode.

Click for screenshots:

Please check it out and leave your feedback!

July 15, 1606: Birth of Rembrandt van Rijn

As far as I can remember, Rembrandt was the first great artist I got to know. I recall being a toddler with a big book in my lap, gazing at Rembrandt’s deep, dark, thickly textured scenes and the garishly-dressed figures with penetrating stares, and thinking, “This must be the guy who invented painting.”

Belshazzar’s Feast, 1638

I wasn’t quite right on that score, but few artists – and few great masters – ever achieved the status that Rembrandt did. His talent was and still is phenomenal and his style completely unmistakable. The strikingly dramatic chiaroscuro that first caught my eye, and the oil paints slapped on in heavy layers make his work completely original. Despite this fact, his output is widely varied – ranging from the Renaissance style of his earlier pieces, to the photorealism of the Dutch and Flemish schools, to the strongly Impressionist flavor of his later works.

The interesting thing is, much of his phenomenal ability may have come from a form of disability – similar to Einstein’s abnormal brain anatomy. He is believed to have suffered from a syndrome known as “stereo blindness” which causes a person to see three-dimensional objects in two dimensions. Researchers believe that rather than being a handicap, this may have facilitated his ability to transfer images to paper or canvas – a process which normally inhibits the average person when first learning to draw. (continue reading…)

My latest finished painting (click for larger image), now available on my Gallery.

Acoma, 18×24 pastel on suede matboard.
The original photo was taken in 1905 by Edward Curtis.

About the Acoma

The Acoma people, who call themselves “Haaku,” are one of nearly two dozen Pueblo communities in northern New Mexico. Their pueblo, known as “Sky City,” is built on top of a mesa where for centuries the only access was a single staircase carved by hand out of the sheer sandstone walls. Thanks in part to this defensive position, Acoma is possibly the oldest continuously inhabited constructed settlement in North America.

From its remote perch on the steep white plateau, the Acoma pueblo has witnessed the rise and fall of the Aztec and Maya empires (its trading partners in ancient times), the incursions of Spanish conquistadors, and the American conquest of the Southwest. Today, the Acoma still live in their ancestral fortress, where they continue to practice traditional arts, ceremonies, and farming.

More on Acoma history:

Acoma Sky City

Pueblo of Acoma

Courtesy of the National Wildlife Federation 2009 Photo Contest.

A quick sketch of a rottweiler puppy, done in 4B graphite.

The Native American Face of Independence Day

The Fourth of July celebrates the day in 1776 when colonial American representatives ratified the Declaration of Independence, making official their intentions to break away from England and organize a sovereign government. We all know what that meant for the Native Americans of this continent, whose numbers had already been dramatically reduced since the time European explorers first set foot on American soil. At the time of the Revolution, the thirteen American colonies didn’t extend far beyond the Atlantic seaboard, and many European settlements still coexisted with large Native populations. But it was gradually becoming clear that the colonists were set on all-out continental expansion, and forming their own nation was part of that process. America achieved its sovereignty largely at the expense of Native Americans (and the imported African slaves who formed much of its economy). So it’s understandable that many Indians today have some not-so-positive feelings about the holiday. (continue reading…)