Jessica Crabtree

I’ll admit it – I’m a junkie for good little gadgets like this.

Copy the URL of any image viewed in your web browser to generate a color scheme (complete with hex codes, so no guesswork). Simple but effective – I can think of multiple ways this tool could come in very handy! Just off the top of my head:

1) Graphic design, web design/blogging – creating templates, identifying color codes, etc.

2) Art – use it to analyze colors in a reference picture, then select your paint colors. Or make choosing a mat color easy. Or use it with a color wheel to narrow down your color scheme.

Click the screenshot to see an example:

TRY IT OUT:
http://www.degraeve.com/color-palette/

Click for larger view.
Image from Photos8.com – free stock photography
(yes, completely free – a highly recommended source!)

Indian Country Today: Uneasy in US, Iroquois believe survival’s at stake
By Samantha Gross, Associated Press Writer

This is an extensive and thorough news story by a writer for the Associated Press, detailing the history behind the recent passport scuffle for the Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team, and the sovereignty issues facing the Haudenosaunee. Highly recommended reading.

Really nice interactive website from WebExhibits – explores the historic use of pigments, the science of painting, and color theory. One of my favorite reference sites!

WebExhibits: Pigments Through The Ages

A few sample screenshots (click for larger view):

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…)

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

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!

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…)

Indian traditions of democracy: From the NY Times Op-Ed Contributor

The Founding Sachems
By CHARLES C. MANN

SEEKING to understand this nation’s democratic spirit, Alexis de Tocqueville journeyed to the famous centers of American liberty (Boston, Philadelphia, Washington), stoically enduring their “infernal” accommodations, food and roads and chatting up almost everyone he saw.

He even marched in a Fourth of July parade in Albany just ahead of a big float that featured a flag-waving Goddess of Liberty, a bust of Benjamin Franklin, and a printing press that spewed out copies of the Declaration of Independence for the cheering crowd. But for all his wit and intellect, Tocqueville never realized that he came closest to his goal just three days after the parade, when he stopped at the “rather unhealthy but thickly peopled” area around Syracuse.

Tocqueville’s fascination with the democratic spirit was prescient. Expressed politically in Americans’ insistence on limited government and culturally in their long-standing disdain for elites, that spirit has become one of this country’s great gifts to the world.

When rich London and Paris stockbrokers proudly retain their working-class accents, when audiences show up at La Scala in track suits and sneakers, when South Africans and Thais complain that the police don’t read suspects their rights the way they do on “Starsky & Hutch,” when anti-government protesters in Beirut sing “We Shall Overcome” in Lebanese accents — all these raspberries in the face of social and legal authority have a distinctly American tone. Or, perhaps, a distinctly Native American tone, for among its wellsprings is American Indian culture, especially that of the Iroquois. (continue reading…)

A Native American Take on Independence (American Public Media)
by Krissy Clark; July 5, 2008

Charles Hudson is a member of the Mandan-Hidatsa tribe, born on the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. But by the time he came along, in 1959, much of the reservation was under 300 feet of Missouri River water, thanks to a giant dam built by the federal government, which relocated most of the people in his tribe.

Tribal leadership fought the project for years, but failed. When the tribe’s chairman finally went to Washington, D.C., to give up the land, he had to take off his glasses to weep. A picture of the moment made the front page of the Washington Post. Flooding of the reservation started soon after. “Both my mother and my father had to leave the town that they grew up in, where their families and ancestors had all lived,” Hudson says.

This was not the first nor the last conflict Charles and his tribe had with American institutions. (continue reading…)

Have you noticed? I’m sort of proud of this little logo showing that my site is 100% wind powered. This blog, along with its companion photo blog and my home page, are all hosted by IPower, whose facilities across the country are run entirely on wind energy. Being green is such a big thing these days, and with good reason; so it’s nice to be able to make a little difference for the environment right here from my studio.

Usually my tips are geared towards art and photography, but in this case I’m taking a minute to promote the hosting service that makes all this possible. I don’t mind showing IPower’s ads on my page because I’ve been so pleased with their services over the years I’ve been with them. Besides being green, their servers are extremely reliable and their hosting plans come with an array of useful web tools including WordPress, ZenPhoto, and b2evolution’s PHP platform blog – all of which I use myself. They come with a host (no pun intended) of other features for all levels of users from beginners to programmers. Their interface is very user-friendly (and very clean and professional – no tacky ads) and their customer service is bar none.

Bottom line, if you’re starting a website, looking to switch hosts or just renewing your domains, I would strongly recommend looking into their services. Best of luck in the WWW!

It is often said that music is the pulse of a people, and there is no better way to appreciate the many facets of a culture than by exploring its musical traditions. Most Native American musicians today combine traditional forms, such as wooden flute playing, vocal solos, and Plains-style group singing (or “powwow” music), with modern styles and instrumentation. I’ve put together a list of some of the top artists and a few notes on where to hear them.

Joanne Shenandoah

Shenandoah is a member of the Oneida nation and uses her music to express her passionate love of Iroquois history and culture. She’s a woman of remarkable grace and poise and her voice is truly divine! If you’ve never heard her singing you’re in for a wonderful experience.

Shenandoah’s music varies in genre to include traditional Iroquois songs, country ballads, symphonic music – even techno.

Top picks: Peacemaker’s Journey, a song cycle sung partly in English, partly in Oneida, recounts the founding of the Iroquois Confederacy.

  Listen to samples:

  “Deer Dance”
  Covenant: “100 Winters”
  Peacemaker’s Journey: “Aiionwatha Forgives”
  Peacemaker’s Journey: “Peace and Power”

Robert Mirabal

Robert Mirabal hails from the pueblo of Taos in New Mexico where he grew up immersed in traditional Pueblo culture. He began his career as a flute maker and is now recognized as one of the pre-eminent producers of the Native American flute, with several of his instruments now part of the Smithsonian’s collection. His flute playing is masterful in itself; in his hands it is capable of an astonishing range of expression.

Mirabal has worked in many styles from traditional to rock, both solo and ensemble. Sings both in English and Tewa. His albums are remarkable for their vivid representation of Pueblo life and culture; personally I like his older music best.

Top Picks: Taos Tales is a colorful (but tasteful) blend of flute playing and native song with electronica. Music from a Painted Cave was recorded from a live performance and includes some of his best tracks.

  Listen to samples:

  Music from a Painted Cave: “Painted Caves”
  Taos Tales: “Popay Runner”
  Taos Tales: “Ee-You-Oo”
  Indians, Indians: “Blue Lake”

Mary Youngblood

Youngblood is of Seminole and Aleut heritage, and an incredibly gifted songwriter and flute player. She’s one of the best choices for those interested in any genre of Native American music.

Top Picks: My two favorite albums are Beneath the Raven Moon (acoustic folk-blend with flute solos) and Heart of the World (also featuring Joanne Shenandoah).

  Listen to samples:
  “Beneath the Raven Moon”
  Beneath the Raven Moon: “Sacred Place”
  Heart of the World: “Tears for Kientepoos”

Burning Sky

Contemporary acoustic fusion with a Southwest flavor, from a talented group of instrumentalists with Navajo/Ute background.

  Listen to samples:

  Spirits in the Wind: “Dog Soldiers”
  Blood of the Land: “Desert Wind”
  Blood of the Land: “Abalone Heart”
  A Simple Man: “Buffalo Chips”

(continue reading…)