Native American Art

by Delaynna Trim, Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art Curator

With October comes Fall with pumpkin spice and falling leaves. There are a few holidays in October including Halloween and on October 14 - Columbus Day and Indigenous People’s Day. The Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art houses and exhibits many Native American art and artifacts. In the Native American gallery, there are art and objects from many different tribes including several from this area. 

I love seeing the different styles from the different time periods and tribes. There is a Kiowa dress made of buckskins from the 1890s, a Seminole ribbon shirt from the 1940s or 50s, and an Osage dance outfit made for one of the monks from the 1980s. The wonderful thing about these pieces of clothing is that they open us up to the stories about the tribes during those times. What were these pieces of clothing for – everyday use, special ceremonies, etc. What were the people who wore these pieces of clothing doing? Who were they? How is their life different from ours now? 

Osage Dance Outfit

Kiowa Dress

That is the wonderful thing about museums – everything in them tell a story. 

Among the art are two pieces by Earnest Spybuck, an Absentee Shawnee who was from

Cattle Drive by Ernest Spybuck

the Tecumseh area.  His works are very detailed, showing scenes from everyday life. In Cattle Drive, you can see what life was like for these cowboys. Some of the cowboys are cooking, some are playing cards, and some are corralling the cattle. There is even a dog looking for a snack! You get a great sense of what life was like for these men.

Untitled by Ernest Spybuck

The other Spybuck painting illustrates the beginning of the War Dance known as “Riding In.” In addition to the men on horseback, you see the wagons and encampment in the back. 

Anthropologist Mark Harrington was traveling among the tribes in Oklahoma when he heard of Spybuck’s artistic talent. Spybuck created many watercolors for Harrington of life amongst the tribes between 1910 and 1921. Many of Spybuck’s works are now owned by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.

The MGMoA also has a ledger book by Chief Big Bow which shows images of daily life from the 1870s. Ledger books were often used because they were an easy to find source of paper in the Plains in the mid-1800s. Originally the tribes used animal hides for their artwork. Ledger art was a way to capture scenes of everyday life as well as special occasions.

For videos on ledger art and other art projects, check out https://www.mgmoa.org/art-projects.

Ledger Art

Supplies:

Lined paper and colored pencils, markers, or crayons

Create your own ledger art by illustrating a day in your life. Who are you including?  What are they wearing? What activities are they doing?