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Course: For teachers > Unit 2
Lesson 6: Go deeper: Indigenous peoples: art since 1800- Two sides of Lakota life on a beaded suitcase
- The Pueblo Modernism of Velino Shije Herrera
- Michel Tuffery, Pisupo Lua Afe
- What's in a map? Jaune Quick-To-See Smith's "State Names"
- Paikea at the American Museum of Natural History
- Wendy Red Star, 1880 Crow Peace Delegation
- Speaking to past and present, Clarissa Rizal’s Resilience Robe
- Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds, Native Hosts
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Two sides of Lakota life on a beaded suitcase
Nellie Two Bear Gates, a Lakota artist, skillfully combines traditional beadwork with scenes of Native American life on a valise. She depicts a wedding ceremony and reservation life, showing the wealth a bride brings and the family's cattle roping. This artwork highlights the enduring vitality of Native American culture. Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.
Video transcript
(upbeat piano music) - [Jill] We're in a storage room here at the Minneapolis
Institute of Art, MIA. Looking at an object that
seems to combine two forms that I don't expect to see together. We have this valise, and yet it's decorated so finely with these images that
recall Native American life. - [Beth] The artist who created this, Nellie Two Bear Gates, was
from Standing Rock area. And her father was a noted warrior, his name was Two Bears. And he fought at the
Battle of Little Bighorn. - [Jill] So she comes from
this prominent family, but she's engaging in beadwork
that goes back centuries. - [Beth] Nellie incorporates
beads made in Italy and brought into the plains
as early as the 17th century, early 18th century. She's executing the
same kind of techniques that are also used in quillwork. Drawing upon her traditions in
which everything was adorned. And then she just takes it up a notch and creates a magical
view of Lakota life ways. - [Jill] On one side, we see
men on horses roping cattle. Then we see another kind of beadwork at the top with abstract forms, where the beads are placed in rows. - [Beth] She combined abstraction that is typically found in Lakota artwork, and then the figurative. She was a true maverick in doing this. And to be able to make cattle
seem like they're moving, and a horse tail twitching, and a rope meandering, is a great accomplishment to do on beads. - [Jill] So this would
have been beaded on hide and then attached to
the valise afterwards. The Lakota were a primarily
nomadic people by the 1700s. And that's because of
the arrival of the horse with the Spanish in the 16th century, and a change in their way of life. And it's interesting to think about a culture that is nomadic as we're looking at an object that helps people to travel, this valise. - [Beth] Women would be on horseback, adorn their horses in full beaded regalia. They would adorn the
sides of their saddles with containers that had abstract designs. They would have pipe bags
made for their family members. They would have what's called
teepee bags or possible bags, made for any possible thing to fit into. So it makes absolute sense that Nellie draws upon her history to create this new form
within a container. - [Jill] This was a gift. - [Beth] We believe that this
was made for her relative, Ida Claymore. You can see her name on the
top right on one of the sides. - [Jill] We think that what's
represented is marriage, the coming together of two families, and the wealth that the bride
would bring to her marriage. - [Beth] You see 10 horses
framing two sides of the valise. And then at the bottom left, a horse fully decked-out in
regalia with elaborate beadwork that is presented to a young woman who is wearing a beautiful dress and has a white breastplate. - [Jill] And this is presumably the bride. And she stands next to additional items that she would have
brought to her marriage. - [Beth] To her left,
you see a little pail, and that indicates food and sustenance. And then you see small little bags that could be saddle bags, likely pipe bags that are made for holding pipes and tamper and tobacco. And you see these
complicated buffalo hides that are fully embellished. And then a trade cloth
with a blanket strip bursting from the center. And then at the end, an additional robe. - [Jill] And so we're looking at objects that would have taken months to decorate, so we have a real sense
of the incredible wealth that this bride is bringing. And then above, we see what
are likely her parents. - [Beth] Her mother is to the right, and she holds a cup that symbolizes sharing food and providing
a marvelous feast with all of the pails in the middle. And to the left is probably her father. - [Jill] And to the far right, a teepee. - [Beth] The teepee is the
symbol of family, the tiyospaye. The tiyospaye, in Lakota, means
the center of the universe. Everything that you do in life is for the benefit of the tiyospaye. - [Jill] What's interesting
is that on the other side, we see a very different scene. We see the scene of roping cattle. - [Beth] When you're
looking at the depiction of an important ceremony celebrating the importance
of the kin network, that is often what is typically understood as authentic Lakota culture. But what Nellie does so beautifully is she incorporates on the other side that which is just as traditional, just as conventional, in her lifetime. Wrestling with cattle,
having particular brands. And those brands identify
individual families. - [Jill] So what Nellie
is giving us a view of is reservation life at this point. After 1870 or so, the Lakota are living
exclusively on reservations. - [Beth] After the buffalo were decimated by the United States government-- - [Jill] To cut off the food
supply of Native Americans. - [Beth] Native American
people could no longer find the traditional sustenance
that had fed them for years. Native people were incarcerated on very small tracts of land. - [Jill] So when we're
looking at this object, we see the horses that are coming from the Spanish colonists, we're seeing the cattle
that they're now relying on because of the actions of
the United States government. We're seeing a changing, more
circumscribed way of life. But a way of life that's also continuous. - [Beth] One thing that
lasted was beadwork. - [Jill] And this reminds
us of the continued vitality and presence of Native Americans
here in the United States. - [Beth] Both of the
scenes that she depicts are happening today in Lakota societies. They change, they reform, but they are essential
for Lakota life ways. (upbeat piano music)