All Indians Don’t Live West of the Mississippi
From September 9th - 11th, K Art will participate in the 2022 Armory Show. The gallery's exhibition will juxtapose works by established artists G. Peter Jemison and Edgar Heap of Birds with works by emerging artists Henry Payer and Erin Gingrich. Despite their different timelines, each continues to explore timeless themes in Indigenous arts, such as flora and fauna, sovereignty, and American history.
Namely, G. Peter Jemison (Seneca, Heron Clan) is no stranger to American history, even pursuing his graduate studies in Native/American Studies at SUNY Buffalo. In All Indians Don't Live West of the Mississippi (c. 1987), Jemison satirically creates a 'United' States divided by the Mississippi River. As the title suggests, he visualizes the ignorance and bigotry targeted at his Indigenous roots and America's cultural diversity. On the west half, the label "ALL INDIANS" (the' S' hooked into 'MISSISSIPPI") is engraved in bold lettering amongst a fleet of muddy ochre swatches. In an orderly fashion, a black-and-white checkerboard stretches across the Eastern Coast, alluding to “checkerboarding” Native lands, a U.S. land grant strategy that fractured Native cultures. A railroad also cuts through the river and connects the Great Lakes to the West Coast.
"Most non-Indians cannot imagine that there are Indian Nations east of the Mississippi River," he writes. "Indigenous Nations are all but invisible except to our nearest neighbors (they are often prejudiced in their view); it is a paradox." Indeed, many Native nations currently reside in the American West as European settlers decimated Eastern tribes. However, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, for example, continues to stand tall. After nearly a decade directing The American Indian Community House Gallery in NYC, he had just begun working for Ganondagan State Historic Site in present-day Victor, NY - what was once the largest Seneca village in the 17th century. Despite his 1987 relocation, he was keenly aware of the ignorance regarding the Haudenosaunee's presence (or Native presence in general) from his experience in New York. But these prejudices go far beyond city lines.
"Haudenosaunee people are an example of the influence Indigenous nations had upon the White settlers. Our form of democratically chosen leaders was copied by the 'Founding Fathers' of the United States. Included is the idea of a Union of States with a central Federal Government. Individuals including Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and James Madison were aware of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy / Six Nations: Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and Tuscarora."
Even though All Indians Don't Live West of the Mississippi was created 35 years ago, its message is still relevant today. In 2007, The United Nations adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in which the Haudenosaunee Confederacy played a crucial role in its progress. Additionally, the Haudenosaunee Nationals' Lacrosse Team - independent from the United States Nationals' Lacrosse Team - won Bronze at the 2022 World Games in Limerick, Ireland. All players traveled on Haudenosaunee Passports. "So, all this is to say we are here - East of The Mississippi - alive and well."
K Art is honored to represent G. Peter Jemison. All Indians Don't Live West of the Mississippi will be on display alongside the Seneca artist's other works on paper at Booth #212 at the Javits Center in New York.
For inquiries, please contact contact@thek.art.