Trade (Gifts for Trading Land with White People)

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (1940-)

Oil paint and mixed media, collage, objects, canvas, 152.4 x 431.8 cm.

1992

Chrysler Museum of Art

This artwork was created in the year of  500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in North America. That historical event is clearly not something to celebrate for Native Americans. Born as a French-Cree, Shoshone, and Salish at a reservation in Montana, Smith stated that if this art piece could speak, it might say: “Why won’t you consider trading the land we handed over to you for these silly trinkets that so honor us? Sound like a bad deal? Well, that’s the deal you gave us.”[1][2]

Native Americans gained stereotypes as a compensation for their lands. The found objects hanged on top of the paintings implicate the stereotypical images of Native Americans.[3] Native Americans and their cultures have been commoditized in a consumer society, and there is no reason for Non-Native Americans to be bothered. The dripping red pains over the canoe may represents the pain and anger that Smith is feeling.

A canoe is a symbol of a connection between Native Americans and Non-Native Americans. That image can also represent the identity of this artist. “I see myself as a bridge builder,” Smith says. “My art, my life experience, and my tribal ties are totally enmeshed. I go from one community with messages to the other, and I try to enlighten people.”[4]

[1] Arlene Hirschfelder, Artists and Craftspeople, American Indian Lives, New York: Facts On File, 1994, page 115.

[2] Gail Tremblay, “Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: Flathead Contemporary Artist,” the Missoula Art Museum, http://missoulaartmuseum.org/files/documents/collection/Montana%20Connections_Smith/TremblayEssay.pdf (Accessed 8 May 2016).

[3] Dr. Suzanne Newman Fricke, "Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Trade (Gifts for Trading Land with White People)," inSmarthistory, August 9, 2015, accessed May 25, 2016, http://smarthistory.org/jaune-quick-to-see-smith-trade-gifts-for-trading-land-with-white-people/ (accessed 25 May 2016). 

[4] “Jaune Quick-to-See Smith,” Smithsonian American Art Museum Renwick Gallery, http://www.americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artist/?id=4505 (accessed 17 May 2016).