Colleen Cutschall: Recovering the "New" World
by Richard Pearce, author of Women and Ledger Art: Four Contemporary Women Artists, published by the University of Arizona Press, 2013.
Besides being a well-known artist, Colleen Cutschall is a Professor Emerita, now retired from Brandon University in Manitoba. Her “lineage goes back to the Crazy Horse and Black Elk tiospaye, or extended family.” These two historic figures, she tells us, have played prominent roles in her life “as well as of the whole life of the Oglala people” because of their concern for maintaining and perpetuating the traditions that provide their identity as a people. Cutschall retains their concern in her restless search for knowledge, new perspectives, and mediums. One of her most famous projects is Spirit Warriors.
Spirit Warriors, Little Big Horn Aboriginal Memorial, 2002. Bronze, 35 x 14 ft, at the Little Big Horn Battlefield.
Colleen Cutschall's Spirit Warriors was designed for a site on the very ground and under the very sky that formed the physical and spiritual world of her ancestors, as well as those of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Crow, and Arikara warriors who had fought in the battle of the Little Big Horn. And it was designed for the spectator to look at the sculpture against the very plains where the battle was fought. Moreover, as the centerpiece for the Little Big Horn Aboriginal Monument, her sculpture helped change the site from a tribute to General Custer to a memorial where native people could honor the warriors, women, and children who died in the battle. (for more see pp. 80-85, Richard Pearce, Women and Ledger Art: Four Contemporary Women Artists, University of Arizona Press, 2013.
Blue Tipi Buon Viaggio / Brown Bag Series
Cutschall was a fellow at the Rockefeller Center in Bellagio, Italy in 2006. She took two suitcases, one with clothes for two months and the other with painting and office supplies. Bellagio was more of a tourist town so not many art supplies were available. She was lucky that other artists left materials behind, like inks. She came across shops with lots of old world maps and purchased some map paper there. "The bags were our lunch bags.... Over time I just collected the bags. I also thought of them as luggage for explorers, historical details and ideas."
"I started with tracking down the origins of the jean fabric used to make the blue tipis.* It took me to Genoa, and obviously Columbus came to mind, which then evolved to include more explorers and thoughts about how Aboriginal people became co-opted into the discovery myth. In the original proposal I was just going to look at Italian explorers and see if I could make any connection to a museum in Genoa called Castle Albertis or Castello d Alberti, which holds Hopi and Lakota collections.... There was not enough information other than that he was a big fan of Columbus and paid homage to him throughout the castle. All this connects with Pocahontas and Sitting Bull, going in the reverse direction, such as with the wild west shows. It brings the history full circle back to my country and the time period of the blue tipi."
*After the civil war there was not enough canvas to make tipi covers, so in 1868 they used jean fabric--hence the term blue tipi.
The text below is all by Colleen Cutschall.
Blue Tipi, Buon Viaggio Leif Erikson, Brown bag collage, 2012.
Brown paper bag, acrylic, ink wash, torn paper, cut-out forms such as figures, maps, text/labels and sculptural and two-dimensional images largely drawn from the internet and isolated or altered context.
Leif Erikson was an early Norse explorer who followed in his father’s journey to Europe, Iceland, and Greenland in the year 1000. From there he sought the land called “Vinland,” the land of wine. He sailed west and established a community in L’Anse Aux Meadows, a settlement in Newfoundland, Canada. There was no wine there and so they did not stay long—but they were probably the first to encounter Aboriginal people of the east coast of Canada. Their interaction is not known. While he created a colony, he did not colonize the Aboriginal people he met on this journey.
Nearly all images of sailors and explorers are depicted with them pointing to the horizon in search of fabled lands or sometimes shielding their eyes as they look off into the distance. Leif is no different in that respect. On one side of the bag he is shown as a virile young man. on the other an old wizened man at the height of his powers above a map of the journey he made. He comes from well-established tribes and clans with their own creation myths diametrically opposed to the European Christian world. Lief’s goal, Vinland, is more mundane than that of Saint Brendan.
On one facing side of the bag, Leif is shown in medieval style on the prow of his boat with the older version of him attached to the sail. On the other facing side is a painted image of the famous carved Norse prows, dragon-like and fierce. The serpent/dragon image becomes a symbol used by European Christians to identify the Norse enemy. This could well be the reason that Leif gets diminished attention for his explorations as Christianity comes to dominate the European world.
Blue Tipi, Buon Viaggio, Brown bag collage, St. Brendan, 2012.
Brown paper bag, acrylic, ink wash, torn paper, cut-out forms such as figures, maps, text/labels and sculptural and two-dimensional images largely drawn from the internet and isolated or altered context.
Saint Brendan was a medieval Irish monk who sailed the Atlantic in about 700 with a group of monks. He was in search of the “Land of the Blessed” or the “Land of the Saints.” His exploits are covered in a book called Navagatio Sancti Brendani. This tale was to influence many explorers that succeeded him, particularly Columbus. He makes the journey in a wood boat covered with ox hide, an Irish currach. One of the amazing stories is when he thinks he lands on an island and starts a fire only to find out the island is a whale. Ultimately he sights Newfoundland on the east coast of Canada and then returns home.
Not only was Saint Brendan the first recorded explorer to sight North America, his is also the first brown bag collage of the series. As professor at Brandon University I was intrigued by his name, since it is a variation of Brandon. The university logo appears in the upper left corner to make the connection between where this journey tracing the colonization of North America began for the artist. It happens that the Brandon University logo includes a blue tipi at its center.
The bag has a Gothic window with shutter flaps. Inside is a stained glass image of Saint Brendan in his boat atop a whale; hence “A Whale of a Tale” sub-labels the image. In the stained glass image are also dolphins, which followed alongside the explorers. The sides of the bag are maps of various parts of his journey along with medieval world maps. The other facing side includes one of these world maps with a replica of Saint Brendan’s boat with the Christian cross image on the sail. The world map is surrounded by very saintly looking saints with the label of “Promise Land of the Saints,” his ultimate goal.
Blue Tipi, Buon Viaggio, Columbus I Brown bag collage, 2012.
Brown paper bag, acrylic, ink wash, torn paper, cut-out forms such as figures, maps, text/labels and sculptural and two-dimensional images largely drawn from the internet and isolated or altered context.
The identity of the man known to the world as Christopher Columbus is not as predictable as one might expect. His attribute of discovering America is rarely questioned and so he remains central to the discovery myth. He is often portrayed as a wealthy Genoese merchant, usually pointing and holding a scrolled map. He has many sculptural depictions and as many two-dimensional images that uphold him as the European discoverer of the New World.
On the side of the Columbus 1 bag is a list of all the names he is known by in various languages. One of the facing sides illustrates his mapped journey with proud images of his accomplishment. The other facing side poses the questions about who he might really be, such as a Catalan Jew who took refuge in Genoa. An interesting sculpture of Columbus is as a young man in dungarees, still pointing, is also on this side of the bag.
The source of jean fabric in the US was originally taken from a fabric made in Genoa and worn as the outfit of the Genoese navy. While out to sea the dungarees were washed in salty sea water and dried in the sun, causing them to fade and turn white. This is the source of naval blues and whites that are still worn today by many navies. The idea of denim was later invented by the French who added a white thread to the fabric. Denim was the pant of choice for the common people in the French Revolution and jeans were made a popular work pant in the US through the distribution of Levi Strauss. When canvas rations were not available to the tribes in 1868 the ration was replaced with blue jean fabric from which the Sicangu Lakota fashioned their tipis that year.
Blue Tipi, Buon Viaggio, Columbus 2, Brown bag collage, 2012
Brown paper bag, acrylic, ink wash, torn paper, cut-out forms such as figures, maps, text/labels and sculptural and two-dimensional images largely drawn from the internet and isolated or altered context.
The Columbus 2 bag points to other discoveries that are more original than the New World theme. A facing side is decorated with his ships or replicas of them and the only known portrait of Columbus done from life that is framed by a blue tipi doorway.
The other facing side displays a map of the Sargasso Sea where Columbus witnesses and records the phenomenon of green floating lights seen at night in the area now known as the Bermuda Triangle. Given how little he actually wrote about his journey this is a significant passage. Also on this side of the bag is a sculpture of Columbus facing the sea and reading a book that happens to be the travels of Navagatio Sancti Brendani, an Irish monk who claimed to have seen the new world. In case they are not too visible in the wood cut, brown ink was added to the bodies of Aboriginal people to identify them.
Wrapping around the side of the bag is a depiction of Columbus arrival and trading deals with the local Aboriginal people receiving jewelry and silver dinner objects looking very delighted. Only one smart Aboriginal man can be seen running away. In the distance, other Aboriginal men can be seen loading bags of cacao beans. Hence, Columbus brings chocolate to Europe that sees the rise of the big chocolate dynasties, such as Hershey’s, that became household brands.
Blue Tipi, Buon Viaggio, Pocahontas, Brown bag collage, 2012.
Brown paper bag, acrylic, ink wash, torn paper, cut-out forms such as figures, maps, text/labels and sculptural and two-dimensional images largely drawn from the internet and isolated or altered context.
Pocahontas gave meaning to the phrase "Indian Princess," as daughter of a powerful chief of the Powhatan confederacy. Her life was incredibly filled with extremes as a result of contact with Europeans.
As a young woman she acts as an ambassador of her people to the European village settlements in Virginia, learning to speak English. She is repaid for her kindnesses by being kidnapped, enslaved and taken onto British ships, probably for ransom of land. Later released, she supposedly intercedes for Captain John Smith as his life is endangered by her father, and thus he is allowed to live. It is likely he made promises of some substance to Powhatan before he returns to England. Once there he promptly writes fictitious tales of his journey into the new world and tells the story of his rescue by an Indian Princess. And thus makes a name for himself as an author. When Powhatan inquires about John Smith he is told by subsequent European travellers that he has died.
Pocahontas continues to make allies with the settlements and to prove her good faith, she is assimilated through baptism. She then marries John Rolfe and off she goes to England where she is presented to the English royalty and is of great wonder to the Europeans. While there, Pocahontas hears of the author, John Smith, and asks to meet him. The words of her father ring true, “Your countrymen lie.”
All of these events are captured on the Pocahontas brown bag facing sides. A woodcut image of her in a high, lace collared, European dress was done from life. Later the harsh woodcut image is translated into a painting that softens her colonized image. Another image of her shows her in contemporary fashion of the age with a pipe and some feathered fashion decoration that could easily be worn today. She does have a son who returns to Virginia. One of the side images is a list of the First Families of Virginia who claim lineage from Pocahontas, including two First Ladies of the United States. She was made into the image of New World royalty, worthy of descent. The contemporary image is a young German/Quechua-Huachipaeri woman, fourteen years old, who portrayed her in a 2005 film called The New World.
Blue Tipi, Buon Viaggio, Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, and White Eagle. Brown bag collage, 2012.
Brown paper bag, acrylic, ink wash, torn paper, cut-out forms such as figures, maps, text/labels and sculptural and two-dimensional images largely drawn from the internet and isolated or altered context.
The final bag in the series takes one back to the land of the Lakota with actual and fictitious images of Red Cloud, Sitting Bull and a new character, Buffalo Bill Cody, who renamed himself White Eagle. Buffalo Bill retakes the dangerous west from the war chief, Red Cloud, whom he renames The Red Fox for his wild west performances. No longer do any of the individuals point but take on the gesture usually reserved for Aboriginal characters, the hand shading the brow and looking into the distance.
Sitting Bull was a peace chief, medicine man, and prophet. After the Battle of the Little Bighorn he takes refuge in Canada, where he is starved out and forced to return to the United States. He later becomes a central play actor in the wild west shows that toured the east and Europe. The wild west shows make a mockery of the defeat of Aboriginal peoples of North America, while making the invaders the heroes of history. If it were not so sad, Buffalo Bill, becomes more of a comic figure who dresses like the Aboriginal people and adopts a colorful name for himself, assimilation by choice.
The invaders now return to Europe to romanticize the discovery of a New World, taken away from dangerous Aboriginal people who travel and perform throughout Europe, covertly enslaved to play the villain of a conquered world. Some, like Sitting Bull, survived this journey and returned home while others simply became sick with new diseases and died far from their families. Sitting Bull, like Pocahontas, went to learn and try to understand who this invader was and what they were really like, making new discoveries along the way. The assimilation and hybridization of Aboriginal people is nearly complete, including a little known adaption of blue jean fabric for tipis.
For other sites on Native Women's Art see:
Storied Beads: The Art of Teri Greeves
Dolores Purdy's Ledger Art: Colors That Sing
Colleen Cutschall: Recovering the "New" World
Blue Tipi, Buon Viaggio, Amerigo Vespucci Brown bag collage, 2012
Amerigo Vespucci was one of many who caught the exploration/discovery fever after Columbus’ voyage. His role was to actually verify Columbus’s discovery of the New World which he did so through his publications. There is some debate as to whether he ever actually made his claimed voyages and only wrote what he wanted to believe. Hence the label, publish or perish as it is known in the academic world.
Images of Vespucci range from monk-like to a shifty-eyed publisher. His image appears on a map known as the birth certificate of the United States, the 1507 Waldseemuller map. The map was recently purchased and is installed in the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. This is the first map to have labeled the New World as America, shown in the full map and in detail. There are no other continents named after a single individual except the Americas. It is reminiscent of the Custer Battlefield that took an act of Congress to change its name to the Little Bighorn. The continent is best known to Aboriginal people as Turtle Island.
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Blue Tipi, Buon Viaggio, Zeng He, Brown bag collage, 2012,
Zeng He was an admiral and Muslim eunuch in the Chinese Imperial navy prior to 1421. He made many broad oceanic tours mapping the coasts of India, Africa and North America before the emperor ceased all exploration outside of China. Of all early explorers he led what was undoubtedly the best equipped navy in the world at the time. He sailed on Chinese junks that were like floating cities attended by many smaller sailing vessels that supplied the junks.
Testament to his voyages is a controversial map dated to 1421 that may have been the result of his voyages and has a clearly defined coast of North America. On one facing side is Zeng He with a Chinese junk and portions of the map and a detail of the whole map in the lower right corner. On the other facing side this map has been enlarged to highlight the North American coastline. It also shows a comparison of the size of a Chinese junk to Columbus’ three sailing ships. The sides of the bags are labels to identify the roles of Zeng He.
From the west coast of Canada to the east coast of Mesoamerica comparisons have been made between Aboriginal arts and the arts of China being a major influence on style. The Zeng He journeys lend some credence to these comparisons. He opened up the world for China and then the gates of exploration were immediately and completely closed and mostly unknown to the western world.
Blue Tipi, Buon Viaggio, Sacagawea, Brown bag collage, 2012.
Sacagawea, a kidnapped Shoshone woman, lived in the Dakotas where she was recruited by the team of Lewis and Clark to guide them into what was unknown western territories to them. Next to Pocahontas, she is the best known Aboriginal woman in history who as history tells us, willingly guides explorers across the central part of the United States gained through the Louisiana Purchase and on to the Pacific Ocean.
Sacagawea makes this journey pregnant and gives birth along the Lewis and Clark trail and is shown on the bag pointing the way with her baby carrier on her back. Her identity and names have been debated and changed over time. First known as Bird Woman she is depicted on the side of a brown bag in the form of a sculpted bird woman. (The life-size sculpture was done by the artist for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics). Her image often takes the explorer pose of pointing off into the distance. She at least knew where she was going and managed to lead Lewis and Clark to an encampment where she is reunited with her brother who had become chief while she was enslaved to her captors.
Sacagewea is completely absorbed into the discovery myth, becomes co-explorer in the European advance across the continent. Later her name becomes interpreted as "Boat Puller" or "Boat Launcher,” good acronyms for navigator. It is clear that the boats are launched at her order and direction as depicted in several historical images. There are no known images of her from life and the other side of the bag is rare in that it depicts a woman in accurate Shoshone style dress. She is less idealized as a princess and conveys the hardy stock of Aboriginal women living on the land and waterways. Her cooperation makes it appear that Aboriginal people simply handed the land over to European explorers.