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TOP RIGHT:
Unknown artist, portrait of
Major George Lowery
(c. 1770–1852), who
served as second chief of
the Eastern Cherokee from
1843–1851.
USA. 19th century.
Oil on canvas. 74.9 × 66.7 cm.
Gilcrease Museum, gift of the
Thomas Gilcrease Foundation, 1955,
inv. 0126.2180.
Rebuilding the Cherokee Nation
TULSA—Beginning in the late eighteenth century,
Cherokee leaders embarked on a strategy to facilitate
government-to-government relations by creating
institutions comparable to those of the United
States. They established executive positions with the
formalized titles of Principal Chief and Second Chief,
in addition to instituting a national police force, a bicameral
legislature, judicial districts, a supreme court,
a written constitution, and a national bilingual newspaper
called the Cherokee Phoenix. These
advancements were bolstered by widespread
literacy that came about with the 1821 introduction
of the Cherokee writing system,
called the Sequoyah Syllabary. Despite these
adaptive efforts, in 1830, the U.S. Congress
passed the Indian Removal Act, authorizing
the forceable removal of 46,000 Native
Americans from their ancestral lands. Within
the decade, some 15,000 Cherokee were
compelled by the military to move from their
homelands east of the Mississippi to Indian
Territory (present-day Oklahoma). The journey
west was arduous, with the very old and
very young suffering the most. Hundreds died along
the way. Despite this seemingly impossible situation,
the Cherokee put down new roots and thrived in this
new environment, particularly in and around their
new capital of Tahlequah.
Through art, material culture, and manuscripts, After
Removal at the Gilcrease Museum until January
21, 2018, tells the story of resilience in the face of
extreme adversity and the rebirth of the Cherokee Nation
in what became known as “The Promised Land.”
MUSEUM NEWS
RIGHT: Bandolier bag.
Cherokee. C. 1835.
Wool, beads.
Gilcrease Museum, inv. 84.3409.
BELOW: Helmet, mahiole.
Hawaii.
Fiber, feathers.
Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum,
inv. 1972.053.
Inspired Patterns
HONOLULU—Intricate and vibrant patterns have
long been a trademark of Hawaiian artistic expression,
whether stamped onto barkcloth, drawn onto gourds,
woven into mats, or tattooed into skin. Hulia ‘Ano: Inspired
Patterns at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum
until October 16, 2017, examines the’ano, or nature,
of an object in pattern, shape, and form through treasures
drawn from the museum’s ethnology collection
and supplemented by its vast natural science collection.
In doing so, it casts light onto Hawaiian aesthetic
traditions by spotlighting design motifs and their visual
similarities with the natural world. The displays
are organized on the basis of these design motifs rather
than the more conventional contexts of function
or material. From geometric pawehe motifs to more
naturalistic design elements, the installation highlights
bold-patterned kapa (barkcloth), fi ne makaloa
sedge mats, dyed gourds, a mahiole (royal feathered
helmet), and ‘ohe kapala (bamboo stamps). Objects
from the museum’s natural science collections include
plant specimens, land- and seashells, and other exquisite
examples from the zoological collection. Together
they express a unique aesthetic that is fi rmly rooted in
the organic realm yet is one of the great art traditions
of the human world.
ABOVE: Decorated kapa
skirt (detail). Hawaii.
Wauke (Broussonetia papyrifera)
bast, pigment.
Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum.