HIckory Edwards, Onondaga Nation
Mile Marker Post from Standing Rock, 2016
Donated to the National Museum of the American Indian by Hickory Edwards, Onodaga Nation. Wood, metal nails, paint, ink, graphite, cotton cloth, felt-tipped marker, metal wire, twine, plastic hardware, shells, metal jewelry findings, burlap, & paper. These mile markers were erected at Standing Rock by Hickory Edwards of the Onondaga Nation. Beginning with a marker pointing towards the Onondaga Nation, the signs grew to include NYC, the Netherlands, and Sápmi, home of the arctic Sami Nation. Protectors from far flung places added their own signs, creating an impressive conglomeration of solidarity in the face of DAPL. The spatial and temporal specificity of the piece also speaks to how Indigenous Environmental Justice relates explicitly to land. This is an artwork whose meaning will never again be recreated exactly as it was at Standing Rock, similarly to how Indigenous spiritual practices are often tied to certain pieces of land. Label by Lia Deasy