North American Landscape

Tom Jones, Ho-Chunk

North American Landscape, 2013

Within the digitally scanned 3D photographs of plastic toys, Tom Jones reimagines notions of what Indigenous landscape art should look like and simultaneously explores the processes of extractive industries in Native American lands. Each photograph represents a different Native American landscape, such as a Hopi or Seminole landscape, which is preyed upon by neoliberal structures fueling consumption and extraction of Indigenous lands. Similar to the invasion of sacred spaces through the Dakota Access Pipeline, where the oil industry sought to exploit the lands of the Oceti Sakowin for the sake of extraction and profit, Jones posits each tree, plant, and stump as distinct from the original landscape. Consequently, Jones helps the viewer envision the disembodiment of Native landscapes through separating the toy from its surrounding landscape and using toys made of plastic—another extractive industry. Label by Eliza Madison

A pile of about 40,000 buffalo hides

Unknown photographer, American

A pile of about 40,000 buffalo hides at Wright’s Buffalo Hide Yard in Dodge City, Kansas, 1874

During the 1800s a bison genocide was occurring in the central plains of North America. The mass slaughter of bison by white settlers demonstrated a variety of injustices: it symbolized the related genocide against Indigenous people, the destruction of food and cultural systems, and a speciesist injustice against the bison themselves. Once a central pillar to a way of life, bison were nearly eradicated in a show of white male dominance. Before the rise of settler colonialism there were 30 million bison. In 1884, there were 325. Today, 500,000 bison are present in North America. Label by Jordan Hadlock

Mirror Shields

Cannupa Hanska Luger, Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara/Lakota

Mirror Shields, 2016

Cannupa Hanska Luger's artwork effectively underscores the disproportionate response by government authorities to water protectors resisting the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock in 2016. The mirror shields serve as a poignant symbol of how unarmed water protectors had no means of defense other than these reflective shields and their own identities. By presenting attacking police with their own reflections, the intention was to make them confront the disparities and hopefully ignite a sense of empathy, making them realize the brutality of their actions. Furthermore, this piece serves as a call to action directed at the mainstream media, which has largely overlooked this issue. It almost demands the viewer to consider, "What role do you play in this story?" It compels us to look inward and engage in self-reflection. Label by Jackson Smith

This drone photograph depicts the Mirror Shield Project, which artist Cannupa Hanska Luger created to support the Water Protectors at Standing Rock in 2016. Luger started this art project to spread awareness of the injustices occurring at Standing Rock and to encourage people nationwide to participate in the protesting of pipeline expansion. To engage with the public, Luger created an instructional video on how to build a mirror shield for water protectors. The mirror shield is meant to serve as a form of physical protection against oppressors seeking to harm the Water Protectors, but also to force the oppressors see themselves and the harm they are causing reflected back at them. Label by Bayleigh Albert

Link to the artist’s instructional video on how to build a mirror shield: https://vimeo.com/191394747

We Came to Fight the Black Snake

Nicolas Lampert, American

We Came to Fight the Black Snake, 2016

This is a powerful piece, using words and graphics to convey a strong message. A Lakota prophecy foretells a black snake that comes onto their land causing destruction. They believe that the Dakota Access Pipeline is that black snake. It is shown chopped up into many pieces because that is what they want to do to the pipeline, not just cut it off at one spot, but enough spots to make it impossible to be established. I think this piece speaks to a greater environmental justice issue. It says “that doesn’t mean put it five miles up the river, that means kill it dead.” This speaks to common issues with environmental justice concerns, where they will act like they are fixing the issue when in reality they are not truly addressing the issue at hand. In this case, they want to not just move the pipeline a little bit, they want to completely stop it. Label by Riley Kelley