John Whittemore of the Tuscarora and curator of the “Redefining Indigenous” art exhibit at the Arts Council of Fayetteville | Cumberland County, effuses creativity, inclusiveness and a joviality that belies a serious
assessment of his own and his community’s struggles. Growing up, he took in the portrayal of Native Americans in television shows and movies and dismissed the average Native American men around him in the real world in favor of this quiet, emotionless, wisdom-filled persona he saw on TV. “Oh, here comes the Indian. He’ll have something wise to say—no, man, it’s just me,” he says with a laugh. And that encapsulates the modern Native American’s struggle in today’s culture. Hardline Indigenous who want to live in a teepee by the river without any modern conveniences are far outnumbered by natives who walk in a world filled with gradations of adaptation, loss of past culture, adoption of other traditions and being ok with that amalgamation, he explains. This exhibit, as outlined in its description, was “a reclaiming and reintroduction of the modern-day Native American experience through the arts.”
Whittemore decided that he would include Native Americans from all areas of the Americas. The majority of works on display originated in North Carolina and neighboring states, but pieces from other regions also found a home in the exhibit. Whittemore’s first foray into curating reestablished his many connections with the native arts community and forged new ones, establishing a strong base to work from for future shows. He focused on minimizing the emphasis on competition, which inhibits some artists from entering, and encouraging variety and inclusion.
Acrylic on Canvas Painting
One of the pieces to take note of at the exhibit, which was housed in the Arts Council building at 301 Hay St., is Whittemore’s submission, an acrylic on canvas, called “Inherent Stoicism.” If you look from afar, you’ll see a face of stoicism. If you look closer, you can see that the canvas is decoupaged with painted newspaper, which gives the background an uneven and crackled look. Often art reveals a story that the author never
intended but that a higher spirit works through. This makeshift canvas is representative of the uneven and broken history of the American Indian experience, both throughout history and today. More immediately, however, Whittemore simply grew tired of paying exorbitant prices for canvas, so he bought an inexpensive generic piece of art and covered it over. Up close you’ll also see all the broken pieces and parts that
comprise the face, much like all the bits and pieces that make up a person, as well as the artist’s path from brokenness to retribution.
Whittemore celebrates 13 years and counting of being drug-free and he encourages anyone who will listen that stopping the drugs is paramount to recapturing any peace and enjoyment in life. Whittemore touches on all the pieces of himself and his people that make their way into his art: the drive to reintroduce American Indians, masks off, the darker place inside mankind that seeks to destroy, or label in black and white terms, countered by the nobler side that seeks what’s good and to create. Certainly, he sees a higher spirit coming through his work that sometimes he didn’t intend. For instance, the black eye in “Inherent Stoicism” is poignant in light of the importance Native American culture puts on the eyes. Similar to Caucasian cultures, Indians believe the person can be seen through the eyes.
Mixed Fiber Arts Piece
Hattie Lee Mendoza, of the Cherokee Nation and a mixed media and fiber art specialist, mailed her submissions from Illinois. One, “Effervescent Connections,” epitomizes her drive to repurpose and revalue various
elements through her art. This piece is installed in an embroidery hoop frame, not solely for its uniqueness, but because she always looks to incorporate what’s on hand into her creations. The fabric print is a gouache
she prints through Spoonflower. Gouache is comparable to a watercolor wash, except it is designed to be bright and opaque. Spoonflower prints custom designs on fabric, which Mendoza can then use in her art.
Another background element is the chair cane. American Indians value all types of weaving and even though this may not have been made by Native hands, it finds new value as a representative of how our lives weave together. Mendoza takes after her grandma and great-grandma in how she finds things, collects them and then discovers how she can use them artistically. The beading is a disassembled necklace made by a Syrian woman; Mendoza spent a summer working with Syrian refugees in Turkey. She sees the necklace as representative of peace and reconciliation of tensions whenever an influx of refugees collides with a country’s populace. Mendoza also worked in Iraq with the Yezidis, a Kurdish-speaking endogamous religious group, and spent three years in Thailand working with smaller people groups. Her travels exposed her to various art styles and the colors, symbols and elements that are important to various cultures and why.
The elder women in Mendoza’s life taught her needlework and that craft is also visible in the work. The cost of cheap clothing is that sewing has become a lost art. Beyond creativity, simply the self-sufficiency angle of
being able to sew on a button, mend a tear or hem a skirt warrant mastering sewing. Mendoza emphasizes that the stitches don’t need to be perfect; they simply need to be commenced and practiced. Rudimentary
and functional handiwork needs to be elevated as valuable in our society. A round piece of jewelry—a gift from her mother—adds a finishing touch to this work.
Beadwork and Dressmaking
Frances Sandra (Sandy) Whittemore is John’s mother. She made a pair of moccasins and leggings for John’s daughter Blue Fern Rivers Whittemore. She started on it before the girl was born, beginning with the flower and working outward, filling in with green. Green is symbolic of new birth, growth, a renewal in spring. Although she’s used a loom in the past, these pieces were beaded freehand on buckskin. Sandy used to scrape, clean and cure her own deer hides that her husband got from a hunting lodge on then-Fort Bragg, but she eventually found it easier and less caustic to use already prepared deerskin. Over the years, Sandy created numerous regalia for both adults and children.
Three other adult pieces at the exhibit showcase her sewing skills. The first is a jingle dress used in a type of healing dance. She put it together with two silk shawls she picked up at an airport. The piece at the Arts Council includes 365 jingles, one for every day of the year. The cones are about 2 ½ inches long, the weight of which an adult can bear. Children’s dresses incorporate fewer and smaller cones, 1 inch in size to lessen the weight.
The jingle dance originated in Canada and the cones were originally curled and crimped from snuff tin lids. Nowadays cones can be purchased in a glittering array of colors, but Sandy prefers the simple, old-style approach to emphasize the dance’s sacredness. She also created two ribbon skirts, one a houndstooth pattern, the other a brown plaid, which have become a popular way for Native American women to bring attention to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. The ribbons used to be sewn together from the ribbons of soldiers that the women acquired in trade. Sandy used to sew newspapers and worn sheets together to create things as an escape when the world outside was a cold and ugly place for her people. Today she’s a warm and cheery raconteur and will invite women to her home to learn to sew, passing on a skill
undervalued in our modern culture.
“Redefining Indigenous” ran at the Arts Council through the month of November, a celebration of Native American History Month. For more information about the exhibit and for future shows, visit
https://www.theartscouncil.com/
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