Blog Post 2

The chapter on “landing” was very interesting to me because I originally only thought it would be about how one came to be in a certain place. I quickly discovered that was not the only meaning behind this chapter. It would also have a figurative meaning, one of a journey though a life to find a home and the constant process of change. The figurative meaning would also have a saddened meaning behind it, because so often the process of landing may never be fulfilled or satisfied in someone’s life.

This saddened meaning of landing is how I interpreting most of the indigenous art as it was presented in this chapter. Lippard describes indigenous people as one of suffering from a great internal struggle. An internal struggle between their roots on the reservation that is confined behind walls or one of freedom, with no walls, outside the reservation. Spirituality is embedded deep within this culture and one that causes a “reverse migration” to occur. The indians that leave the reservations often return to them, leaving their homes behind, due to the fact of their roots being on the reservation. Land and spirituality are connected in the fact that the land carries the imprints of the religions that are started there. In many ways this connects with the conversation that we had about Christianity and Islam on Tuesday. The people that practice both religions experience an internal and external struggle. An internal struggle was presented when discussing Islam with the decision to wear or not wear the traditional dress. Like indigenous cultures, one will debate about how their roots will impact their lives and will change their minds many times throughout their lives. The external struggle presented in class was how Christianity is perceived and how it really is. This is similar to indigenous spirituality because so many outsiders look on to their spirituality with disdain and fearfulness of what they don’t know. In many ways all spirituality is connected with an internal and external struggle that all believing in that spirituality must face.

One artist that stood out to me when I was reading the chapter was Frank Big Bear Jr. His work has many bright colors associated with it, almost as many colors as there are subjects to his pieces. Frank strikes out against injustices in the indigenous community both from the past and of today. He also shows the problems facing the indians living on the reservations such as smoking, drinking, and suicide. His work is very powerful and depicts that many problems that need to be faced within the indigenous society.