State Names

Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, State Names, 2000, oil, collage and mixed media on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Elizabeth Ann Dugan and museum purchase, 2004.28
Copied Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, State Names, 2000, oil, collage and mixed media on canvas, 48 x 72 in. (121.9 x 182.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Elizabeth Ann Dugan and museum purchase, 2004.28

Artwork Details

Title
State Names
Artist
Date
2000
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
48 x 72 in. (121.9 x 182.9 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Elizabeth Ann Dugan and museum purchase
Mediums Description
oil, collage and mixed media on canvas
Classifications
Highlights
Subjects
  • Landscape — United States
  • Object — written matter — map
Object Number
2004.28
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2004.28

Artwork Description

Dripping paint and newspaper clippings obscure a map of North America in State Names. The only names left visible are those that stem from indigenous sources. The collaged layers act as sequences of time, partially eclipsing the past while highlighting the injustices endured by Native Americans throughout history. Through her use of iconic shapes formed with clippings from newspapers, including the New York Times and Char-Koosta--her reservation's newspaper--Jaune Quick-to-See Smith's work challenges our notions of heritage, identity, and history.
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Jaune Quick-To-See Smith has painted several maps of the United States to show how the land already occupied by ancient native communities was colonized by European settlers. Here, she included names of states that derive from Native American words, such as Wyoming, from a Delaware Indian word that means “mountains and valleys alternating,” and Kansas, from a Sioux word meaning “people of the south wind.” Smith is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation in Montana and works to raise recognition of Native American art and peoples. State Names expresses her anger that the country’s lands were divided without regard for existing tribal territories.

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