Indians and Knights T-Shirt

Sometimes I don't have to look very far to find interesting examples of "drawing on Indians".  Case in point is the following t-shirt my brother was wearing last week:

(Click to enlarge)

The full text on the shirt reads:

"Nature is at work. Character and destiny are her handiwork.

She gives us love and hate, jealousy and reverence. All that is ours is

the power to choose which impulse we shall follow.

Strength

&

Honor

Tankfarm"

The analogy between Indians and Knights is a new one for me but not at all surprising.  In the popular American imagination, both are highly romanticized chivalrous warriors of some distant long ago past.  But apparently we have to choose between the two.

I'm going to channel the fashion designer to figure this one out.  I'm guessing the "Knight" represents "strength" since he is covered in heavy armor.  That means the "Indian" represents "Honor" since he is wearing only his skin.

So then we have to choose between the two.  Will we choose the protection of the Knight or fight honorably like the Indian?   But what, I don't get any other choices?  Can't I be a ninja or a pirate or a cowboy?

This shirt stands as another fine example demonstrating how people envision and understand Native peoples.  The classic image of the Plains warrior on horseback is the go to symbol for "honor".  It reinforces the false notion that somehow honor is inherent to the "Nature" of Native Americans.  It's noble savagery through and through.

Then again, if recent examples have proven anything, many fashion designers don't actually put too much thought into the meanings of images but rather just go for the "look."  I imagine the weekly meeting at the design studio went something like this:

"Haven't you heard, the tribal look is totally selling with our young hipster clientele so we better put some Indians on t-shirts stat!  I don't care if it doesn't make any sense!  If it's savage it sells!"

How do I know?

Check out their website: http://www.tankfarmclothing.com/

And their latest design:

 (Source: www.tankfarmclothing.com)

My brother's t-shirt is a great example for one other reason: I bought it for him!  It was the Christmas holiday maybe three or four years ago.  I knew my brother needed t-shirts so I bought a few he might like at the local T.J. Maxx.

At the time, I thought absolutely nothing of the image on the shirt.  Like the fashion designer behind it, I thought it looked "cool."  Just goes to show how much I've learned in the interim.  Remember, if you don't stop to look around every once in a while and ask critical questions, you might just find yourself wearing a t-shirt with an "Indian" on it!


For more on "Indians" and clothing check out my post:
Selling Blue Jeans with Indians

For more on "Indians" as a hip fashion trend check out my posts:
Hipster Indians
Glastonbury "Indians"

Some more "Indian" t-shirts from the newspaper rock blog:

Lucky Brand sells "White Lightning" t-shirt
Indian skulls in headdresses
T-shirt shows skull in headdress
"Ur-A-Nole" t-shirt

And for real Native fashion check out the wonderful:
Beyond Buckskin blog

The Penobscot Building

In Minnesota, a Penobscot is a canoe

In Maine, the Penobscot are a tribe

In Michigan, the Penobscot is a building

Constructed in 1928, the Penobscot Building in downtown Detroit, Michigan is an architectural and artistic masterpiece.  It also serves as another fine example in the long history of our nation's cultural obsession with the Indian.

First a few statistics (skyscraperpage.com):

• Started in 1927 and completed in 1928
• Rises over 202 meters (662 feet) for a total of 47 floors
• Built in an Art Deco style with granite and limestone facing
• Eighth tallest building in the world when finished
• Served as Detroit's tallest skyscraper until 1977
• Architect Wirt C. Rowland

An expression of the wealth and opulence of 1920s Detroit, the Penobscot building was a potent symbol of Detroit's industrial might.  The entire structure has Art Deco influences throughout but its main motif is American Indian.

(note: click on any photo to make it big!)

When you approach the building, you first notice the flag poles on the outside.  Notice the strong geometric themes playing off the very angular Native face with a stylized Plains Indian headdress.

This theme continues with the absolutely stunning sculpture of Corrado Parducci located above the main entrance.  The geometric design is reminiscent of southwest Indian art in particular.

Some of the Native symbolism present on the building (and yes those are swastikas which perfectly fit the theme).

The side of the main entrance:

Closeup of a side panel:

Above the main entrance doors.  Notice the Eagle at the top.

Closeup above the entrance doors.

The Native theme continues inside the lobby.

The ceiling above the lobby.

A stoic carved Indian figure holding a stylized staff.

A second carved Indian figure situated opposite the first figure stands guard over the lobby, this time holding a stylized spear.

A relief on the side of the main figure.

Finally, the absolutely stunning elevator doors.  There were six of these identical brass doors in the side hallway off the main lobby.

Closeup of the elevator door.

My thoughts:

The Penobscot Building is an absolute gem in downtown Detroit.  From the stunning stonework of the entrance to the beautiful brass interior, it's truly one of a kind.

The history is a different matter however.  While I do not have a definitive source for the design choices- I'm willing to go with Wikipedia on this one:

The building is named for the Penobscot, a Native American tribe from Maine. The following version of the choice of the name of the building is found in an undated publication believed to have been published concurrent with the buildings dedication in 1928 contains the following:

An intimation of the Murphy family's early history, together with the expression of genuine sentiment regarding the beginnings of the Murphy fortune, is contained in the name of the Greater Penobscot Building...... Long before the Civil War days, Simon J. Murphy and his partner, then two lads who had grown up in the Maine woods obtained their first employment in one of the logging camps along the Penobscot River - a stream named for the powerful tribe of Penobscot Indians.

The explanation also explains the choice of Native American styled art deco ornamentation used on the exterior and in the interior.

Once again, we have a prominent example of non-Native individuals appropriating an Indian style or motif to express their nostalgia for a long ago time (in this case, for the logging camps of northern Maine).  Why  couldn't they have used a Northwoods or lumberjack theme?  Wouldn't that have been more appropriate considering their history?

It's unique that they specifically decided to go with the Penobscot name (based on the river, named after the tribe).  But once again, the Indian designs come out as a complete grab bag of styles, designs, and symbolism very little of which has to do with the actual Penobscot people of northern Maine (who were certainly around in the 1920s to serve as design consultants!)

Why would the "Penobscot Building" include sculptures of Plains Indian style headdresses, southwest Indian geometric patterns, and animals ranging from foxes to turtles to eagles?

The answer is simple.  The designers weren't actually going for a Penobscot theme but rather a generic "Indian" theme in which the most visually striking but culturally divergent elements are pulled together to fulfill the designers' notions of Indianness.

In so many ways, the Indian figures throughout the Penobscot Building represent America's thoughts and feelings about Native people in the early 20th century.  The cold stone bodies represent a people immobile, stuck in place and unable to change.  The stoic expressions represent a people devoid of emotion and sentiment, yet somehow appear both proud and sad.  They are forever linked to both Nature and the primitive ways of the past.  Like classical Greek columns or Gothic spires, they are rich with meaning and symbolism, put on display for all the world to see.

The Penobscot Building is above all an artifact.  It is an item from the past whose elements can reveal the secrets of a time long ago.

It is a truly remarkable building and worth the visit if you ever come to Detroit.

Oversized Plastic Toy Indians by Yoram Wolberger

The sculpture of San Francisco based visual artist Yoram Wolberger may be bright and colorful but the meaning in each piece is profound and sincere.  He takes the beloved toys of our childhood and subverts their innocence all in the name of making a point.  Here is the artist profile from his website:

"Yoram Wolberger uses childhood toys and everyday domestic items to create his large scale sculptures, foregrounding the latent symbolism and cultural paradigms of these objects that so subtly inform Western culture. By enlarging this ephemera to life size, Wolberger emphasizes the distortions of their original manufacture disallowing any real illusion and conceptually forcing the viewer to reconsider their meanings. When enlarged beyond any possibility of dismissal, we see that toy soldiers create lines between Us and Them, plastic cowboys and Indians marginalize and stereotype the Other, even wedding cake bride and groom figurines dictate our expected gender roles."

And here is what he makes:

Red Indian Chief, 2005

No Reservations: Native American History and Culture in Contemporary Art

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum

(Source: flickr)

 Red Indian #2 (Bowman), 2005

No Reservations: Native American History and Culture in Contemporary Art

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum

(Source: flickr)

Red Indian #4 (Spearman)

Brooklyn Museum

(Source: brooklynmuseum.org)

And you can never leave the alpha without its omega:

Blue Cowboy #3 (Double Gunslinger)

(Source: tumblr)

These works are a perfect case study in the obsession with everything Native.  The Israeli born artist Yoram Wolberger has taken two of the most potent symbols of Americana, Cowboys and Indians, and revealed them for what they are- rough-edged, bloated, one-dimensional caricatures.

His art is similar to that of Kent Monkman recently profiled on the Beyond Buckskin blog.  They both take symbols of the past- plastic toy Indians and classic western landscape painting- and completely turn them on their heads.  Monkman inserts the sick and silly in his attempt to "queer the frontier" and subvert traditional white dominance.  Wolberger brings the miniature distortions of tiny toy Indians into full scale, making their stereotypical imagery easier to grasp.

Wolberger is someone like myself, a person obsessed with the obsession.  He understands the power and impact these toys had on untold millions of American children. As he puts it so succinctly, "plastic cowboys and Indians marginalize and stereotype the Other."

The question remains: Will people get the message in his work?

Take a look at this photo:

Here is how I would caption it: "Check it out dudes, I'm a cowboy!"

(Source: supertouchart.com)

The reason I posted this photo is because I couldn't find one of a gallery visitor next to "Red Indian Chief" with their "how" hand up or their hand covering their mouth (which is very a good thing).

I've been accused before of being too hard on people, claiming that they would never "get" the subtleties in pieces like this or works of satire.  These sculptures once again fall under that broad category of "using stereotypes to debunk/satirize stereotypes," though considering the power of the artist's own statements, he assuredly knows what he's doing.

That being said, the pessimist in me feels that there will still be people who will see these sculptures and have their stereotypes reinforced.  But thankfully the artist's own words give me confidence that anyone who visits these sculptures in a gallery will never look at "Indians" the same way again.

In case you're wondering, Wolberger has not limited himself to just Cowboys and Indians.  Below is another beloved childhood toy re-sized so that the gallery visitors will never see it the same way again:

Title unknown

(Source: artbusiness.com)

Happy Memorial Day!