Lithograph of a humanoid bunny leaping in the air and colored a rusty red. The background is a smudged yellow-orange with many sketched shapes and figures, including deer, trees, Colonial fife and drum line, and houses.

From the Collection
Indigenous Voices in Contemporary Art

How would it feel to be a society forgotten, seen as extinct or as an artifact of the past? For many Indigenous Peoples this feeling is a reality. Lack of recognition in the context of history, devastating oppression, and pervasive stereotypes in movies or television, coupled with continued isolation and segregation, poverty, and land loss, have perpetuated these injustices through the centuries to the present day.

Today, there has been a  renewed urgency behind Native Rights: to be recognized for their important place in history, the injustices they face, and salvation of Indigenous Peoples languages, traditions, and culture.  Indigenous Voices in Contemporary Art highlights a selection of works from the Danforth’s permanent collection to pay honor to Indigenous artists who have worked to keep traditions, culture, and ritual alive while bringing  attention to the ongoing struggles they still face.

This exhibition is in part due to the National Endowment of the Arts Big Read program and Framingham State University.  Throughout the months of October and November, virtual and in-person programming with the Henry Whittemore Library at Framingham State, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, and the Danforth Art Museum and Art School.

NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.


Dates: October 9th, 2021 - March 6th, 2022
Participating artists: Jaune Quick-to-see Smith, Duane Slick, Mary Lewis Garcia, Elva Nampeyo, Katherine Collateta, M. Ascencio
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White and black flat bowl with a very small opening in the top center. There are triangular patterns painted all over with hints of colors of red, teal, and yellow. There are also four lizards radiating from the center hole.
M. Ascencio , Seed Pot , 1994, Painted Fired Clay
Painting with a dripping green-brown background over printed papers. In the center is a t shaped design in three layers of blue with stars and a round logo in the middle with a fox jumping under a moon.
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Sovereign Nations , 2002, Mixed media, oil on canvas
Small black and white pot with geometric designs painted on the front. In the center is a dancing figure in profile playing a long flute.
Mary Lewis Garcia (1923-2015) , Small Bowl , 1974, Paint on Clay
Small bowl with a narrow bottom and wide shoulders, glazed rusty orange and painted with black intricate designs.
Elva Nampeyo (1926-1985), Bowl , 1974, Paint on Clay
Lithograph of a humanoid bunny leaping in the air and colored a rusty red. The background is a smudged yellow-orange with many sketched shapes and figures, including deer, trees, Colonial fife and drum line, and houses.
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, 40,000 Years , c. 1995, Colored lithograph on paper
Small pot with a tan background and geometric shapes painted in black and red.
Katherina Collateta , Hopi Tewa Bowl , n.d., Paint on Clay
Photograph of five oval works on a green wall, Four works are white with ghostly images, the fifth is brown with a white center.
Duane Slick, The Mind/Body Problem , 2003, Encaustic on Canvas