Hiller - The Myth of Primitivism. Perspectives on Art - Esoteric Online

<strong>The</strong> myth <strong>of</strong> primitivism 290
brand-name automobiles, camping equipment, city and state names, and various other
commercial products produced by the dominant white culture.
This strange white custom is particularly insulting when one considers the great lack
<strong>of</strong> attention that is given to real Indian concerns.
In ‘Don’t Want Indians’ the pinkness <strong>of</strong> the words mascots, machines, cities,
products, and buildings is a symbol for the true colour <strong>of</strong> the Anglo-American (which is
much more pink than white) and also alludes to the pink, cool, and uncaring attitude that
the majority <strong>of</strong> America feels toward the serious crisis that faces the American Indian.
At the bottom <strong>of</strong> the word installation the words living people are presented in
yellow-green to give the sense <strong>of</strong> the living, vital, and growing American Indian. Such
colour is found throughout the Cheyenne Sundance earth renewal. <strong>The</strong> yellow-green
cottonwood and willow trees spring forth from the rivers, creeks, and streams <strong>of</strong> the
American plains. <strong>The</strong>se trees grow fresh and strong from the water each spring.
Water and growth are the true concepts that represent the American Indian and give
life to all things.
NATIVE
IS PAIN
AND
YOU’RE
PART?
‘I am part Indian, I believe that my great, great-grandmother, or was it my grandfather;
well, one <strong>of</strong> them was a full-blooded Cherokee.’
A real Indian person must listen to this ridiculous claim made daily by members <strong>of</strong> the
dominant white culture. White people are so excited by any remote blood-line reference
that they may share with a Native American, once they have met one. This trace <strong>of</strong>
affinity that the white person wishes to share with a Native American always vanishes
once the real native returns to his or her home. <strong>The</strong>n the white person, briefly Indian,
turns immediately back into the fold <strong>of</strong> the dominant white culture. While for a few
moments there was a willingness on the part <strong>of</strong> the white person to share in the values
and cosmos <strong>of</strong> the native person, never is there a reciprocal <strong>of</strong>fer made by the white
person to share their privileges.
In America, adequate education, job skills, medical treatment, health, food sources,
and proper housing are privileges reserved for the white culture. A sharing <strong>of</strong> the gifts
that come with being <strong>of</strong> the white heritage does not take place, while a sharing <strong>of</strong> our
gifts through our earth awareness is expected.
For myself, as a headsman <strong>of</strong> the traditional Cheyenne Elk Warrior Society, it has
become very difficult to appreciate the attributes <strong>of</strong> being part Indian. <strong>The</strong> warrior society
members from the Cheyenne and Arapaho reservation, where I live, are always asked to
be present at the many funerals that are conducted here. <strong>The</strong> warriors and chiefs are asked
to support the familes <strong>of</strong> the deceased. We <strong>of</strong>fer them a positive force in their worst <strong>of</strong> all
days. During the burial service, as I walk down the line <strong>of</strong> family members touching the
hand <strong>of</strong> each grieving person, their powerful pain is shared with me. Too <strong>of</strong>ten the cause
<strong>of</strong> death is a broken heart or broken spirit. This condition drives many young native
individuals, <strong>of</strong>ten under the age <strong>of</strong> 30, to a deadly accident or death by a disease related