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Culture 14. Art | 18. Musician | 20. Chef Spotlight | 22. Events Artist Changing the Game: Inspired Natives, Thriving Natives Louie Gong’s Eighth Generation Artist and business owner Louie Gong displays one of the wool blankets he designed.
DURING A RECENT ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE stint at Seattle’s Eighth Generation flagship store at Pike Place Market, Native American artist Joe Seymour (Squaxin Island/Pueblo of Acoma) wore a black T-shirt with large white letters that read, “Real Indian Artist.” As part of his presentation weaving together cultural art and contemporary performance, Seymour would not speak until a visitor placed a dollar into a jar. Louie Gong (Nooksack), founder of Eighth Generation and himself an artist, said Seymour’s performance made a bold statement “about Indian identity and the tendency of mainstream society to tokenize or commodify ‘Indianness.’” He said anytime Native people are involved, “we always have to answer the question—whether people ask us or not, ‘To what extent do we match up with people’s expectations?’” Seymour is one of ten Native artists invited this year to showcase their art through the company’s artist-in-residence program, just one of the many aspects of Eighth Generation’s business practices that are changing the way people think about Native art, artists and entrepreneurs. Eighth Generation’s tagline is “Inspired Natives, not ‘Native-Inspired,’” reflecting Gong’s goal of empowering Native artists in the region and across the country to become successful entrepreneurs while educating the public about the damaging aspects of cultural appropriation. “I think that cultural art is like any natural resource,” Gong said. “If large companies keep taking from it and taking from it, they can destroy it or dilute it beyond all meaning.” Repeatedly presenting counterfeit Native art, Gong said, undermines the power of the art form. “We want people to know that cultural appropriation affects the bottom line. It’s not just about hurt feelings.” The Beginning In 2006, Gong, who had little art experience, was tasked with painting drums as gifts for visiting participants of the annual canoe journey hosted that year by the Muckleshoot Tribal College where he worked as an educational resources coordinator. A few months later, he doodled his own version of a traditional Northwest Native design on a pair of Vans shoes—“Louie-izing” them. Suddenly, everyone wanted a custom <strong>ontrak</strong>mag.com FALL <strong>2017</strong> | 15
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