Post by blackcrowheart on Mar 15, 2006 14:26:46 GMT -5
EXHBIT DISPLAYS TRIBE'S 'PURSUIT'
By Chris Keegan - The Sun Staff
EXETER - It was during historical research years ago that Tall Oak made a startling find.
There, written in the Declaration of Independence, the Charlestown resident found words describing his Native American ancestors: "... the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions."
The description, written by Thomas Jefferson and ratified by America's forefathers, would later compel the local artist to create a series of mixed-media collages - angry images that combine the faces of pre-Colonial settlers, dripping blood, fire and real estate signs.
The works - which are now on display at the Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum - reflect the belief that history lessons in American schools fail to reflect the genocide inflicted on indigenous peoples.
"I vocalized what I was thinking," said Tall Oak, who is of Mashantucket and Wampanoag descent. "We had to review all those things in school, but you never questioned anything. You just absorbed it."
For a piece titled "Weapons of Mass Destruction," the 69-year-old melded a sketch of Indian leader Thomas Ninigret with bottles of New England Rum labeled "Indian Exterminator." The artist's yearly visits to the land around Fort Neck Pond serve as a painful reminder of how Ninigret bartered it for alcohol more than 250 years ago, he said.
Three additional works by Tall Oak are included in a grassroots art exhibit at the Exeter museum called "The Pursuit of Happiness: An Indigenous View."
The display, which opened on Saturday afternoon, examines national rights granted by the passage of the Declaration of Independence - rights that have since been denied to the country's native inhabitants, according to Narragansett Indian tribe member and exhibit coordinator Dawn Dove.
"We want to show we've had a miscarriage of justice, and the U.S.A. is based on this miscarriage of justice," she told more than 60 members of the public early Saturday afternoon. "We are a nation within a nation, and we continue to have happiness from gifts of the Creator."
The small, one-room exhibit at 390 Summit Road is a mix of images, written words and candid video footage that give voice to the frustrations of local Narragansetts. Much of its content is based on presentations made by tribal leaders during forums at Brown University and the University of Rhode Island last fall.
The presentation - which will be shown until early 2007 - is funded by an $11,000 grant from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, with additional support from Providence College, Westerly Savings Bank and the Washington Trust Company, Dove said.
Though it is both a political and artistic statement, the exhibit attempts to bolster the tribe's case for a Narragansett Indian-run casino in the Ocean State. Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas announced earlier this year that he plans to push for a West Warwick gaming facility - a move that would require changes to Rhode Island's Constitution.
Months prior to his January announcement, Thomas called for economic sovereignty and the promotion of tax-free zones on tribal lands in Charlestown.
"Whether it is smoke shops, gaming or other tribal enterprises, these are all just a means to an end," reads a poster-size transcript of his forum speech. "We are not here just to make money, our goal is to service our members and protect out culture."
In July 2003, the tribe opened a tax-free smoke shop on Route 2 in Charlestown - a business that Thomas said was designed to be bring "desperately needed funding for a range of services" in the wake of decreasing federal funding.
Two days after it opened, Rhode Island Gov. Donald L. Carcieri ordered state police to close the business - a decision that Thomas called a "total lack of respect for federal law" and a "return to dark days in America's past when disagreements... were resolved by police dogs and batons."
Dove said state corruption and racism have prevented the Narragansetts from pursuing their own economic freedom - an extension of what Jefferson called for in 1776.
"I want people to understand that we as indigenous people have been greatly misused," she said. "The state continues to deny the right we have as a people. Yet we continue, and yet we are here. What has sustained us is spirit."
Portsmouth resident Sandra Hammel said her interest in Hopi pottery and Native American issues - like the alleged misappropriation of tribal funds by the federal Department of the Interior - drew her to Saturday's opening.
"It's such a contradiction," she said of the teaching of American history. "It's the injustice that bothers me, a muddying of the truth. Our history is their history."
The Tomaquag Museum - which serves to foster understanding and collaboration between indigenous people of the area and the general public - is open Monday through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on weekends by appointment.
Admission is $4 for adults and $2 for children/seniors. Children 5 and under are admitted free of charge.
For more information, visit the museum's Web site at www.tomaquagmuseum.com, or contact Dove at (401) 539-7213 or (401) 491-9063.
By Chris Keegan - The Sun Staff
EXETER - It was during historical research years ago that Tall Oak made a startling find.
There, written in the Declaration of Independence, the Charlestown resident found words describing his Native American ancestors: "... the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions."
The description, written by Thomas Jefferson and ratified by America's forefathers, would later compel the local artist to create a series of mixed-media collages - angry images that combine the faces of pre-Colonial settlers, dripping blood, fire and real estate signs.
The works - which are now on display at the Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum - reflect the belief that history lessons in American schools fail to reflect the genocide inflicted on indigenous peoples.
"I vocalized what I was thinking," said Tall Oak, who is of Mashantucket and Wampanoag descent. "We had to review all those things in school, but you never questioned anything. You just absorbed it."
For a piece titled "Weapons of Mass Destruction," the 69-year-old melded a sketch of Indian leader Thomas Ninigret with bottles of New England Rum labeled "Indian Exterminator." The artist's yearly visits to the land around Fort Neck Pond serve as a painful reminder of how Ninigret bartered it for alcohol more than 250 years ago, he said.
Three additional works by Tall Oak are included in a grassroots art exhibit at the Exeter museum called "The Pursuit of Happiness: An Indigenous View."
The display, which opened on Saturday afternoon, examines national rights granted by the passage of the Declaration of Independence - rights that have since been denied to the country's native inhabitants, according to Narragansett Indian tribe member and exhibit coordinator Dawn Dove.
"We want to show we've had a miscarriage of justice, and the U.S.A. is based on this miscarriage of justice," she told more than 60 members of the public early Saturday afternoon. "We are a nation within a nation, and we continue to have happiness from gifts of the Creator."
The small, one-room exhibit at 390 Summit Road is a mix of images, written words and candid video footage that give voice to the frustrations of local Narragansetts. Much of its content is based on presentations made by tribal leaders during forums at Brown University and the University of Rhode Island last fall.
The presentation - which will be shown until early 2007 - is funded by an $11,000 grant from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, with additional support from Providence College, Westerly Savings Bank and the Washington Trust Company, Dove said.
Though it is both a political and artistic statement, the exhibit attempts to bolster the tribe's case for a Narragansett Indian-run casino in the Ocean State. Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas announced earlier this year that he plans to push for a West Warwick gaming facility - a move that would require changes to Rhode Island's Constitution.
Months prior to his January announcement, Thomas called for economic sovereignty and the promotion of tax-free zones on tribal lands in Charlestown.
"Whether it is smoke shops, gaming or other tribal enterprises, these are all just a means to an end," reads a poster-size transcript of his forum speech. "We are not here just to make money, our goal is to service our members and protect out culture."
In July 2003, the tribe opened a tax-free smoke shop on Route 2 in Charlestown - a business that Thomas said was designed to be bring "desperately needed funding for a range of services" in the wake of decreasing federal funding.
Two days after it opened, Rhode Island Gov. Donald L. Carcieri ordered state police to close the business - a decision that Thomas called a "total lack of respect for federal law" and a "return to dark days in America's past when disagreements... were resolved by police dogs and batons."
Dove said state corruption and racism have prevented the Narragansetts from pursuing their own economic freedom - an extension of what Jefferson called for in 1776.
"I want people to understand that we as indigenous people have been greatly misused," she said. "The state continues to deny the right we have as a people. Yet we continue, and yet we are here. What has sustained us is spirit."
Portsmouth resident Sandra Hammel said her interest in Hopi pottery and Native American issues - like the alleged misappropriation of tribal funds by the federal Department of the Interior - drew her to Saturday's opening.
"It's such a contradiction," she said of the teaching of American history. "It's the injustice that bothers me, a muddying of the truth. Our history is their history."
The Tomaquag Museum - which serves to foster understanding and collaboration between indigenous people of the area and the general public - is open Monday through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on weekends by appointment.
Admission is $4 for adults and $2 for children/seniors. Children 5 and under are admitted free of charge.
For more information, visit the museum's Web site at www.tomaquagmuseum.com, or contact Dove at (401) 539-7213 or (401) 491-9063.