Sam Durant

Sam Durant: American Indian Movement

"By turning things upside down, I saw it as a kind of politicizing, a kind of acknowledgement of a world that, for Native Americans, is turned upside down," says Durant.

Three speakers surround the tree sculpture, each playing a unique hour-long audio collage that mixes ambient recordings from a pow-wow and selections of high school students rapping, telling stories, and reading-in English, Ojibwe, and Lakota-about contemporary themes and historical issues.


Direction Through Indirection, Sam Durant, 2003.

Write a story about a difficult time in your life and how it effected you. Use complete sentences and correct spelling. Post you writing using your student ID. If you do not wish anyone else to see your posting, please write that and it will not be shown in the comments section.

Carl Gawboy

Carl Gawboy: Bois Fort Band of the Minnesota Ojibwe

Son of a Finnish mother and Ojibwe father, Carl Gawboy's work uses his own experiences to tell the stories of his heritage.


Roasting, Jigging and Winnowing, Carl Gawboy.

Describe what is happening in this painting.
What important event in your life would you chose to recreate and why?
Post your answers using your student ID.

Marcie McIntire

Marcie McIntire: Grand Portage Reservation

Bandolier bags are elaborately decorated shoulder bags made by native people of the upper Great Lakes and prairies from southern Canada to Kansas.


Two Omaha boys on horseback, 1899.


Bandolier Bag, Marcie McIntire.

Answer the following questions about these images. Post your response under your class ID.
Two Omaha boys on horseback is a photograph from over one hundred years ago. What do you think that bandolier bags were used for at that time?
List at least three similarities and differences between the bandolier bag in the photograph and the one made by Marcie McIntire.

Patrick DesJarlait

Patrick DesJarlait: Red Lake Ojibwe


Woman with Blueberries, Patrick DesJarlait, 1971.


Ojibwe Indian woman and two girls with loaded canoe heading for blueberry camp, Roland Reed, 1920.


Portrait of JR with Roses, Pablo Picasso, 1954.

Analyze the following three images.
What looks the same between Woman with Blueberries and Ojibwe Indian woman and two girls with loaded canoe heading for blueberry camp?
DesJarlait was influenced by cubists, like Pablo Picasso. What elements and principles are copied?
Post your answers to these questions under your class ID.

Surrounded By Beauty

Surrounded By Beauty: Arts of Native America

Visit the Minneapolis Institute of Art website, Surrounded By Beauty. Answer the following questions about at least one artwork that another class has not written about. Post your responses under your class ID.

What region is the artwork from?
Name of the artwork?
What is it made of?
Describe the colors and patterns on the artwork.
Is the art something you would buy and why?