Art Essays with Marlena Myles

Essays and discussion questions invite you to study in depth artworks from diverse Native cultures including Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) and Dakhóta.

Dance Blanket

This dance blanket was created by and passed down through the descendants of Iháŋkthuŋwaŋna (Yanktonai) Dakhóta leader Wakíŋyaŋdúta (Red Thunder) and the prominent Dickson and LaFramboise fur trader families of early Minnesota history.

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Club

Ball-headed war clubs were one of the principal weapons used by Woodlands tribes. Artists designed the clubs to crush when swung. They also designed decorated clubs for presentation or ceremonial use.

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Collage IX: Landscape

George Morrison (1919–April 17, 2000) was an Anishinaabe artist from the Grand Portage Reservation in northern Minnesota. He created landscape paintings and wood collages in a unique style that drew on elements of Cubism, Surrealism, and Abstract Expressionism.

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