Sandra Hale Schulman
Special to ICT
The latest: An Ojibwe artist turns stories into art, a new film tells a story of redemption, artists win top prizes in an Oklahoma art show and a famed New Mexico artist passes on
FILM: Animation brings Ojibwe artist’s tales to life
A Red Lake Ojibwe artist is featured in a new short film, “Jonathan Thunder: Good Mythology,” as part of the PBS series, “American Masters: In the Making.”
The film, directed by Sergio Rapu, follows the Minnesota artist Thunder as he gives the origins of his creativity and the inspirations behind his sometimes-dark surrealist paintings and animations.
The film is part of the PBS series that follows emerging cultural icons on their journeys to becoming masters of their disciplines. It is produced by Mara Films and is a production of Firelight Media, according to the PBS website.
Thunder’s work is now featured at the Minneapolis Airport in large multiple screens of his animations. One features a creature believed to be protecting the waters of the Great Lakes; in another video, George Washington crossing the Delaware becomes the Hamburgler – part robber, part clown.
Thunder said he recalls watching Bugs Bunny shoot Indians in cartoons as a kid and seeing the Land O’ Lakes maiden, offering early critical perspectives of how Indigenous people were portrayed. He now takes those images and twists them into modern mythologies.
He is shown in the film with his pregnant wife, and then newborn son, discussing his hopes that strides made by Indigenous people in the arts will benefit the boy as he grows.
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“As Indigenous men, storytellers, and artists, Jonathan Thunder and I both yearned to be seen beyond just our cultural identity,” director Rapu, who is native to Easter Island in Chile, said in a statement.
“As fathers, there was an added sense of responsibility for guiding and protecting a new generation of youth in a seemingly bleak world. Though our ancestry and upbringing were different, I felt great comfort in the fact our experiences and values were so similar. This film is as much about Jonathan’s journey and my own, as it is about many Indigenous fathers trying to be a present, positive force for our families by grasping onto the fleeting connections to our culture and past.”
FILM: Acclaimed film moves to streaming
The acclaimed film, “Year of the Dog,” a powerful tale of an alcoholic who finds salvation through a stray husky dog and his Indigenous friends, is now available for streaming.
The film, which was released in theaters last year and at several film festivals, is produced and directed by Rob Grabow, who also stars in the film as the alcoholic trying to get his life together.
The film, distributed by Good Deed Entertainment, was released on digital April 7 on Amazon, Apple TV, and iTunes.
The film also features actors Michael Spears, Kul Wicasa Oyate Lakota Lower Brulé, and Jon Proudstar, Apache.
Spears can currently be seen in a pivotal episode of “Reservations Dogs” playing the father of a teenage boy who died by suicide, and in both Taylor Sheridan western dramas “1883” as a Comanche trader, and in “1923” as Runs His Horse, the father of an abused girl in a boarding school who goes on the run.
Proudstar is a film actor, film and comic book writer, and director. Acting for several decades in more than 40 films, he first appeared in “Madhouse” with John Larroquette and Kirstie Alley in 1990. Proudstar wrote the comic book, “Tribal Force”, illustrated by Ryan Huna Smith, published in 1996.
Schooled at the Sundance writers and directors lab, he has made several films and appeared in “Into the West” and “Walker, Texas Ranger”.
In “Year of the Dog,” Proudstar plays Greg, a man who helps Grabow’s character find sobriety at AA meetings.
ART: Cherokee art show names winners
Well-known Cherokee artist and illustrator Roy Boney Jr. won this year’s top recognition at the Cherokee Nation’s 52nd Annual Trail of Tears Art Show, the longest-running Native juried art show and competition in Oklahoma.
Boney won the grand prize for his work, “ᏚᏙᎠ ᏥᏍᏚ ᎤᏂᎩᏍᏗ (Her Name is Wild Rose),” a vivid watercolor, pencil and ink portrait of Deer Woman as a student at the Cherokee Female Seminary.
The work blends Cherokee history and legend in lush hues with a mystical, supernatural feel, Cherokee Nation officials said.
“Cherokee Nation’s support of the Native art community is at an all-time high,” said Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. in a statement.
“We are working every day to support the arts across the Cherokee Nation Reservation and beyond through historic investments like the Cherokee Artist Recovery Act and by calling on Congress to amend the federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act to better protect the rights of Indian artists. From authentic art shows and new venues for art and cultural demonstrations to historic investments, the best days are certainly ahead of us.”
The art show and sale features 137 works from 92 artists representing 19 tribal nations. It runs through May 6 at Cherokee Springs Plaza in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Artists competed for more than $16,000 in various categories in the juried art show.
Trail of Tears Art Show winners
Here are the top winners at the Cherokee Nation’s juried Trail of Tears Art Show:
—Grand Prize: Roy Boney Jr., Cherokee Nation, painting, “ᏚᏙᎠ ᏥᏍᏚ ᎤᏂᎩᏍᏗ (Her Name is Wild Rose)”
—Trail of Tears Award: Jeremy Thompson, Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, for his work in diverse art forms, “Simanó-li: Far From Home”
—Betty Scraper-Garner Elder Award: Tama Roberts, Cherokee Nation, for her pottery, “Taking Flight”
—Jennie Ross-Cobb Photography Award: Robin Stockton, Cherokee Nation, for photography and digital art, “Strength Revealed”
—Bill Rabbit Legacy Award: Tonia Hogner-Weavel, Cherokee Nation, for diverse art form, “Turkey Glow”
—Emerging Artist Award: Laney Cully, Cherokee National Treasure
—Basketry, Vivian Cottrell, Cherokee National Treasure, “Basket”
—Diverse Art Forms: Julie Burk, Cherokee Nation, “Lost and Found”
—Graphics: Dylan Cavin, Choctaw Nation, “The Man from Osage”+
—Jewelry: Tiffany Reiter, Cherokee Nation, “Wanderlust”
—Miniatures: Norma Howard, Chickasaw Nation/Choctaw Nation, “Choctaw Camp”
—Painting: Norma Howard, Chickasaw Nation/Choctaw Nation, “Picking Wild Onions”
—Photography/Digital Art: Jeff Edwards, Cherokee Nation, “Cherokee DNA Tree of Life”
—Pottery: Crystal Hanna, Cherokee Nation, “Oklahoma Alligator”
—Sculpture: Jon Williams, Cherokee Nation, “Moses Bearpaw”
OBITUARY: Artist Robert Montoya
Award-winning artist and tribal leader Robert Montoya died March 30 at an Albuquerque hospital, several days after he fell at his home in Sandia Pueblo, New Mexico. He was 76.
A private funeral took place at Sandia Pueblo with a memorial planned for later this year, according to a statement released by his family.
“He was surrounded by close family and friends,” said his son, Michael Montoya, said in the statement. “He lived a full life. Met numerous people on his numerous adventures around the world. He will be greatly missed.”
A member of Sandia and Oh’kay O’wingeh Pueblos, Montoya combined traditional and contemporary Indigenous styles in works.
He won “Best of Show” at Santa Fe Indian Market in 1973, and took top prizes in 1977, 1978 and 1989. He also earned other accolades at Native art festivals across the country, including the Patrick Swazo Hinds award in 1986.
Montoya attended St. Michael’s High School in Santa Fe. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of New Mexico, and a master’s degree from the University of Oklahoma. He also worked as an architect before serving as governor of the Sandia Pueblo in 2008.
His mother, Geronima Montoya, was a world-renowned artist in her own right, honored by the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts with its Lifetime Achievement Award and as the group’s poster artist for the 2010 Indian Market.
Montoya is survived by his brothers, Paul, who is also a painter, and Gene; two children, Michael and Povi; son-in-law, George; granddaughter, Leilani; great-granddaughter, Zuri, and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
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