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Trade (Gifts for Trading Land with White People)

Artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (Native American, born 1940)

Date1992

MediumOil and mixed media on canvas

Dimensions86 × 170 in. (218.4 × 431.8 cm)
Other (End panels): 60 × 60 in. (152.4 × 152.4 cm)
Other (Center panel): 60 × 50 in. (152.4 × 127 cm)
Other (Chain with objects): 26 × 144 × 12 in. (66 × 365.8 × 30.5 cm)

ClassificationsContemporary art

Credit LineMuseum purchase in memory of Trinkett Clark, Curator of American and Contemporary Art, 1989-96

Object number93.2

Terms

Canoe
Newspapers
Magazines
Fabric
Pennants
Beadwork
Indian
Hats
Feathers
Red
Black
Green
White
Yellow
Multi
Robert Rauschenberg
Combine
Collage
Mixed Media
Installation
New Mexico

Collections

Modern and Contemporary

On View

Not on view

DescriptionThis is an oil, collage, mixed media object on canvas with thirty-one objects hanging from a chain above the triptych canvas. It features a black outline of a canoe against a mottled background of paint and bits of collaged newspapers and articles from local Native American publications, as well as fabric and photo copies. The chain holds popular culture toys and souvenirs made to represent the Native American culture, such as tomahawks, beaded belts, feather headdresses, and American sports memorabilia for teams with names like the Atlanta Braves, the Washington Redskins, and the Cleveland Indians. The three panels, thirty-one hanging objects, and one chain comprise this multi-media installation painting.
Label TextJaune Quick-to-See Smith American, b. 1940 Trade (Gifts for Trading Land with White People), 1992 Oil and mixed media on canvas In Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s collage, images related to the conquest of Native Americans appear alongside clippings that describe the bleak facts of life on reservations. Above, an array of cheap toys, souvenirs, and sports memorabilia speaks to the commodification of Native American identity. The work ironically offers these objects to white people in exchange for the return of stolen lands. As a part of the artist’s Quincentenary Non-Celebration series, Trade stands as a symbol of Native American protest and revisionist history. Created in response to the 500th anniversary of Columbus Day, the work challenges traditional celebrations of the so-called discovery of America and the white privilege they signify. Museum purchase, in memory of Trinkett Clark, Curator of American and Contemporary Art, 1989–96 93.2