User:Büffelblick

This is a WORK PAGE, a SUB-PAGE to present a DRAFT, hopefully this time it meets with the required criteria :-):

Dear NYA,

here is an attempt to rewrite the article about the Lakota artist Arthur Amiotte, please help me to improve it by your suggestions, thank you!

(unfortunately in this programm version I had to insert the footnotes manually, in the original document they do appear automatically)



"Arthur Amiotte", ("Wanblí Ta Hócoka Washté", Good Eagle Center) (born in 1942), artist (1), art historian (2), educator (3) and keeper of Lakota culture (4)

General informations (5):

Oglála [Lakóta] (6), from the [Pine Ridge Indian Reservation], lives and works in Custer, S.D.; artist, art historian and curator (participation in the organization of exhibitions about the culture of the tribes on the Great Plains), such as at the Wheelwright Museum (7)/ Santa Fe, Akta Lakota-Museum (8)/ Chamberlain, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center (9)/ Cody, and the Museum der Weltkulturen (10) (Museum of World Cultures)/ Frankfurt am Main; and others.

Amiotte’s international artistic importance (11) is reflected in the numerous publications (12) about this Lakota artist: The international public echo given by museums, universities, cultural centers  (13) and scientific publications qualifies Amiotte as a „renowned American Indian artist“. Also the Press states that „Amiotte is regarded as one of the most influential artists portraying Lakota life, thought and philosophy in the Northern Plains region.“ (15) Thus through his lifework he has already reached notability .(16)

By Amiotte’s multiple approach (17) as an artist and educator, there has been a synthesis of the domains of traditional and modern Lakota art on one hand and Lakota philosophy and spirituality on the other. Whereas his mentor [Oscar Howe] (18) has bridged the gap between traditonal and modern Native American art, Amiotte has developped this new direction to the logical consequence of including the philosophical and spiritual dimension of Lakota culture. (19)

Thus by writing numerous articles (20) about Lakota beliefs and spirituality (see section: Publications), Amiotte has undertaken the task of systematizing the complex Lakota universe of beliefs and rituals from the insider view of a tribe member and initiated ritual leader, and at the same time from an intellectual and professional point of view.

In this context, he has also taught in universities and public schools (21) such as at the Porcupine Day School (Pahín Sinté Owáyawa, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, S.D.) (22). There he introduced school classes in traditional handicraft such as Lakota beadwork. Thus his life work not only includes paintings and publications, but also the education of Lakota school children and the support of relief organizations who care for socially and culturally uprooted Lakota children (23), by teaching them their own cultural heritage and giving them an access to Lakota handicraft, in a way of learning by doing. Via this comprehensive cultural mediatorship, Amiotte has helped generations of young Lakota people to be multiplier of their own handicraft and artistic heritage, preventing them from social and cultural alienation. For this purpose, he wrote several pedagogic and didactic schoolbooks (series: „ Art & Indian Children of the Dakotas “ (24)).

Amiotte defines (25) his work as being bound to the Reservation culture which bridges the gap between yesterday and today, a split which is often mastered in an amazing manner; quoting Amiotte (26): „I realized that contemporary art was ignoring the whole reservation period. This had been a dynamic time. Some people were going to school in the east, to Carlisle and Hampton. (...) People were moving onto land allotments. They were familiar with print media, exposed to lots of magazines, pictures, photographs (...) Daily life was infused with this mixture of nonliterate/literate. There were new technologies (...) it seemed to me that it was more honest to deal with all this in my art, rather than to create a fake hide painting“ (quoted from: Berlo, Janet Catherine; Spirit Beings and Sun Dancers – Black Hawk’s Vision of the Lakota World, p. 153).

Artistic career (27), family background (28):

Disciple of [Oscar Howe] (29), whose synthesis of tradition and modernism he continues and interpretes with accents of his own. Received important influence from his grandmother Christina Standing Bear (30) and his great grandfather [Standing Bear]  (31) (Mató Nájin) whose talent for drawing he has inherited. Thus Amiotte comes from a family of Indian intellectuals, maintaining their tradition. He considers himself „an ambassador on behalf of the Lakota and for the traditional arts of Native Americans.“ (quoted from: This Path We Travel, Smithsonian Publishing, p. 26)

Important influence also by Pete Catches (32) (Lakota Medicine Man) who introduced him into Lakota spirituality and rituals belonging to Lakota traditions (mainly in the period from 1972 – 1981). The mystic experiences based upon Lakota philosophy have formed his artistic work and imbue it on all levels. Hence, his creativity as a whole is an expression of the Lakól wicóh’an washtélaka (33) – the love of the Lakota traditions. As a consecuence of this conviction, Amiotte at the same time is a promotor of Lakota rituals (34) such as the [Sun Dance] (wiwányank wacípi). The visionary experiences during the traditional ceremonies also find their impact on his artistic work (Sun Dance scenes). (35)

Amiotte is the bearer of the following titles (36) and functions (37):

Being a cultural counselor and artist (fine arts, intersection between modern and traditional native art) he received, among others, the following titles and functions as an educator, consultant on Native cultures of the Northern Plains, adjunct Professor of Native Studies at Brandon University in Manitoba, Canada, on the Indian Advisory board of the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, Wyoming. In 1964 bachelor’s degree in art education from Northern State College in Aberdeen, South Dakota; Master’s degree of Interdisciplinary Studies in Anthopology, Religion and Art from the University of Montana, honorary doctorates from Oglala Lakota College and Brandon University, Manitoba.

As an expert and counselor he has been called to numerous commissions and boards (38), such as a founding member of the Plains Indian Museum Advisory Board, temporary adviser at the Smithsonian’s (39) National Museum of the American Indian and at the Presidential Advisory Council for the Performing Arts at the Kennedy Center (40). Member of the board of Directors for the Native American Art Studies Association, commissioner of the United States Department of the Interior’s Indian Arts and Crafts Board, and Member of the Council of Regents of the Institute of American Indian Arts (41).

Awards (42) :

Amiotte has received numerous honors: Arts International; Lila Wallace (43) Readers Digest Artists at Giverny, France, Fellowship; a Getty Foundation Grant; a Bush Leadership Fellowship (1981), the South Dakota Governor’s Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Arts; and the Lifetime Achievement Award as Artist and Scholar from the Native American Art Studies Association, Bush Artist Fellowship (2002). (44)

Further activities, exhibitions (45):

Frequent lecture tours at home and abroad (46), book author (47); in 1989 Amiotte participated with the chapter about Sioux Arts in the important volume Illustrated History of the Arts in South Dakota (48) that was published on the occasion of the centennial of that federal state. His all-round work (49) (ranging from painting to sculpture and textile objects) is present in 26 public and about 200 private collections (50). Especially well-known is his series of collages (51) in which he depicts the discrepancy of Lakota culture between tradition and modernism („The Visit“, 1995, Acryl-Collage; Buffalo Bill Historical Center (52), WY., where he also colaborated in the interactive presentation of museum exhibits of the Plains Indian Museum ).(53)

Publications by Amiotte (selected bibliography):

Amiotte, Arthur, The Lakota Sun Dance - Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, in: Sioux Indian Religion, ed. by Raymond J. DeMaillie/Douglas R. Parks, Norman 1987, with illustrations of the artist

Amiotte, Arthur, Eagles Fly Over, and:

same, Our Other Selves, in: I Become Part of It - Sacred Dimensions in Native American Life, ed. by D.M. Dooling/Paul Jordan-Smith, New York 1989

Amiotte, Arthur/Runnels, Vic, Art and Indian Children of the Dakotas, volumes 1 - 5 - An Introduction to Art and Other Ideas, Washington/BIA Aberdeen S.D., without date of publication

Indian Arts and Crafts Board of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Photographs and Poems by Sioux Children, from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota, selected by Myles Libhart and Arthur Amiotte, with an essay by Arthur Amiotte, Rapid City 1971

References:

Berlo, Janet Catherine; Arthur Amiotte, Collages 1988 - 2006, Santa Fe 2006

Berlo, Janet Catherine; Spirit Beings and Sun Dancers – Black Hawk’s Vision of the Lakota World, New York 2000

Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of the American Indian; This Path We Travel - Celebrations of Contemporary Native American Creativity, Golden/Colorado 1994

Further reading:

Day, John; “Arthur Amiotte and Oscar Howe: Sympathy and Divergence.” Arthur Amiotte Retrospective Exhibition: Continuity and Diversity. Ed. John A. Day. Pine Ridge, SD: The Heritage Center, Inc., Red Cloud Indian School, 2001, 19-24

Warren, Louis S., Buffalo Bill’s America – William Cody and the Wild West Show, New York 2005 (Chapter „Standing Bear“, cf. p. 396)

Internet references:

http://www.bbhc.org/exhibitions/arthurAmiotte.cfm

http://www.bbhc.org/pointsWest/PWArticle.cfm?ArticleID=159

http://www.bbhc.org/pointsWest/PWArticle.cfm?ArticleID=17

http://www.bbhc.org/pointsWest/PWArticle.cfm?ArticleID=7

http://www.bbhc.org/pointsWest/PWArticle.cfm?ArticleID=110

http://www.aktalakota.org/index.cfm?cat=1&artid=206

http://www.bbhc.org/pointswest/PWArticle.cfm?ArticleID=75

http://www.bbhc.org/pim/galleries.cfm

http://www.wheelwright.org/exhibitions/Amiotte/arthur1.html

http://www.anpa.ualr.edu/symposia/2006_symposium/2006%20Speaker%20Biographies.htm

http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/lifestyles/local/article_9289efeb-5adc-50d2-89bd-90194c399c73.html

http://www.washington.edu/uwpress/resources/press_releases/pascal.html http://naasa.wordpress.com/ (Vol. XIII, No.1, April 2000)

http://www.usd.edu/press/news/news.cfm?nid=232

http://umfa.utah.edu/splendidprograms

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/6413243/List_of_writers_from_peoples_indigenous_to_the_Americas

http://www.bushfoundation.org/publications/BushFellowsReport.pdf

German sources:

http://www.dai-heidelberg.de/content/e2/e212/index_ger.html?sdate=2006-04-29&veranstaltungs_id=302

http://www.tagung2009.dgv-net.de/workshop_04.html

http://deutsch.stjosefs.de/index.cfm?cat=57&artid=46

http://deutsch.stjosefs.de/dynaimg/files/MaLakota_brochure.PDF

http://www.evifa.de/cms/de/evifa_aktuell/evifa_news_einzelseite/index.html?&L=0&tx_ddnewssystem_pi1%5Bevifa_archiv%5D=1&tx_ddnewssystem_pi1%5Bpointer%5D=36&tx_ddnewssystem_pi1%5Btt_news%5D=482&tx_ddnewssystem_pi1%5BbackPid%5D=127&cHash=fcc6116236

Footnotes:

(1) http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/lifestyles/local/article_9289efeb-5adc-50d2-89bd-90194c399c73.html (2) http://www.bbhc.org/exhibitions/arthurAmiotte.cfm (3) http://www.aktalakota.org/index.cfm?cat=1&artid=206 (4) http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/lifestyles/local/article_9289efeb-5adc-50d2-89bd-90194c399c73.html http://umfa.utah.edu/splendidprograms (5) http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/lifestyles/local/article_9289efeb-5adc-50d2-89bd-90194c399c73.html http://www.aktalakota.org/index.cfm?cat=1&artid=206 (6) http://www.bbhc.org/exhibitions/arthurAmiotte.cfm (7) http://www.wheelwright.org/exhibitions/Amiotte/arthur1.html (8) http://www.aktalakota.org/index.cfm?cat=1&artid=206 (9) http://www.bbhc.org/exhibitions/arthurAmiotte.cfm (10) http://deutsch.stjosefs.de/index.cfm?cat=57&artid=46 (11) http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/lifestyles/local/article_9289efeb-5adc-50d2-89bd-90194c399c73.html http://www.bbhc.org/pointsWest/PWArticle.cfm?ArticleID=110 (12) compare: references (13) http://www.dai-heidelberg.de/content/e2/e212/index_ger.html?sdate=2006-04-29&veranstaltungs_id=302 (14) http://umfa.utah.edu/splendidprograms (15) http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/lifestyles/local/article_9289efeb-5adc-50d2-89bd-90194c399c73.html http://www.washington.edu/uwpress/resources/press_releases/pascal.html http://www.usd.edu/press/news/news.cfm?nid=232 (16) http://www.washington.edu/uwpress/resources/press_releases/pascal.html (17) http://www.bbhc.org/exhibitions/arthurAmiotte.cfm (18) http://www.usd.edu/press/news/news.cfm?nid=232 (19) http://www.aktalakota.org/index.cfm?cat=1&artid=206 (20) http://www.docstoc.com/docs/6413243/List_of_writers_from_peoples_indigenous_to_the_Americas (21) http://www.bbhc.org/exhibitions/arthurAmiotte.cfm (22) cf.: Photographs and Poems by Sioux Children, from the Porcupine Day School, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, SD, selected   by Myles Libhart and Arthur Amiotte, with an essay by Arthur Amiotte, an exhibition organized by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Rapid City, 1971, also: cf. http://www.bbhc.org/exhibitions/arthurAmiotte.cfm (23) http://www.aktalakota.org/index.cfm?cat=1&artid=206 (24) Art & Indian Children of the Dakotas, 5 volumes: I – 5, An Introduction to Art and Other Ideas, developed and produced by the Office of Educational Services, The United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Aberdeen Area Office, Aberdeen SD, without date of publication (25) cf: Berlo, Janet Catherine; Spirit Beings and Sun Dancers – Black Hawk’s Vision of the Lakota World, p. 153). (26) ibidem  (27) http://www.bbhc.org/exhibitions/arthurAmiotte.cfm  (28) http://www.bbhc.org/exhibitions/arthurAmiotte.cfm  (29) http://www.bbhc.org/exhibitions/arthurAmiotte.cfm http://www.aktalakota.org/index.cfm?cat=1&artid=206  (30) http://www.wheelwright.org/exhibitions/Amiotte/arthur1.html  (31) http://www.wheelwright.org/exhibitions/Amiotte/arthur1.html  (32) http://www.aktalakota.org/index.cfm?cat=1&artid=206 http://www.wheelwright.org/exhibitions/Amiotte/arthur1.html  (33) cf. DeMaillie, Raymond / Parks, Douglas R., (ed.), Sioux Indian Religion, Norman 1987, p. 80, Lakota phrase, translation: „Love of Lakota traditions“  (34) cf. http://www.bbhc.org/exhibitions/arthurAmiotte.cfm  (35) compare: Raymond J. DeMaillie/Douglas R. Parks, Sioux Indian Religion, Norman 1987, (illustrations of the artist) (36) http://www.aktalakota.org/index.cfm?cat=1&artid=206 http://www.bbhc.org/exhibitions/arthurAmiotte.cfm (37) http://www.aktalakota.org/index.cfm?cat=1&artid=206 (38) http://www.bbhc.org/pointsWest/PWArticle.cfm?ArticleID=17 (39) http://www.aktalakota.org/index.cfm?cat=1&artid=206 (40) http://www.aktalakota.org/index.cfm?cat=1&artid=206 (41) http://www.aktalakota.org/index.cfm?cat=1&artid=206 (42) http://www.aktalakota.org/index.cfm?cat=1&artid=206 http://www.anpa.ualr.edu/symposia/2006_symposium/2006%20Speaker%20Biographies.htm (43) http://www.bbhc.org/exhibitions/arthurAmiotte.cfm (44) http://www.bushfoundation.org/publications/BushFellowsReport.pdf (45) http://www.aktalakota.org/index.cfm?cat=1&artid=206 (46) for Europe: cf. section „German sources“ About his travels to Europe cf. also: This Path We Travel, Celebrations of Contemporary Native American Creativity, by the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, NY/Golden Colorado 1994, p. 24 – 29. cf. also: http://www.bbhc.org/exhibitions/arthurAmiotte.cfm (47) cf. section „publications“ (48) http://www.aktalakota.org/index.cfm?cat=1&artid=206 (49) cf. (50) http://www.aktalakota.org/index.cfm?cat=1&artid=206 (51) http://www.bbhc.org/pointswest/PWArticle.cfm?ArticleID=75 (52) http://www.bbhc.org/pointswest/PWArticle.cfm?ArticleID=75 (53) http://www.bbhc.org/pim/galleries.cfm (about the interactive presentation, online experience, section Adversity and Renewal): http://www.bbhc.org/pim/index.cfm (about the Plains Indian Museum)

Is this the right page for this kind of informations? (I had forgotten to add that before, sorry): in this case: Editing User: Büffelblick (Buffalo's Look), graduated in linguistics, focus on ethnolinguistics, domain of interest and activities also ethnobotanics/“ethno-zoology“ (= does this branch have to be established still?). Teaching and research. Büffelblick (talk) 15:49, 20 January 2010 (UTC)