Child's Death Mask: Collateral Damage

Child's Death Mask: Collateral Damage

Flame Maple and Pearls
2007
8" x 9" x 6"

In a world ruled by militarism, let me bring a voice to the silenced. Remember this child, killed for no reason other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or of the wrong race, culture or religion. This child is timeless, could be from Iraq or Afghanistan, or maybe from Colombia, El Salvador or Guatemala. This child could be from Palestine, Chechnya, Vietnam or Indonesia. This child could be from Turtle Island during the conquest that created the United States. I see no difference because the results are the same. Think on this child, who will never grow to fulfill their life's purpose.

This work was chosen as cover art by my dear friend and fellow Human Rights activist Larry Ebersole's volume of poems called, "mural poems: human rights and anti-war poems." Unfortunately, the book is now out of print. But, before he passed into the next world, the legendary Howard Zinn offered a shining review of Larry's work. Click on the image above to read it.



"Child's Death Mask: Collateral Damage" was my first work, alongside a colored pencil drawing called, "Despair of Humanity: Iraq War," to be juried into the exhibition "In the Spirit: Contemporary Northwest Native Arts." The art show is an annual collaboration between the Longhouse Education and Cultural Center and the Washington State History Museum. The work was also published in Red Ink Magazine, Vol. 13 No. 2 in Fall of 2007.


As a Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota, I am proud to voice a dissenting view on militarism. I see many connections to the wars and occupations being waged around the world to the genocide of indigenous people of this continent. I see many similarities between current resistance struggles and the struggles of our people for self-determination. The warrior spirit for me means that I must think from myself, from my heart, and be willing to act and to give my life, and my life's purpose for the values that I hold dear. I hold the warriors who have been exploited by those who seek only to empower and enrich themselves in my heart and mind.


As I work to decolonize my mind, I must rethink, and re-evaluate what I have been taught. I must replace what comes from being colonized and assimilated with indigenous values at the core of my being. Through this process, I shed tears for those children whose lives have been cut short, the innocent and gentle who have met a violent end for no reason.

Blood Quantum Countdown

Blood Quantum Countdown    

Ceramic, acrylic on canvas, plaster, silver, clock parts

2011

24” x 24” 

Using two different varieties of ceramic clay and a working clock, I explore the Western-imposed concept of blood quantum upon indigenous identity. Like the Western construct of time which was imposed through colonization, blood quantum has imprinted itself upon our collective psyche. Using the image of lightning, which instantly attracts the attention of all who see it flash, I seek to draw attention to the dangers of basing our identity upon racist instruments.

Blood quantum originated during a historical period of the U.S. when Native Americans were viewed as a vanishing race. Today, it enjoys widespread use by tribal and federal governments as a legitimate method of determining whether a person can be considered an American Indian. This piece warns that continuing its use inevitably leads to a countdown to our extinction. 

Faces are depicted as pie charts to show the nonsensical nature of using this race-based method for quantifying Nativeness. Nobody looks like a pie chart. Our survival as a people is based upon a whole spectrum of qualifying factors, from lineal descent to connection to our tribal communities, to protecting, preserving and revitalizing our tribal cultures. It’s time to reassess the viability of the blood quantum system.

By Erin Genia (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate)

Exhibited @ the "In the Spirit: Contemporary Northwest Native Arts" show at the Washington State History Museum in 2011. Won Pendleton Prize (People's Choice runner up).

Self-Decolonization: On the Dakota Uprising

Self-Decolonization: On the Dakota Uprising

Terracotta, plaster, acrylic, cedar, maps

2010

24” x 21”

This piece is a symbolic attack on an icon of imperialism—Abraham Lincoln, who presided over the largest mass execution in United States history—of 38 Dakota men who took part in the 1862 Dakota Uprising. It is a window into the past that revisits a hidden history of how this country came to be what it is and revises landscapes to reflect our ever-present ancestors. I am a descendant of survivors of genocide, ethnic cleansing, expulsion, relocation, and internment. My ancestors have asked me to revisit this painful past because there is healing that needs to be done and restitution that needs to be made to the Dakota people for the diaspora that was created when we were expelled from our place of origin and forbidden to return. Here, I explore the concept of blood money and subvert the ideals of American mythology while asking myself, “Who are my heroes?” This work is part of a series about Self-Decolonization. The act of creating works for this series is a potent vehicle for decolonizing my own mind and bringing sanity to my life. In learning the truth about my history and trying to make sense of my world, I seek to shed values that have been imposed on me and reclaim those that are my birthright.

Exhibited @

In the Spirit: Contemporary Northwest Native Arts Exhibit Washington State History Museum, Tacoma, Washington 2010 
B.E.S.T. of First Nations Blue Horse Gallery, Bellingham, Washington 2010