North American Indian and Eskimo Art

The native arts of the New World of both prehistoric and historic times represent a vast range of styles and object types and were first made from many different materials. The nature of each group of expressions was governed partly by what was available from the immediate environment. Therefore, for example, the predominant expressions of the Northwest Coast are wood sculptures, while walrus ivory is the prime medium for maritime Inuit carvers, and Native Americans of the Southwest are known for pottery and basketry.

Prehistoric Art

The archaeological record of ancient humans in North America stretches back about 12,000 years before the present. This was perhaps a millennium after the first hunting peoples had come to the continent from Siberia by way of the Bering Strait on foot or by boat. However, it was not until the Late Archaic period (c. 3000 b.c.) that the first art objects were made. At this time, elegantly carved counterweights for spear throwers in bird and ax-head form made their appearance in various Woodland Indian sites.

The later Woodland Indians who lived in the eastern half of Canada and the United States in about 1000 b.c.—1000 a.d. are known for the Hopewell and Adena peoples' earthworks, which are geometric and animal in shape, as well as for grave offerings of stone effigy pipes and objects of copper, mica, and pottery left in their burial mounds. In the form of birds, animals, serpents, and human heads and figures, these were made to honor earth and sky gods. The Mississippian culture that existed in the southeastern quadrant of the United States then followed and was marked by the construction of massive mounds for ancestor-worship temples. The art made for funeral display and burial consists of such things as copper repousse plaques showing warrior falcon men; conch-shell engravings with serpent, thunderbird, and death-head motifs; and stone and ceramic effigy sculptures depicting human ancestors.

In the Southwest, during the years between the 1st century a.d, and 1700, the major art expressions were ceramic vessels with painted geometric patterns in black, red, and white pigments on white, red, or orange pottery. Later developments also include representations of animals, humans, and birds in geometric fields of design. In their animal and human effigy vessels, two expressions, the Hohokam of Arizona and the Casas Grandes of northern Mexico, show influence from the pre-Columbian Mixtec and Aztec cultures to the south.

To the north, some tantalizing bone, shell, antler, and even wood remains from the coasts of Washington and British Columbia indicate that the roots of the Northwest Coast style of historic times are deep, going at least into the 2d millennium b.c. The Eskimo (including the Inuit and the Aleut- and Yupik-speaking peoples) of the far north are not of the same genetic group as the American Indians, having descended from Siberian peoples who came later to the New World. The ancient maritime Eskimo left behind art objects in the form of animal and human figures of engraved bone and walrus ivory. They were associated with whale and walrus hunting and shamanism. These artifacts, which date from about 500 B.C. to 1200 A.D., have been found on Kodiak Island and the land areas and islands of the Ber-ing Strait. Wood masks and human figures used by shamans have also survived from the late prehistoric period on Kodiak Island. In northern Canada the Dorset tradition of 500 b.c. to 1100 a.d. produced small stone, antler, bone, and wood animal and human figures related to shamanism, hunting magic, and funerary ceremonies.

The Historic Period

Much of the art of Native American and Eskimo cultures of historic times is two dimensional and is made by women. It comprises the crafts of weaving, basketry, and pottery and the applied arts of quuillwork, embroidery, and beading. Sculpture ana painting, in large part created by men, is also prevalent in some regions, particularly on the Northwest Coast and in the far north. Nowadays, Indian artists continue to create fine arts and crafts for the commercial market in both traditional styles and new expressions. Particularly notable are the pottery, jewelry, and weavings of the Southwest and the recent renaissance of carving on the Northwest Coast. Scholars have classified the cultures into six geographic areas: Woodlands, Plains, Southwest, Basket Maker, Northwest Coast, and Eskimo.

Woodland Indians

The Woodland Indians occupy the large area stretching from the interior of southern Alaska, across southern Canada, and into the United States from the Great Lakes to New England. Much of their art consists of decorated objects of everyday use such as bark vessels, wood bowls, and ladles. Fine quillwork, bead-work, and moosehair embroidery are also made. Except among the Iroquois Confederacy tribes, where wood masks honor creator beings and their entourage, sculpture is rare.

Plains Indians

West of the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and south as far as Texas lived the Plains Indians. Their culture was radically changed with the introduction of the horse in the 16th century. Whereas the people had originally been hunter-gatherers, they soon became nomadic and almost completely dependent on the buffalo for food and raw materials. Much art was made for prestige display and warfare, including skin clothing, horse trappings, moccasins, and bags decorated with quillwork and beadwork. Some robes, shields, and tepee hides were painted with geometric designs, vision-induced motifs, and battle scenes. Eagle feathers were used to ornament war bonnets, shields, lances, and banners. Sculpture was limited to wood carvings of horse and human effigy figures and stone pipes with human and animal forms on the stems and bowls.

Southwest Indians

The Southwest Indians live in New Mexico, Arizona, the southern areas of Colorado and Utah, and northern Mexico; they consist of several subgroups. The Pueblo of the Rio Grande are known for pottery, each village having developed its own painting style. Much is made for sale to non-Indians, but the people also make dance costumes and regalia associated with crop fertility and rainmaking. The Hopi and Zuni developed an art of small-scale sculpture in the creation of painted cottonwood Kachina dolls, which represent spirits that take part in full-scale masked ceremonies. Cylindrical wooden war gods and small stone-animal hunting fetishes are carved as well. Hopi basket makers also weave colorful wicker and coiled trays and containers. Other concentrations of basket weaving exist among the Apache, Pima, Papago, and Yuma, who make bowls, trays, and round containers with intricate geometric and figural designs.

The Navajo shepherds are justly famous for their weavings, an art that reached full development with the creation of the chiefs' wearing blankets in the mid-19th century. As commercial dyes and yarns became available, many rugs and blankets began to be made for sale. Silversmithing is another craft introduced during the last century, and Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni artists make fine bracelets, rings, and other ornaments, many with turquoise, shell, and coral inlays.

Basket Maker Indians

To the far west, mostly in California, are the Basket Maker Indians. They lived mostly in small and scattered tribes, subsisting on hunting and gathering, and refined basketry into a highly evolved art. Examples were made for everyday use as well as to serve as gifts and art objects. Besides utilizing animal, floral, and geometric motifs, some weavers such as the Pomo incorporated feathers and shell ornaments interwoven with the basket fibers. At the turn of the century, Washo women also created some of the finest and most tightly woven baskets for sale.

Northwest Coast Indians

The western coast of Washington state, British Columbia, and the Alaskan panhandle is the home of the Northwest Coast Indians. Their economy was based on salmon fishing. The abundance of cedar and other woods engendered a rich sculptural tradition best represented by the totem pole. Other large-scale carvings are house posts, canoes, chests, and feast dishes. Ceremonial paraphernalia in the form of masks, rattles, and eating utensils are also made of wood. Many carvings are painted and have inlays of shell. Two-dimensional art comprises painted house screens, storage boxes, and the unique, capelike Chilkat blanket. All such objects were made to reinforce the inherited privileges and rights of important families, and they conferred prestige on those who owned, used, and wore them. Another class of works was made for display at shamanic seances. Bone and ivory amulets, rattles, masks, and tunics were carved and painted to represent spirit helpers. Basketry was also well developed here. Numerous carrying and storage containers decorated with embroidered geometric bands were made for both use and sale.

Eskimos, The Eskimos of Alaska and Canada made their living as maritime hunters of sea mammals or, if they lived inland, of caribou and other furbearing animals. Among their most notable works are their finely decorated and tailored articles of clothing incorporating the skins of animals and sometimes birds into their designs. At the end of the 19th century, basket makers of the Aleutian Islands developed a particularly fine weave from beach grasses. The maritime Inuit of Norton Sound created small, fanciful ivory carvings, such as buttons, needle cases, toggles, and tool handles; some featured engraved geometric and pictorial motifs that presaged designs later used by scrimshaw carvers, who made objects such as cribbage boards and decorated walrus tusks for trade. Dolls and animal sculptures of bears, birds, caribou, and other animals were used as toys, game pieces, and amulets.

Sculpture from pieces of driftwood also appears in parts of Alaska. The Inuit of Point Hope and King Island made masks of human and stylized whale faces to be worn in ceremonies to bring successful whale hunting. To the south in the Bering Strait and Norton Sound areas, fantastic painted masks with appendages of wood and feathers were created to represent the creatures a shaman encountered during vision quests.

See also:

- Western Art
- Asian Art
- African Art
- Oceanic Art
- ArtWorks as an Investments