Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1941-10-31

AZ the luSltdtIOu VI tuc DULS.
man Chapter of the American
Federation of Arts. John G.
EN ers. Acting Curator of tn e
Museum of the Plains Museum.
spoke befor group of artist. stud.
ents and faculty members of
Montana State College in Boze-
man on the evening of October
Is. The lecture, in the auditorium
OF the fine new Student Union
Building on the college campus,
dealt with American Indian arts
and crafts with particular empha-
sis upon those of the Indians of
the Plains.
The speaker stated that the art
of the American In dian has
been largely neglected by art his
torians. and consequently by slut
ents of art. in this country. Our
histories have been written by
white people who. concerned with
the accomplishments of their own
race. have traced the origins of
American arts from estern
European sources and pointed out
the steady flow of influences from
abroad on American artists. So
strong have been these foreign
influences on American painting
and sculpture since Colo
times that some authorities have
been led to express grave doubts
concerning the existence of such
a thing as truly American art
OF late years, however, there
has been growing awareness of
another set of artistic traditions
in ADMINISTRATIONS that were
old when Columbus left the old
world for the new. the artistic
traditions of the American In
d ans. We know that these ira
oltions date back thousands of
years even though we have but a
fragmentary pictur re their history
in most sections of North Amer
lea revealed by the work of arch
biologists to date.
The more we see and learn of
the artistic works of these early
Americans the more we apprecia-
the the high degree of sensitivity
/ to form and color and the I'M
usual manual skill that was theirs.
Unlike much of the art of West
ern Europe their their work was
concerned primarily with the
tasteful production and decor.
alton of unitarian objects-ob-
jects employed in every day life
such as carrying baskets, cook
ing and storage pots. articles of
clothing etc.; of equally useful
ceremonial and religious objects.
They were not makers of museum
pieces, or followers of the art
for arts sake' theory. With them
the patient fashioning and decora-
ton of useful objects was as es-
sential part of life as eating
and sleeping.
! The student of Indian art soon
begins to recognize certain
schools of arts and crafts diff
ering widely one from the other.
There were regional artistic
media, technlques and styles
which clearly distinguish the
works of the people of the South.
western deserts from those of
the Indians of the eastern forests,
of the California mountains, the
North Pacific coastal region or
the grassy plains. Undoubtedly
the different environments offer
ing different materials for the
artists use played a part III de-
termining these regional devel
opments. No less influential in
determining the artistic EN-.
phases in the different regions
were the habits of living of the
peoples of those regions.
When we look a bit closer we
| find local differences in technique
and style amorg neighborlng
tribes or groups Of tribes. We
also find changes in style and
technique within local groups
over the years.
These are some of the funda-
mental principles we shunid keep
in mind in considering the arts
and crafts of the American In
dams in general or those of any
particular region or group of
tribes.
! Mr.. Ewers then went on to des-
cribe the tradition al arts n d
crafts of the Indians # h e
Great Plains as products of no
madic hunters of the Indians of
the open grasslands whose rowing
existence necessitated their pos
session of few but serviceable
objects. For the construction Of
these articles they found tough
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