Haunting and hopeful "Impacted Nations" illustrates environmental devastation and solutions

Honor the Earth exhibit opens with reception on Friday, February 24

Minneapolis — "Impacted Nations," an exhibit that illuminates the intersection between American Indian artists and environmental concerns, opens at Ancient Traders Gallery, 1113 East Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis, from 5-9 p.m. on Friday, February 24. The event is free and open to the public.

The exhibit, currently traveling across the United States, is a creation of Minneapolis-based Honor the Earth, a national Native American foundation and political advocacy organization. The tour was launched at the Nathan Cummings Foundation in New York City in October.

With more than fifty pieces of artwork spanning the continent, the exhibit portrays a conflict: the cultural and spiritual relationship of Native peoples to their land versus the economic forces that undermine that relationship and American Indian ways of life.

"This nation’s appetite for energy devastates Native land with energy developments that destroy the entire web of life," said Janeen Antoine, exhibit curator. "The artists’ collective works articulate a broad view — of the dark realities of dirty energy and of the hopeful vision for tribal wind and solar power. The exhibit encourages Native nations to be leaders in developing the alternative energy resources so abundantly provided."

Through a stunning array of styles and mediums, the art illustrates the havoc wreaked on Native communities by dams, oil exploration, coal mining, logging and nuclear power.

The contemporary fine art and traditional art of Native peoples in remote villages, reservation towns, border communities and urban centers imbue the show with a passionate voice. From the unsettling "Copper Mother" by Cameron Chino (Quechan) to the fluid beauty of Blake Debassige’s (Obijwe/Mchigeeng) "Mother Earth’s Presence" to the overpowering forces of "Modern Day Indian" by Star Wallowing Bull (Ojibwe/Arapaho), the art captivates even as it underscores the land, water and air laid to waste.

"The exhibit is in Minnesota because, historically, tribes here have been impacted by utility companies and energy development," said Winona LaDuke, Executive Director of Honor the Earth. "Through Impacted Nations, Honor the Earth is working to inform people about the negative impacts of energy policy and offer a solution for the future. For example, on White Earth Reservation we are one of the windiest reservations in the state, and we have just received a congressional energy bill appropriation of $1 million for a wind turbine.

The exhibit features a number of regional artists, including Minnesota’s Jim Denomie (Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa) and Star Wallowing Bull (Ojibwe/Arapaho). Following the exhibit at Ancient Traders Gallery, "Impacted Nations" travels to Santa Fe’s Institute of American Indian Art, the largest American Indian art museum in the country.

Ancient Traders Gallery is committed to the presentation of dynamic American Indian art as well as informing viewers about issues relevant to American Indians.

AINDC is co-sponsoring the exhibit, a project of Honor the Earth, a national Native American foundation and political advocacy organization based in Minneapolis. Ancient Traders Gallery is one of the exhibit’s venues on a national tour that was launched at the Nathan Cummings Foundation,
New York City, in October 2005.

" Impacted Nations" runs through April 15, 2006.