#salish

Killer Whale & Salmon Panel

In Mourning Dove's words,

"She took her digging stick of dogwood and prepared to fight if the bear meant to charge at her, which the bear did not hesitate to do. With a howl that would have frozen the blood of any coward, it charged.

"She threw off her pack and held her stick to challenge the brute, saying, 'You are a mean animal and I am a mean woman. Let us fight this out to see who will get the berry patch.'

"The fight went on long enough that the warriors approached, not expecting to see such a sight. When they drew their arrows to shoot, she commanded them, 'Don’t shoot. Wait! We are fighting this to the finish. It is a mean animal and I am a mean woman. We will see who is strongest and conqueror in this battle.' The people watched the fight until the sun lay low in the western sky. Only then did the grizzly walk away, broken and bleeding. The old woman had only a few scratches. She picked up her basket and gathered the berries she had won, while the people stood in wonderment."

Mourning Dove notes that her great-grandmother lived many more years after this, and was buried on the bank of the Similkameen River after her death by drowning.

Photo by Grace Roselli

🎨Jaune Quick-to-See Smith

Country: American/Confederated Salish and Kootenai 🇺🇸

DOB: Jan 15 1940 Flathead Reservation, Montana, USA

DOD: January 24, 2025 Corrales, New Mexico

Style: abstract. Used multiple media

Jaune Quick-to-see Smith was a Salish artist raised by a single father who worked as a horse trader so she traveled a lot and loved in poverty. Growing up she worked alongside migrants when school wasn’t in session. Her first name Juane “yellow” in French and is a nod to the Métis* part of her background. “Quick-to-see” was given to Smith by her Shoshone* grandma.

He has one son who is also a painter.

Smith has an associates of Arts Degree from Olympic College in Washington in 1960, BA in Art Education from Framingham State College, Massachusetts in 1976, and an MA in Visual Arts from the University of New Mexico in 1980. Though she often had to pause her studies to work

Her work is a commentary on Native identity, and issues the communities are facing.

Smith was First Native artist acquired by the National Gallery(I See Red: Target 1992) and first to get a retrospective at the Whitney Museum. She also did a Tarazzo floor for the Denver International Airport and a sculpture in the Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco.

Smith also promoted other native artists helping arrange introductions into the mainstream art communities, organizing ver 30 exhibitions.

Smith was an environmentalist who created The Nomad Art Manifesto in response to the waste in art making.

The Nomad Art Manifesto states:

Nomad Art is made with materials that break down naturally.

Nomad Art can be recycled.

Nomad Art can be folded and sent in a small package.

Nomad Art can be stored on a bookshelf, saving space.

Nomad Art does not need a frame.

Nomad Art is good for countries that are changing or forming.

Nomad Art is for the new age of people moving around the world

Juane Quick-to-see Smith died of pancreatic cancer at 85

Sources

Kiddle- Juane Quick-to-see Smith

Wikipedia- Juane Quick-to-see Smith

Juane Quick-to-see Smith (official site)

Hyperallergic - obituary