ícaro: medicine songs (2013-2023)
Pasifika and Asian artist and writer Nu’a Bon’s ícaro: medicine songs presents a breathtaking tapestry of human emotion and resilience from a desire to uncover a more profound understanding of the North American landscape. Bon’s extraordinary decade-long journey unravels the threads of our collective past, weaving a narrative that exposes the hidden scars of history and the enduring human spirit.
ícaro: medicine songs is an ambitious and deeply moving art project that transcends the boundaries of time and space. Five thematically interconnected monographs, coupled with a two-volume art catalogue, provide an expansive exploration of cultural, political, and social issues, all while remaining grounded in the physicality of the very soil and minerals from which they were born. Bon’s artistic process reflects his commitment to the authentic representation of these stories, immersing himself in the energy of each location to channel the memories and pain of those who have suffered there. Taking to the road covering thousands of miles for over a decade, Bon painted in situ at hundreds of sites of conflict and disasters in nature, natural and human-made.
From the indigenous peoples of the Americas to the ongoing struggle for justice, equality, and freedom, ícaro: medicine songs delves into the heart of the human experience. Bon’s art captures the beauty and strength of the communities that have faced adversity and serves as a vital reminder of the importance of confronting the darker chapters of our past to create a more compassionate and just future. Nu’a Bon’s ícaro: medicine songs are a testament to art’s power for understanding, healing, and reconciliation. The stunning visual narratives he has crafted offer a unique window into the complex and often unspoken histories that have shaped our world. This project reminds us that we are connected through shared experiences, struggles, and triumphs. Ultimately, ícaro: medicine songs stands as a powerful homage to the resilience of the human spirit and the transformative potential of creativity to foster healing and change.
The People, the endonym the Diné (Navajo) people of the US southwest use to identify themselves, is a treatise on the experiences of the indigenous peoples of the Americas over the past 600 years before European colonisation to today. Earth focuses on sites of natural and human-made disasters, highlighting the impact of human activity on the environment. Freedom grapples with historical injustices and the ongoing pursuit of recognition, equality, and justice. Black delves into the lives and experiences of non-White individuals who were either forcibly enslaved and made to labour or arrived in America by choice, often driven by desperation. This book celebrates these communities’ courage, sacrifice, and determination to overcome adversity and find a place in the sun. Tapestry narrates the stories of journeying on new paths, crossing borders, and exploring the realms between real and imaginary lands and how these paths are threads or strings of yarn that, when interwoven, become the fabric of cultures and societies. A sixth monograph comprises two volumes featuring images, technical descriptions, and location information from the other five books, excluding the essays that relate the context behind each ícaro painting. This collection also includes collectable photographic works from the numerous sites visited during the project. This art series exemplifies the profound capacity of art to communicate complex and essential themes, ultimately inspiring meaningful dialogue and fostering a deeper understanding of our world.
Tsé bitʼaʼí (rock with wings), Navajo Nation, Shiprock, New Mexico, 2017
Cascadia Subduction Zone, Siletz Reservation, Oregon, 2016
ícaro: medicine songs (2013-2023)
THE PEOPLE
344 Pages, 61 Paintings, 46 Photographs
Diasporic Asian and Pasifika artist and writer Nu’a Bon’s remarkable work, The People, translated from the name the Diné (Navajo) people call themselves, is a testament to the rich and complex history of indigenous peoples of the Americas. By exploring the interconnected experiences of various indigenous communities, such as the Diné, Hopi, Lakota, Mesoamericans, Seminoles, Lenape, and Kanaka Maoli of Hawai’i, Nu’a Bon creates a vibrant tapestry that spans six centuries and encompasses a wide range of cultures and geographies. Born in Hawai’i in 1954, Nu’a Bon, a multifaceted artist trained as a fine art painter in New York and Paris in the 1980s, honed his skills in fine art photography under the mentorship of Ansel Adams and Minor White in the 1970s and was a new media art professor and NGO research fellow in China.
Nu’a Bon’s work transcends the boundaries of traditional historical accounts by incorporating his unique ícaro paintings, which are inspired by the tribal plant spirit healing traditions of the Amazon, as well as his evocative fine art photography, capturing the essence of the historical sites he visited during his decade-long odyssey across North America. These medicine song paintings, infused with soil, water, and minerals from each historical site, serve as a powerful visual representation of the creation stories, events, and emotions experienced by indigenous peoples. Together with his photographs, this innovative approach to historical narrative lends a profound depth to the stories being told and connects the reader on a visceral level.
The People does not avoid addressing indigenous communities’ challenges and struggles in the modern era. Nu’a Bon’s accounts of the American Indian Movement’s (AIM) Wounded Knee and Alcatraz occupations in the 1970s, the defence of tribal water resources at Sacred Stone Camp in North Dakota, the Zapatistas of México, and the tragic stories of Indian boarding schools and missing and murdered indigenous women and children in Canada and the US are poignant reminders of the resilience and determination of these communities. By bringing these contemporary issues to light, Nu’a Bon’s work resonates with social art activism and is a clarion call for awareness and change. The multidimensional perspective Nu’a Bon offers in The People is compelling, allowing readers to forge deep connections with the diverse and enduring cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. I sincerely hope this book will inspire readers better to appreciate these communities’ resilience and indomitable spirit while fostering a sense of shared responsibility for our collective history.
One of the five artist monographs of the ícaro: medicine songs journey, The People by Nu’a Bon, will leave an indelible mark on all who read it. It is a work that transcends the boundaries of history and art, serving as a powerful testament to the unbreakable spirit of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. As both an aesthetic and historical tour de force, with its fusion of large-scale abstract paintings and fine art photography, The People is a vital contribution to the canon of social art activism and a must-read for anyone seeking to understand and appreciate the rich tapestry of our shared past.
ícaro 1001 US-Dakota War, Indian Agents (1862)
ícaro 1002 Sand Creek Massacre (1864)
ícaro 1003 Fall of Tenochtitlán (1521)
ícaro 1004 Near Extinction of the American Bison (19th C)
ícaro 1006 California Gold Rush (1848)
ícaro 1007 Jamestown Colony Massacre (1622)
ícaro 1009 Dakota 38 Executions (1862)
ícaro 1011 Zapatista Uprising (1994)
ícaro 1013 Lenape Forced Removals (1644)
ícaro 1017 Tsitsistas Slave Revolt (1842)
ícaro 1024, 1025 Great Swamp Massacre (1675)
ícaro 1030 O’odham Uprising, Pima Revolt, Spanish Missions (1751)
ícaro 1033 Expulsion of the Yellowstone Nations (pre-1872)
ícaro 1038 Wagon Mound Massacre, Santa Fe Trail (1850)
ícaro 1045 Ghost Dance War, Nanissáanah (1890)
ícaro 1048 Tsé Bitʼaʼí, Rock with Wings, Diné Baahane’
ícaro 1053 Overthrow of the Hawai’ian Kingdom (1893)
ícaro 1059 Broken Trust, Fort Laramie Treaties (1851, 1868)
ícaro 1063, 1064, 1065 Pueblo Revolt (1680)
ícaro 1067, 1068, 1069, 1070 Hopi Sipapúni
ícaro 1076 Diné Long Walk, Hwéeldi, Naayéé’neizghání (1864)
ícaro 1077 Diné Ni’ hodootl’izh Blue (Second) World
ícaro 1078 Diné Nihaltsoh, Yellow (Third) World
ícaro 1079 Diné Niʼ hodisxǫs, White (Fourth) World
ícaro 1080 Trail of Tears (1830-50), Diné Nihodilhil Black (First) World
ícaro 1081 Kinłitsosinil, Church Rock Uranium Spill (1979) Diné Nihaltsoh
ícaro 1087 Cacao, pre-Columbian Mesoamerican Trade Routes
ícaro 1088 Oregon Trail (1811-96) Waiilatpu Mission
ícaro 1093 Seminole Wars (1816-58)
ícaro 1095 Genízaro
ícaro 1096 Highway of Tears (1969-2011)
ícaro 1100 Mission Indians (1769-1848)
ícaro 1102 Nez Percé War (1877)
ícaro 1112 TMT and Mauna a Wakea (2019) Kū Kia'i Mauna
ícaro 1115 California Genocide (1846-73)
ícaro 1121 Seven Cities of Cíbola (1540)
ícaro 1122 Bear River Massacre (1863)
ícaro 1126 Oceti Sakowin Camp (2016-17)
ícaro 1125 pre-Columbian Mesoamerican Trade Routes
ícaro 1132 Badlands
ícaro 1140 Apalachee Massacre (1704)
ícaro 1144 Little Bighorn (1876)
ícaro 1149 Canadian Indian Residential Schools (1996)
ícaro 1157 Mabila Massacre (1540)
ícaro 1160 Albuquerque Indian School (1881-1981)
ícaro 1161 Canyon del Muerto Massacre Cave (1825)
ícaro 1190 Acoma Massacre (1599)
ícaro 1191 Indian Removal Act (1830)
ícaro 1192 Quivira, Seven Cities of Gold (1541)
ícaro 1200 Ghost Dance War (1890)
ícaro 1222 Natchez Revolt, Mississippi Bubble (1729)
ícaro 1231 Mystic Massacre, European Settler Culture (1637)
ícaro 1234 Wounded Knee Occupation, Russell Means (1973) Leonard Peltier (1975)
ícaro 1236 Alcatraz Occupation, (AIM) American Indian Movement (1969)
ícaro 1264 Beaver Wars (1609-1701)
The Dakota Access Pipeline Protests began in early 2016 as grassroots opposition to constructing Energy Transfer Partners’ Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in the northern United States. DAPL has been under environmental review since June 2017, its fortunes dependent on political winds. The underground pipeline runs 1,172 miles from the Bakken oil fields in western North Dakota to a distribution centre in southern Illinois, crossing beneath the Missouri and Mississippi rivers and under part of Lake Oahe near the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation. Many members of the Standing Rock tribe and surrounding communities consider the pipeline a severe threat to the region’s water, wild rice (manoomin) marshes, and ancient burial grounds and cultural sites of historical importance.
In April 2016, young people from Standing Rock, ND and surrounding Native American communities organized a campaign to stop the pipeline. Joye Braun of the Indigenous Environment Network and tribal historian LaDonna Brave Bull Allard helped establish a water protectors’ camp as a centre for direct action, demonstrating spiritual resistance to the pipeline in both a defence of Indigenous sovereignty and cultural preservation. Delivering field surgical packs and heaters to the protest camp for the brutally cold winters whilst on his painting field trips, Nu’a Bon witnessed the inspiring sense of community at Standing Rock. Delegates of hundreds of tribal nations from the Western Hemisphere flew their flags to support the protestors and their First Amendment rights. The final group of protestors were forced out of the Oceti Sakowin camp, razed by the US Army Corps of Engineers and militarized State police in February 2017.
Oceti Sakowin protest (2016-2017)
Oceti Sakowin Camp (2016-17), Standing Rock, ND 66 x 101 in, earth pigments, acrylic on canvas, 2017
BLACK
283 Pages, 45 Paintings, 49 Photographs
In this groundbreaking and visually stunning monograph, Nu’a Bon invites readers on a transformative journey through the complex history of Black and other diasporic minority communities in North America. Aptly titled Black, the book delves into the lives and experiences of non-White individuals who faced tremendous adversity, whether through forced enslavement, hard labour with little or no pay, or migration driven by desperation. Nu’a Bon’s work is a historical account that celebrates these communities’ courage, sacrifice, and determination as they fought to overcome adversity and find their place in the sun.
The remarkable artistic talent of Nu’a Bon is on full display in this monograph. Trained as a fine art painter in New York and Paris in the 1980s and mentored by master photographers Ansel Adams and Minor White in the 1970s, Nu’a Bon masterfully combines his skills in large-scale abstract painting, fine art photography and historical narrative to create a truly unique and powerful work. His innovative use of ícaro: medicine song paintings inspired by the tribal plant spirit healing traditions of the Amazon adds a rich, visceral dimension to the stories being told. Infused with soil and minerals from the historical sites, these paintings connect readers to the events and emotions experienced by the indigenous peoples throughout history.
Nu’a Bon does not shy away from the dark chapters of North American history. Black covers pivotal moments and tragedies such as the Red Summer of 1919, the Black Wall Street Massacre in 1921, the Transatlantic Triangle Trade, which brought millions of enslaved people from Africa to the Americas in exchange for raw materials and manufactured goods, the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943 and the Watts Riots of 1965 in Los Angeles, and the killings of Vincent Chin, George Floyd, Emmett Till, and Trayvon Martin. The monograph also delves into the terror instilled by White supremacists through church and synagogue bombings and the systemic discrimination perpetuated by Jim Crow laws and lynching in the Deep South.
The powerful and evocative stories in Black transcend the boundaries of traditional historical accounts. Nu’a Bon’s striking combination of abstract paintings, fine art photography, and compelling narrative educates readers and sparks a deep emotional connection to the individuals and communities affected by these events. This monograph is an important and timely reminder of the resilience and strength of the human spirit and a call for reflection, understanding, and empathy.
One of the five artist monographs of the ícaro: medicine songs journey, Black is an essential addition to the library of anyone interested in the history of North America, the experiences of marginalised communities, or the power of art to tell stories that resonate across time and space. This captivating and thought-provoking monograph will undoubtedly leave a lasting impression on all who encounter it.
ícaro 1272 Strange Fruit (1939) Lynchings, Ida B. Wells
ícaro 1260 New York City Draft Riots (1863)
ícaro 1258 Slavery in Rhode Island (1778)
ícaro 1248 Freedom Riders, Desegregation (1961)
ícaro 1244 Houston Mutiny (1917)
ícaro 1230 Charleston Church Shooting (2015)
ícaro 1229 Trayvon Martin (2012) Black Lives Matter
ícaro 1228 Battle of Chickamauga (1863)
ícaro 1224 Harriet Tubman (1850) Underground Railroad
ícaro 1220 Rosewood Massacre (1923) Jim Crow
ícaro 1218 Bisbee Deportation (1917)
ícaro 1216 Red Summer (1919) Omaha Race Riot
ícaro 1202 La Pieta de Manzanar (1942-45)
ícaro 1180 Red Summer (1919) Washington DC Race Riot
ícaro 1171 Mexican-American Repatriation (1929-39)
ícaro 1164 Battle of Hayes Pond (1958)
ícaro 1140 Apalachee Massacre (1704)
ícaro 1135 Red Summer (1919) Elaine Massacre
ícaro 1119 Transatlantic Triangular Trade (1619)
ícaro 1114 Zoot Suit Riots, El Movimiento (1943)
ícaro 1108 Executive Order 9066, Santa Fe Riot (1945)
ícaro 1105 Ruby Bridges, School Desegregation (1960)
ícaro 1104 Los Angeles Chinese Massacre (1871)
ícaro 1101 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing (1963)
ícaro 1093 Seminole Wars (1816-58)
ícaro 1086 MOVE bombing (1985)
ícaro 1083 Yellow Peril, Executive Order 9066 (1942)
ícaro 1074 Anti-Oriental Riots (1907)
ícaro 1072 Gettysburg (1863)
ícaro 1071 Bloody Sunday, Edmund Pettus Bridge (1965)
ícaro 1061 Emmett Till (1955)
ícaro 1056 Gadsden’s Wharf (1776-1808)
ícaro 1051 Nat Turner’s Slave Rebellion (1831)
ícaro 1046 Killing of Vincent Chin (1982)
ícaro 1037 Watts Riots (1965)
ícaro 1032 Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination (1968)
ícaro 1031 MLK Assassination Riots (1968)
ícaro 1023 Ghetto Riots (1964-69)
ícaro 1022 George Floyd (2020) Black Lives Matter
ícaro 1021 Antifa, White Supremacists, neo-Nazis (2016)
ícaro 1019 El Paso Shooting (2019)
ícaro 1017 Tsitsistas Slave Revolt (1842)
ícaro 1016 John Brown’s Raid (1859)
ícaro 1010 Greensboro Massacre (1979)
ícaro 1000 Black Wall Street Massacre (1921)
Emmett Till (1955) Tallahachie River Mississippi 67x79 in, earth pigments, acrylic on linen, 2015
ícaro 1061 Emmett Till (1955)
The murder of an innocent 14-year-old Black man visiting relatives, who was abducted, tortured, and lynched in Mississippi in August 1955 by a gang of White supremacists, helped to galvanize a nation to take up the cause of the 1954–1968 civil rights movement. In December 1955, the Montgomery bus boycott began in Alabama and lasted more than a year, resulting in a US Supreme Court ruling that segregated buses were unconstitutional. Rosa Parks, a heroic icon of the civil rights movement, on her refusal to move to the back of the bus, launching the bus boycott, said, “I thought of Emmett Till, and I just couldn’t go back.” Till’s murder contributed to the congressional passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and further movements to address inequality in the United States.
FREEDOM
320 Pages, 44 Paintings, 51 Photographs
As we delve into the pages of Nu’a Bon’s new artist monograph, Freedom, we journey through the multifaceted and interconnected dimensions of the human social experiment. At its core, Freedom is a celebration of the human spirit – a tribute to the resilience, courage, and determination of those who have fought tirelessly against historical injustices and in the pursuit of recognition, equality, and justice. Bon’s insightful historical accounts echo throughout the book, grounding the reader in a powerful narrative honouring the stories of marginalised communities and those who have sacrificed so much for the cause of freedom.
Nu’a Bon’s work transcends the traditional boundaries of historical accounts, interweaving his stunning ícaro paintings over five artist monographs in his icaro: medicine songs series, with a wide array of subjects spanning time and geography. These paintings, inspired by the tribal plant spirit healing traditions of the Amazon and infused with soil and minerals from each historical site, offer a profound visual representation of the emotions and experiences of indigenous peoples. This innovative approach to storytelling elevates the narrative to a visceral level, ensuring that each account is observed and deeply felt.
As an educator, large-scale abstract painter, fine art photographer, and NGO research fellow in China, Nu’a Bon’s diverse background and formal training as a painter in New York and Paris in the 1980s, mentored in the 1970s by luminaries such as Ansel Adams and Minor White lend his work an unparalleled richness and depth. The photographs captured during his ten-year odyssey across North America enhance the abstract paintings, providing another dimension to the art and inviting the reader to engage with the material more intimately.
Freedom takes us on a sweeping journey through conflicts over LGBTQ+ rights, the tragic murder of Matthew Shepard, cyber warfare, espionage, and crime, and the earliest and ongoing fight for union representation and worker rights and safety. It delves into the dark history of misogyny from the witch crazes of Hartford and Salem, the evolution of feminism and the 19th Amendment, and the ongoing struggles against domestic violence and male privilege. Nu’a Bon also tackles the opioid epidemic, the heartbreak of mass shootings, religious wars, and the anti-Vietnam war protests, painting a vivid picture of the intricate tapestry of human experience. As you turn the pages of this remarkable book, let the breathtaking art of Nu’a Bon transport you through time and space into the hearts and minds of those who have faced adversity and fought for freedom. Let their stories inspire and remind you of the human spirit’s enduring power to overcome, heal, and forge new paths towards a brighter, more equitable future.
ícaro 1008 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (1911)
ícaro 1010 Greensboro Massacre (1979)
ícaro 1014 Ludlow Massacre (1914)
ícaro 1015 Oklahoma City Bombing, Far-right Militia (1995)
ícaro 1020 QAnon Conspiracy Theorists (2017)
ícaro 1021 Antifa, White Supremacists, neo-Nazis (2016)
ícaro 1028 Waco Siege (1993)
ícaro 1029 Heaven’s Gate (1997)
ícaro 1036 Hartford Witch Craze (1662)
ícaro 1039 Opioid Addiction Epidemic
ícaro 1040 Cyber Warfare, Cyber Espionage, Cyber Crime
ícaro 1043 January 6th US Capitol Attack (2021)
ícaro 1050 September 11th Attacks (2001)
ícaro 1057 Poverty on Indian Reservations
ícaro 1058 Mental Disorder, PTSD, Treatment, kené and ícaro
ícaro 1060 Sandy Hook Elementary, Gun Control (2012)
ícaro 1062 Pride, Equality Act (2019)
ícaro 1072 Gettysburg (1893)
ícaro 1075 Occupy Wall Street, Art and Conflict (2011)
ícaro 1082 Feminism, 19th Amendment (1848)
ícaro 1084 Occupation of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (2016)
ícaro 1085 Cultural Syncretism, Appropriation, and Integration
ícaro 1091 Robb Elementary School Shooting (2022)
ícaro 1094 Las Vegas Shooting (2017) Second Amendment
ícaro 1103 Stonewall Riots (1969)
ícaro 1106 Hanapēpē Massacre (1924)
ícaro 1109 Pearl Harbour (1941)
ícaro 1110 The Crucible, Salem Witch Trials (1692)
ícaro 1116 Karen Gay Silkwood (1974)
ícaro 1123 Great Depression, WPA Federal Art Project (1929-39)
ícaro 1127 HIV/AIDS (1981)
ícaro 1133 Cesar Chavez, Delano Grape Strike (1965-70)
ícaro 1134 Domestic Violence, Male Privilege
ícaro 1137 Pulse (2016)
ícaro 1155 Kent State Shootings (1970)
ícaro 1156 ERA Equal Rights Amendment (1923-today)
ícaro 1158 Mormon War (1838)
ícaro 1204 Matthew Shepard (1998)
ícaro 1206 Columbine High School Massacre (1999)
ícaro 1218 Bisbee Deportation (1917)
ícaro 1246 Kaho’olawe Protests, the Kumulipo (1976)
ícaro 1250 Poverty and Homelessness in North America
ícaro 1262 Anti-Vietnam War Protests (1965) The Pentagon Papers (1971)
ícaro 1270 Harvey Milk Assassination Riots (1978)
Pearl Harbour (1941)
The attack on Pearl Harbour in Hawai’i was launched in the early morning of a Sunday, December 7. It involved a series of coordinated bombings and torpedo attacks by Japanese aircraft on the naval base and the surrounding area. The attack was devastating, resulting in the sinking or damage of eight US battleships, three cruisers, and four destroyers, and the destruction of over 300 aircraft. The attack also killed over 2,400 US Americans, including military personnel and civilians, and wounded 1,200 others. 129 Japanese soldiers were killed.
Hawai’i is located near the centre of the Pacific Ocean, roughly 2,000 miles (3,220 km) from the US mainland and about 4,000 miles (6,400 km) from Japan. Not many believed that the Japanese would start a war with an attack on the distant islands of Hawai’i. In the 1930s, Japan embarked on a policy of aggressive expansionism in the Asia-Pacific region. It was driven by a desire to establish itself as a dominant power and secure access to the resources it needed to fuel its growing economy. This expansionism eventually led to Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941, which marked the beginning of its involvement in World War II. We discuss the expansionist ambitions of the Japanese Empire in the 1930s and what they hoped to achieve.
Pearl Harbour (1941) 100x75 in, acrylic on linen, 2014
Matthew Shepard (1998)
Matthew Shepard (1998) Laramie, Wyoming 54x105 in, earth pigments, acrylic on linen, 2018
Matthew Wayne Shepard (1976–1998) was a gay American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten and tortured the night of October 6, 1998, by two men who tied him to a barbed-wire fence near Laramie, leaving him to die. Rescuers took him to Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he died six days later from severe head injuries received during his beating. Shepard's murder brought national and international attention to hate crime legislation at the state and federal levels. In October 2009, the United States Congress passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and on October 28, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the legislation into law.
Progress for LGBTQ+ people advances at times and retreats badly at others. The Orlando, Florida Pulse nightclub mass shootings in 2016, and just a few days ago, November 19, 2022, another mass shooting at Club Q, a gay nightclub in largely conservative Colorado Springs, Colorado, several hours north of Santa Fe, make us realize that equality for all remains a constant battle.
Trail of Tears (1830-50) Fort Smith, Arkansas 60x60 in, earth pigments, acrylic on linen, 2019
US Route 66 Terminus (1926-85), Santa Monica, California, 2016
Ghost Dance War (1890), Wounded Knee, South Dakota 54x114 in, earth pigments, acrylic on canvas, 2018
The Ghost Dance, Nanissáanah (1890)
The Ghost Dance (Nanissáanah, also called the Ghost Dance of 1890) was a ceremony incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. According to the teachings of the Northern Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka, proper practice of the dance would reunite the living with spirits of the dead, bring the spirits to fight on their behalf, end American westward expansion, and bring peace, prosperity, and unity to Native American peoples throughout the region. The Lakota expression Spirit Dance, translated as Ghost Dance, was associated with Wovoka's prophecy of ending colonial expansion while preaching goals of clean living, an honest life, and cross-cultural cooperation by Native Americans.
The basis for the Ghost Dance is the circle dance, a traditional Native American dance that symbolizes the sun’s heavenly path across the sky. The Nevada Northern Paiute first practised the Ghost Dance in 1889. The practice swept throughout much of the Western United States, quickly reaching areas of California and Oklahoma. As the Ghost Dance spread from its source, different tribes synthesized selective aspects of the ritual with their own beliefs. The people were told that they could dance a new world into being. “There would be landslides, earthquakes, and big winds. Hills would pile up on each other. The earth would roll up like a carpet with all the white man’s ugly things–the stinking new animals, sheep and pigs, the fences, the telegraph poles, the mines, and factories. Underneath would be the wonderful old-new world as it had been before the white fat-takers came. ...The white men will be rolled up, disappear, go back to their own continent.”
Wounded Knee Massacre (1890) 60x48 in, earth pigments, acrylic on linen, 2016
Wounded Knee, South Dakota, 2016
Wounded Knee Massacre (1890)
The Wounded Knee Massacre was the genocidal massacre of nearly three hundred Lakota people by soldiers of the US Army. It occurred on December 29, 1890, on the Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, following a botched attempt to disarm the Lakota camp. In the years leading up to the conflict, the US government had continued to seize Lakota lands despite treaties to protect reservation lands from encroachment by settlers and gold miners. The thundering buffalo herds of the Great Plains, a staple of the Plains Indians, had been hunted to near extinction. Hunger and disease led to unrest on the reservations. The previous day, a detachment of the US 7th Cavalry Regiment approached a band of 350 Miniconjou Lakota and 38 Hunkpapa Lakota near Porcupine Butte and escorted them five miles westward to Wounded Knee Creek, where they made camp. The remainder of the 7th Cavalry Regiment arrived and surrounded the encampment with 500 troopers. A battery of four rapid-fire canons supported the regiment.
On December 29, the US Cavalry troops entered the camp to disarm the Lakota. While disarming the Lakota, a deaf warrior named Black Coyote was reluctant to give up his rifle, claiming he had paid a lot for it while not understanding the soldiers’ orders. Black Coyote’s rifle went off then; the US Army began shooting at the Indians. The Lakota warriors fought back, but many had already been stripped of their guns and disarmed. According to some accounts, Yellow Bird began to perform the Ghost Dance, telling the Lakota the falsehood that their “ghost shirts” were “bulletproof”. Twenty-five soldiers died, thirty-nine were wounded, some victims of friendly fire from their rapid-fire guns, and twenty were later awarded the Medal of Honor. By the time the massacre was over, more than 250 men, women, and children of the Lakota had died, and 51 were wounded (4 men and 47 women and children, some of whom died later). Four infants were found still alive, wrapped in their deceased mothers’ shawls.
Following a three-day blizzard, the military hired civilians to bury the dead Lakota. The burial party found the deceased frozen; they were gathered and placed in a mass grave on a hill overlooking the encampment, where rapid-fire guns shot into the crowd. Looters quickly stripped the bodies of Ghost Dance shirts and other possessions sold to collectors and museums. Photographers canvassed the corpse-ridden fields and sold their photos as postcards. Advertisements said they were ‘just the thing to send to your friends back east.’ In 2001, the National Congress of American Indians passed two resolutions condemning the military awards and called on the federal government to rescind them. In 1990, both houses of the US Congress passed a resolution on the historical centennial formally expressing “deep regret” for the massacre.
September 11 Attacks (2001) NYC 54x65 in, acrylic on canvas, 2022
World Trade Center Sept 11, 2001
On the morning of September 11, 2001, the deadliest terrorist attack in US history occurred when members of the Islamic extremist group al Qaeda hijacked four commercial airliners. The first two planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, were flown into the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. A third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, hit the western side of the Pentagon, just outside Washington, DC. The fourth hijacked plane, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed in a field in rural Pennsylvania, never reaching its target because its crew and passengers fought back against the terrorists. Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives during the 9/11 attacks, a number that would almost certainly have been significantly higher if not for the actions of crew and passengers aboard Flight 93.
Black Wall Street Massacre (1921)
Black Wall Street (1921) Tulsa, Oklahoma 60x60 in, earth pigments, acrylic on linen, 2021
The Tulsa Race Massacre, also known as the Black Wall Street Massacre, took place between May 31 – June 1, 1921, when mobs of white residents, some of whom had been appointed as sheriffs’ deputies and armed by city officials, attacked black residents and destroyed homes and businesses of the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma known colloquially as Black Wall Street. The event is considered one of the single worst incidents of racial violence and has been described as one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in the history of the United States. The attackers burned and destroyed more than 35 square blocks of the neighbourhood—at the time, one of the wealthiest black communities in the United States.
Battle of Chickamauga (1863)
The Battle of Chickamauga, between US and Confederate forces in the American Civil War on September 19–20, 1863, in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia, was the first major battle of the war fought in Georgia, the most significant Union defeat in the Western Theater, and involved the second-highest number of casualties after the Battle of Gettysburg. The campaign and major battle take their name from West Chickamauga Creek. In popular histories, Chickamauga is a Cherokee word meaning “river of death”.
Battle of Chickamauga (1863) 60x48 in, earth pigments, acrylic on linen, 2017