Greenhill, Josie
Project title: North American Indigenous Responses to Contact with Non- Indigenous Peoples: An Investigation of ‘Hybrid’ Art Objects
Department: Art History & Visual Studies
Faculty supervisor: Dr. Victoria Wyatt
"This research project investigates ways in which North American Indigenous artists responded to contact with non-Indigenous peoples (traders and settlers) in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Indigenous artists creatively integrated new materials, methods and motifs into their artistic production. The result is a category of ‘hybrid’ objects that bring together elements from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous visual cultures. This category of hybrid objects is broad and I will likely focus on one of its many facets as my research progresses.
This project proves that indigenous art is not static, and that the integration of new materials, methods and motifs does not discredit the indigeneity of the art. This challenges European discourse that primarily valued “authentic” Indigenous arts (i.e. styles and methods that represented a European view of pre-contact Indigenous peoples and their arts). This project provides an opportunity for comparisons between responses in different places in North America.
My anticipated learning outcomes include gaining a more in-depth understanding of local and national Indigenous histories and arts, gaining an intercultural perspective applicable to all future research, and strengthening my research skills through experiential learning. This project has the capacity for both experiential learning and broader community engagement due to the accessibility of relevant materials in local cultural institutions. I am fortunate to have access to an array of resources here in Victoria, from the collections at the Royal BC Museum to other resources nearby in Vancouver and Seattle. By accessing these resources I will be able to synthesize existing text-based research with tangible artworks."