OUR LIVES IN OUR HANDS

From Folkstreams.net ...

This 1986 film examines the traditional Native American craft of split ash basketmaking as a means of economic and cultural survival for Aroostook Micmac Indians of northern Maine. This documentary of rural off-reservation Indian artisans aims to break down stereotypical images. Basketmakers are filmed at their craft in their homes, at work on local potato farms and at business meetings of the Basket Bank, a cooperative formed by the Aroostook Micmac Council. First person commentaries are augmented by authentic 17th century Micmac music.

Watch it at Folkstreams!

Painted Buffalo Hides

From Prairie Edge Trading Company and Gallery:

It was traditional in some ancient Plains Indian cultures for women to render geometric patterns and men, pictographic design. Historically, a robe was worn with the head to the left when it was wrapped around the body, and the painting would be displayed on the outside with the fur next to the body for warmth.

Chief Dan George

Chief Dan George, as Old Lodge Skins in Little Big Man, goes up to the mountain to die:"Come out and fightIt is a good day to dieThank you for making me a human beingThank you for helping me to become a warriorThank you for my victoriesAnd for my defeatsThank you for my visionAnd the blindness in which I saw furtherYou make all things and direct them in their ways, oh GrandfatherAnd now, you have decided that human beings will soon walk a road that leads nowhereI am going to die now, unless death wants to fightAnd I ask you for the last time to grant me my old powerTo make things happen."Watch it here.

Kiowa Five

The Smithsonian has an AMAZING collection of Kiowa Drawings, including the above paintings from the Kiowa Five -- Spencer Asah, James Auchiah, Jack Hokeah, Stephen Mopope, Monroe Tsatoke and, briefly, Lois Smokey, available to look at through their online gallery. The Kiowa Five studied at the University of Oklahoma in the late 1920s and were prominent in the development of contemporary Indian painting. Their paintings were effectively promoted by their professor, Oscar B. Jacobson, through international exhibition and a limited-edition portfolio, plates of which are included in the collection.Also included in the collection is the Silverhorn Target Record Book, a series of drawings that appear in a book used for recording Army target practice sessions. Most of the drawings are by Silver Horn (Haungooah), but some drawings are by other, unknown artists. The drawings were made in the 1890s while Silver Horn was enlisted in Troop L of the 7th Cavalry, based at Fort Sill, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).****The National Anthropological Archives offers digital images of every photograph and work of art in its collection for $50. Order here.