Gifts for Trading Land with White People

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Enrolled Salish member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation

1992

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

In her work, political activist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith addresses issues of racism, the environment, and Native identity. Here, she has inscribed the image of a canoe, an icon of Native American culture and a key mode of transportation in the history of trade and crosscultural interaction, amid layers of newspaper clippings, photographs of Native people, and washes of paint. Suspended above is a selection of sports memorabilia, calling attention to the much-contested use of Native American names for teams and mascots—hats with logos, rubber tomahawks, and faux headdresses.

Artwork Details

Overview

Exhibition History

Title: Gifts for Trading Land with White People
Artist: Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Enrolled Salish member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation (St. Ignatius, Montana 1940–2025 Corrales, New Mexico)
Date: 1992
Geography: United States, Montana
Culture: Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation
Medium: Oil and mixed media
Dimensions: Length: 14 ft. 2 in. (431.8 cm)
Width: 60 in. (152.4 cm)
Classifications: Miscellaneous, Paintings
Credit Line: Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia (93.2)
Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing