List of Native American women artists

Native American women in the arts include the following notable individuals. This list article is of women visual artists who are Native Americans/First Nations of the U.S and Canada. The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 defines "Native American" as those being enrolled in either federally recognized tribes or state-recognized tribes or "an individual certified as an Indian artisan by an Indian Tribe." This list does not include non-Native American women artists who use Native American themes or motifs in their work. Additions to the list need to reference a recognized, documented source and specifically name the tribal affiliation according to federal and state lists.

Basketry

• Primrose Adams (b. 1926), noted for her spruce root basketry.
• Elsie Allen (22 September 1899 – 31 December 1990), Pomo basket weaver.[1][2][3]
• Annie Antone (b. 1955), is a Native American Tohono O'odham basket weaver from Gila Bend, Arizona.
• Carrie Bethel (1898–1974) Kucadikadi (Northern Paiute) basketmaker[4][5]
• Yvonne Walker Keshick (born 1946), Anishinaabe quill artist and basket maker and 2014 National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow[6]^:133
• Mabel McKay, Pomo/Wintu/Patwin, b. 1907 Nice, Lake County, CA. Basket weaver.[7]

Beadwork

• Nellie Two Bear Gates (1854–1935), Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna Dakota artist whose beadwork depicted the history and culture of her people.[8]
• Emily Waheneka, (born Kis-Sun-Y) Warm Springs, Wasco and Pauite. b. 1919 Simnasho, Oregon. Beadworking and sewn work, represented in the permanent collection of the Museum of Northwest Art, and others.[9][10]

Ceramics

• Mrs. Ramos Aguilar, potter from Santo Domingo Pueblo (currently known as Kewa Pueblo), New Mexico, United States.[11]}
• Daisy Hooee, Hopi-Tewa potter who helped preserve traditional methods of pottery making.[12]
• Tammy Garcia Santa Clara Pueblo sculptor and ceramic artist[1]
• Lucy M. Lewis (1890s–1992), Pueblo potter[1]
• Maria Martinez, San Ildefonso Pueblo, b. 1886 San Ildefonso. Potter.[13][7][14]
• Nora Naranjo-Morse, Santa Clara Pueblo, b. 1953 Espanola NM. Potter.[7][15]
• Ida Sahmie (born 1960), Navajo ceramic artist known for combining Hopi traditional pottery with Navajo iconography.[16]
• Margaret Tafoya (August 13, 1904 – February 25, 2001), Tewa artist known for traditional pottery. Recipient of a 1984 National Heritage Fellowship.[17]

Drawing

• Ruth Annaqtuusi Tulurialik (b. 1934), a Canadian Inuit artist born Qamani'tuaq (Baker Lake), Nunavut.
• Annie Pootoogook, Inuk, (1969-2016) Cape Dorset (Kinngait), Nunavut, Canada. Drawing and printmaking.[1][18][19]
• Irene Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq (b. 1941), noted for her drawings, prints, and wall hangings.

Installation arts

Charlene Teters in 2011

• Jaune Quick–to–See Smith, Salish/Cree/Shoshone, b. 1940 St. Ignatius Montana. BA art education, Framingham State College, 1976. MA art, UNM, 1980. Work includes 1996 Alki Beach Trail (Seattle) memorial markers and art installations and 1992 North Wind Fish Weir Project (Green River Trail, Seattle).[7][20]
• Tanis Maria S'eiltin (born 1951), Tlingit installation artist, painter, printmaker, and sculptor[21]
• Charlene Teters (Slum Tah), Spokane, b. 1952 Spokane Reservation, Washington. Installation artist, painter, activist and educator.[22][23][24]

Jewelry

• Denise Wallace, Sugpiaq (Eskimo). b 1957 Seattle. AA fine arts Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), Santa Fe 1981. Jeweler; studied lapidary work and silversmithing in Seattle prior to IAIA. Movable jewelry includes doors, latches, removable parts; created from gold, silver, ivory fossil, semiprecious stones.[7]

Mixed media

• Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie, Seminole/Creek/Navajo. b. 1954 Phoenix. attended IAIA. BFA California College of Arts and Crafts (Oakland). Instructor at IAIA, SF Art Inst, UC Davis, California College of Arts and Crafts. Mixed media.[7]
• Gail Tremblay, Onondaga/Micmac. b. 1945 Buffalo NY. BA drama UNH 1967; MFA creative writing U Oregon 1969. As of publishing, member of faculty at The Evergreen State College. Multi-media.[7]
• Sara Bates, Cherokee, b. 1944 Muskogee, OK, BA Fine Art and Women's Studies, Cal State Bakersfield 1987; MFA Sculpture and Painting UCSB 1989, mixed media[7]

Painting

Tonita Peña

• Pop Chalee ("Blue Flower") b. Merina Lujan 1906 Castle Gate UT. Painter, muralist, performer.[7]
• Sharron Ahtone Harjo (b. 1945), a Kiowa painter from Oklahoma.
• Helen Hardin, Tsa-Sah-Wee-Eh ("Little Standing Spruce"), Santa Clara Pueblo, b. 1943 Abq NM. Painter/printmaker in the collections of the Heard Museum, Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, Museum of New Mexico and others.[7][25]
• Georgia Mills Jessup (March 19, 1926 – December 24, 2016) was a painter, sculptor, ceramicist, muralist, and collage artist of African-American and Pamunkey descent.
• Mary Longman (Aski-Piyesiwiskwew), Salteaux, Gordon First Nation. B. 1964 Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan. Painting, drawing, sculpture. Associate Professor at University of Saskatchewan specializing in aboriginal art history.[15]
• Tonita Peña, Quah Ah, San Ildefonso Pueblo, b. 1893 San Ildefonso, attended St. Catherine's Indian School. Painter and muralist.[7]
• Pablita Velarde - Tse Tsan ("Golden Dawn"), Santa Clara Pueblo, b. 1918 at Santa Clara Pueblo NM. Attended St. Catherine's Indian School. Painter, book illustrator, muralist.[7]
• Jaune Quick–to–See Smith, Salish/Cree/Shoshone, b. 1940 St. Ignatius Montana. BA art education, Framingham State College, 1976. MA art, UNM, 1980. Work includes paintings and other art.[7][26][27]
• Kay WalkingStick, Cherokee. b. 1935 Syracuse NY. BFA Beaver College (Pennsylvania) 1959; MFA Pratt Institute 1975. Painter.[7][28]
• Emmi Whitehorse, Navajo. b. 1956 or 1957, Crownpoint NM. BA painting UNM 1980. MA printmaking UM 1982. Painter.[7][29][30]

Performing arts

• Rebecca Belmore (March 22, 1960 – ) is an Ojibwe performance artist. Residing in Canada, her performance and installation work has been exhibited internationally.  
• Lisa Mayo, Gloria Miguel and Muriel Miguel, Kuna/Rappahanonock-Powhatan. Theater/comedy "Spiderwoman Theater Company".[7]
• Malinda M. Maynor, Lumbee, b. Robeson County NC (prob on res.), A.B. History and Literature Harvard 1995; MA documentary film and video, Stanford 1997. Won film awards Best Indian-Produced Short Documentary 1997 Red Earth Film Festival and Best Short Documentary at South by Southwest Film Festival, 1997[7]

Photography

Linda Lomahaftewa in 2009

• Carmelita Little Turtle (Carm Little Turtle), Apache, Tarahumara, b. 1952 Santa Maria CA, attended Navajo Community College, UNM, College of the Redwoods; photography Shenandoah Films in Arcata[7][1]
• Linda Lomahaftewa, Hope-Choctaw, b. 1947 Phoenix; Assoc. Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, BFA and MFA San Francisco Art Institute 1970 and 1971. Photographer.[7][28]
• Jolene Rickard, Tuscarora, b. 1956 Niagara Falls NY. BFA Rochester Institute of Technology 1978. MA, PhD SUNY Buffalo 1996. Photographer.[7][15][28]
• Phoebe Farris, Powhatan-Renape, b. 1952 Washington DC, BA Fine Arts, CUNY 1975; MPS Art Therapy Pratt Inst. 1977; PhD. Art Ed. UMD College park, 1988. Photography.[7]
• Shelley Niro, Mohawk, b. 1954 Niagara Falls, attended Durham College in Ontario, Ontario College of Art and Design HFA 1990. Photography.[7][15]

Printmaking

• Pitseolak Ashoona (born ᐱᑦᓯᐅᓛᖅ ᐊᓲᓇ) Inuk, (c.1904-1983) b. Nunivut (Nottingham Island) d. 1983 Cape Dorset. Printmaker and sewing/embroidery artist.[1][31][32]
• Jane Ash Poitras, Cree, b. 1951 Fort Chipewyan, AB. MS microbiology, University of Alberta. BFA Columbia 1983. MFA Columbia 1985. Printmaker, mixed-media collage, writing.[7]
• Jean LaMarr, Pit River/Paiute, b. 1945 Susanville CA, attended San Jose City College, UCB, U Oregon; art instructor at SF Art Institute and U Oregon. Printmaker.[7]

Sculpture

Kenojuak Ashevak in 1997

• Kenojuak Ashevak (October 3, 1927 – January 8, 2013), Inuit artist from Kinngait who specialized in soapstone carving, drawing, etching, stone-cut, and print-making[33]
• Lillian Pitt, Wa'-K-a-mu, Warm Springs Yakima Wasco, b. 1943 Warm Springs OR. AA, mental health and human services, Mt Hood Community College 1981. Maskmaker, bronze casting, raku ware[7]
• Roxanne Swentzell, Santa Clara Pueblo, b. 1992 Taos NM. Attended Institute of American Indian Arts and Portland Museum Art School. Ceramic sculpture.[7][28]

Textiles

• Mary Kawennatakie Adams (1917-1999), Mohawk First Nations textile artist and basket maker.
• Elizabeth Angrnaqquaq (1916–2003), an innovative Canadian Inuk textile artist active from the 1970s to early 2000s.
• Jennie Thlunaut (1892–1986), Tlingit Chilkat weaver[1]
• Gwen Westerman[34] (Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Oyate). Fluent in the Dakota language; Professor of English and Director of the Humanities Program at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Writer, poet, fiber artist.

Woodworkers

• Kathleen Carlo-Kendall, Koyukon woodcarver[1]
• Freda Diesing (1925–2002), Haida woodcarver[1][35]
• Rose Powhatan, Pamunkey, b. 1948 Washington DC. BFA painting/art history Howard University. MA art education/art history, howard. Attended Catholic University DC, University of DC, and University of London. Wood totems, silkscreen prints.[7]

See also

• Native American art
• List of Native American artists
• Timeline of Native American art history
• List of indigenous artists of the Americas
• List of Native American artists from Oklahoma
• Native Americans in the United States
• Native American women in the arts
• List of writers from peoples indigenous to the Americas
• Native American basketry
• Native American pottery

References

1. First American Art Magazine
2. "Elsie Allen, 1899-1990". Sonoma State University Library. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
3. Wycliffe, Lydia L. (2001). Woven Worlds: Basketry from the Clark Field Collection at the Philbrook Museum of Art. Tulsa, OK: Philbrook Museum of Art. ISBN 0-86659-024-2.
4. Dalrymple, Larry (2000). Indian Basketmakers of California and the Great Basin. Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press. ISBN 0-89013-337-9.
5. Trainer, Laureen (2006). Amy Scott (ed.). Yosemite: Art of an American Icon. Los Angeles and Berkeley: Autry National Center and University of California Press. pp. 194. ISBN 0-520-24922-4.
6. Yohe (2019) harvtxt error: no target: CITEREFYohe2019 (help)
7. Farris (1999)
8. Ahlberg Yohe, Jill; Greeves, Teri; Power, Susan (2019). ""Nellie Two Bears Gates: Chronicling History through Beadwork"". Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists. Minneapolis: Minneapolis Institute of Art.
9. "Honor Awards, 1993: Emily Waheneka" (PDF). nationalwca.org. National Women's Caucus for Art. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
10. Gogol, John M. (September 1985). "Columbia River/Plateau Indian Beadwork". American Indian Basketry and other Native Arts. 18: 4–5.
11. "Jar". Denver Art Museum. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
12. Benson, Arlon (1993). "Nampeyo, Daisy Hooee". In Bataille, Gretchen M. (ed.). Native American Women: A Biographical Dictionary. New York: Garland Publishing. p. 184. ISBN 0-8240-5267-6. OCLC 26052106 – via Internet Archive.
13. Spivey, Richard (2003). The Legacy of Maria Poveka Martinez. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Museum of New Mexico Press. p. 33. ISBN 0890134197.
14. Jacobs 2003, p. 84.
15. McMaster, Gerald (1998). Reservation X: The Power of Place in Aboriginal Contemporary Art. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-97775-2.
16. "Artists » Ida Sahmie". Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
17. "Margaret Tafoya". National Endowment for the Arts. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
18. Marching, Jane D. and Andrea Polli (2012). Far Field: Digital Culture, Climate Change, and the Poles. Chicago, IL: Intellect, The University of Chicago Press. pp. Chapter 8.
19. Milroy, Sarah (23 September 2016). "Inuit artist Annie Pootoogook's work revealed the connections between us". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
20. Green River Trail Tukwilla, Washington (collections database), King County, Washington: 4Culture, retrieved 2017-05-10
21. "Exhibitions : Our Side: Elisa Harkins, Tanya Lukin Linklater, Marianne Nicolson, and Tanis S'eiltin". Missoula Art Museum. September 12, 2017 – February 24, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
22. "Interview: Charlene Teters on Native American Symbols as Mascots" (PDF). Archived from the original on July 20, 2008. Retrieved December 25, 2018.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). The NEA Higher Education Journal. 121-130 (retrieved 15 May 2009)
23. "Heard on Campus: Charlene Teters of the Institute of American Indian Arts". Penn State News. Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
24. "Academic Dean". IAIA Academics. Institute of American Indian Arts. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
25. "Spirit Lines: Helen Hardin Etchings". Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
26. Green River Trail Tukwilla, Washington (collections database), King County, Washington: 4Culture, retrieved 2017-05-10
27. 🖉"Jaune Quick-To-See Smith Bio". NBMAA.
28. Mithlo, Nancy Marie; Fadden, Stephen; Wall, Stephen; Caro, Mario (2011). Manifestations: New Native Art Criticism. Albuquerque: Museum of Contemporary Native American Art. ISBN 978-0-615-48904-9.
29. "Collections: Emmi Whitehorse". Brooklyn Museums. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
30. Indyke, Dottie (January 1, 1970). "Native Arts-Emmi Whitehorse". Southwest Art Magazine.
31. "Pitseolak Ashoona 1904–1983". National Gallery of Canada. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
32. Eber, Dorothy Harley (2003). Pitseolak: Pictures Out of My Life (second ed.). McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-7735-2565-8.
33. "Kenojuak Ashevak". www.ccca.ca. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
34. First American Art Magazine
35. Macnair, Peter L.; Hoover, Alan L.; Neary, Kevin (1984). The Legacy: Tradition and Innovation in Northwest Coast Indian Art. Vancouver, B.C.: Douglas & McIntyre.

Sources

• Farris, Phoebe (1999), "Native American women artists", Women Artists of Color, Greenwood Press, pp. 85-88, ISBN 0-313-30374-6
• Farris, Phoebe (April 2005), "Contemporary Native American Women Artists: Visual Expressions of Feminism, the Environment, and Identity", Feminist Studies, 31 (1): 95, doi:10.2307/20459008
• Harlan, Theresa; Gully, Anne (1994), Watchful eyes: Native American women artists, Heard Museum, ISBN 9780934351478
• Jacobs, Margaret D. (2003), "Shaping a new way: White women and the movement to promote Pueblo Indian arts and crafts, 1900–1935", in Ressler, Susan R. (ed.), Women Artists of the American West, McFarland, pp. 83–96, ISBN 9780786410545
• Mithlo, Nancy Marie (2009), ""A Real Feminine Journey": Locating Indigenous Feminisms in the Arts", Meridians, 9 (2): 1–30, JSTOR 40338781
• "Artist and scholar list", First American Art Magazine, retrieved 2017-05-07
• Yohe, Jill Ahlberg; Greeves, Teri (2019), Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists, Minneapolis Institute of Art in association with the University of Washington Press, ISBN 9780295745794, LCCN 2018967294