curated by Bruce Maggi , PhD.

No Rezervations

As we come to this time of the year and celebrate the changing of the seasons, I look towards to the celebration of the indigenous people of North America. Across the country, people flock to pumpkin patches, Halloween events, and social gatherings to sip on hot apple cider. In certain parts of the US indigenous people are gathering for celebratory events called pau waus. These events are happening all over my state for the next several weeks, giving people the chance to experience and learn about local tribal groups and their heritage. I think that this is very important in the deconstruction of stereotypes of the indigenous people of North America.

Although some may say that this is incorrect, since what one would see is a bunch of people dancing and marching around in regalia doesn’t change the view of the visual culture assigned to these people, I would disagree. Yes, part of the pau wau does have indigenous people from all over the country attending in their tribal regalia, sometimes dancing in front of the crowds, but there is more. Along with the drums and the dancing, we get an education, we learn who these people are and their history.

We learn that they are still here, and when they are not in the regalia, they work jobs and have families just like the rest of us. In my opinion, these interactions break down the walls of ignorance. Speaking of the deconstructing stereotypes and changing the views of how we see the indigenous people of North America, I look to the exhibit of the works of Joshua Knight. “No Rezervations” consists of portraits of not only actors who play indigenous characters, but real people.

This time last year I invited Josh to the Waccamaw People’s Pau Wau. I learned that he had never attended the event before and I looked forward to meeting him there to see how would enjoy the event. Josh brought his camera along he got to meet Chief Buster Hatcher, the Principal Chief of the Waccamaw People. Chief Hatcher is the reason that the Waccamaw People are a state recognized entity, and he has continuously promoted the indigenous people of South Carolina and strives for the Waccamaw to receive Federal recognition. Josh took some pictures of Chief Hatcher and asked if it would be okay if he painted a portrait of him. Chief Hatcher agreed, but jokingly asked if Josh could make him more handsome.

About four months later Josh presented Chief Hatcher with the painting that you see in this exhibit, which perpetuated in the creation of the rest of the pieces seen in this exhibit.

The exhibition titled “No Rezervations” came out of many discussions that Josh and I have had about the show Reservation Dogs. The portraits you see here are of the characters from the show, which Josh and I agreed is an important turning point in how the indigenous people of North America are portrayed in American media. In the creation of the exhibition’s title we looked at the idea that the world would be a better place if there was no need for reservations. The misspelling of the word “reservation” derives from the slang of calling such places “the rez”, most liked based on the CBC show The Rez.

When questioning Josh why he chose to paint these characters, he responded,

“Sometimes I like to create without the restrictions of a concept, but just the joy to paint. I really enjoyed the authenticity of the show and felt it would be fun to paint the cast of indigenous peoples without much thought”.

That doesn’t end with the idea of he just paints portraits of actors from shows he likes, but the deeper meaning revolves around the idea that this show Is portraying characters that aren’t pigeonholed in the stereotypes of the past. This exhibition starts with a portrait of Chief Hatcher conveying his importance to his people and continues with portraits of indigenous people who also create importance of changing the views of the American Indian cultures. Josh has documented the process of creating these portraits on his social media accounts and the praise he has received has been deafening, not only from his followers but the actors themselves, who have been made aware of these paintings.

I hope you enjoy this online exhibit, and I look forward to seeing Josh’s art in other future exhibits, as his work continues to get more notoriety.