Native American artist, activist, educator, and curator Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s works are being presented to a Scottish audience for the first time. The exhibition Wilding is on show until 2nd February at Fruitmarket in Edinburgh. Smith sadly passed away on 24 January this year, at the age of 85.
As a citizen of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation, Montana, Smith has been a voice for indigenous people – victims of European colonisation since the late 15th century, and for at least 50 years, she challenged the colonisers’ narrative. Gaining acceptance in the art world as an Indigenous woman was challenging: she described her beginnings to CBS Sunday Morning in 2023: ‘When I met paint, it was like an epiphany. I didn’t know the word ‘artist’ or what it meant, but I went to community college and I did take art. At the end of the year the teacher called me in and he said, you can draw better than the men but you can’t be an artist, you’re a woman and you need to know your place in life.’ Despite this, she earned her degree in the arts in 1960. When the National Gallery in Washington DC acquired her work and the Whitney Museum in New York opened a retrospective, she often told different publications that if a door opens, she would bring her community with her.
As a woman from a stolen land, space is vital to her. The exhibition’s name, chosen by Smith, reflects this: she wanted to highlight a question about who owns the land, both in Scotland and the US. As the Fruitmarket notes, Smith named the exhibition Wilding to address the history of land stewardship, and her tribe’s links with Scotland. She had wanted to spend more time in Scotland before the exhibition, but illness prevented her from doing so.
Her art is not only about claiming the space but also about creating it visually, politically, and culturally, for her nation. Existence is only possible under these circumstances. The line between what belongs to the person and what belongs to the ‘socius’ is blurred. Her personal history of travelling and working on the land from a very young age shaped her art and the relationship with the land itself. We can see this in her earliest pieces, exhibited in the Lower Gallery. The Montana Memories series dates back to 1989 – a series that references where Smith was born, the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana. In Montana Memories Smith utilises everyday objects from the daily lives of her ancestors, as well as items that resemble the soil and land her ancestors relied on. She deliberately chose to use everyday objects to record an oral history, reflecting the daily life of an indigenous person, as a way of acknowledging that they have lived and continue to live.
Smith’s works remind us how history is the sum of the ways a society is forced to remember and forget. The I See Red series is a great example of this. The series began in 1992, the year of national commemorations marking the quincentennial of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in America. As indigenous people were subjected to genocide by the occupiers who came after Columbus, this remembrance evoked a lot of anger. Smith, as well as many Native American artists, drew attention to the racism of the celebration of this anniversary.
For Smith, remembering means being present. In ‘I See Red: The Past Shadows the Present’ she uses a red snowman to remind viewers that Native Americans are still here, red symbolising both anger and indigenous culture in her work.
Three pieces in the I See Red series depict an elk, a bison, and a horse from afar. A closer look reveals details from news articles, documents, and images related to Native American life and stories, as well as references to broader American popular culture. She does this to remind us to resist nostalgia. What visitors encounter when they step into the exhibition is not something nostalgic, but very up-to-date, right in today’s world. This is explained in the exhibition guide: “Smith deliberately references artists from the ‘Western canon’ of art history – Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Jean Dubuffet, Kurt Schwitters, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Joan Mitchell, Philip Guston, Louise Bourgeois. This is both to use ‘a common language that is easily read as symbolic of American mainstream culture’, as she has said, but also to lay claim to their styles, palettes and processes for her own purposes.”
Smith uses maps as symbols of sovereignty, unity, and identity to discuss land that has been stolen and polluted. Their large size attracts viewers, appealing to most US citizens. In War is War, the map is full of words for argument, disagreement and war, while American Slang Map is full of ‘othering’ words. Both maps draw attention to the ongoing and deepening divides within American society. On American Citizen Map, on the other hand, Smith uses names of her Native American friends to remind us they belong to this land.
One of the most notable works from the exhibition is All My Relations, created specifically for Fruitmarket – a canoe hanging over the stairwell and loaded with animals. Smith connects her earlier works below, tied to the land, and recent ones above, representing the sky, using this sculpture. She placed animals that are natural predators side-by-side in the canoe in dialogue and unity, which she hopes for us all.
Another canoe, in a painting, faces the sculpture, ‘Trade Canoe: Turtle Island’. This piece borrows its title from the indigenous name for North America. She is aiming to show the devastation that settler Europeans brought to the American land. To the right of the painting are several faces based on a pictograph known as Tsagaglalal (she who watches) which is considered as an enduring guardian of Native land.
The same pictograph is seen in ‘Tierra Madre’ series, featuring advocates for environmental and ecological causes and social activists Rachel Carson, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Amy Bowers Cordalis, Wilma Mankiller, and Maria Sibylla Merian. Smith brings them together as witnesses and warriors for the future.
From Native American sovereignty to environmental concerns, each artwork tells a different story of Native American life that is tied to the land and interwoven with resistance. Smith has always been a powerful example of this. Through her art and her dedication to teaching, she raised indigenous voices and continues to inspire countless young people.
With thanks to Omur Sahin Keyif (Insta: @theartsreporter) for this review.
