Does this mask the look of disappointment on my face?

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In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and mandates for the general public to begin wearing face masks, as well as the rapid shuttering of art galleries and museums, a number of Indigenous artists created masks inspired by artistic traditions within their own communities.

Mi’kmaw artist and educator Jennifer Pictou’s woven black ash mask speaks to the ongoing resiliency of Northeastern basket-making practices, the medicinal properties of black ash, and the healing powers of art. Within her mask, Oneida and Hopi artist Leith Mahkewa uses the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) raised beadwork technique to create an elaborate floral pattern using a somber palette of gray, silver, and black. For hundreds of years, Chilkat dancing blankets have recorded history, clan migration, and stories for the Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast. Lily Hope’s Chilkat Protector draws on this legacy and serves as a record of our current moment.  

"We took care of each other, we survived. We are still weaving." - Lily Hope

During the pandemic, we have all experienced what it is like to be required to wear masks while in public. For some, face masks have become a vehicle for self-expression. How have you approached this daily choice, and has your perspective changed over time? 

From the 2022 exhibition This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, curated by Jami C. Powell, Curator of Indigenous Art; Barbara J. MacAdam, former Jonathan L. Cohen Curator of American Art; Thomas H. Price, former Curatorial Assistant; Morgan E. Freeman, former DAMLI Native American Art Fellow; and Michael Hartman, Jonathan Little Cohen Associate Curator of American Art

Course History

ANTH 7.05, Animals and Humans, Laura Ogden, Winter 2022

GEOG 31.01, Postcolonial Geographies, Erin Collins, Winter 2022

ANTH 50.05, Environmental Archaeology, Madeleine McLeester, Winter 2022

ANTH 50.05, Environmental Archaeology, Madeleine McLeester, Winter 2022

ARTH 5.01, Introduction to Contemporary Art, Mary Coffey and Chad Elias, Winter 2022

GEOG 80.10, COVID-19, Abby Neely, Spring 2022

ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Summer 2022

ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Summer 2022

SPAN 65.15, Wonderstruck: Archives and the Production of Knowledge in an Unequal World, Silvia Spitta and Barbara Goebel, Summer 2022

GEOG 11.01, Qualitative Methods, Abigail Neely, Fall 2022

Exhibition History

This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, Owen Robertson Cheatham Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 5–July 22, 2022.

Provenance

The artist, Leith Mahkewa, Kahnawake, Québec, Canada; sold to present collection, 2021.

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