New exhibit examines Native American imagery in US culture
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Bold. Visionary. A spectacular success.
The words in an online promotion for a new museum exhibit in Washington, D.C., describe an 1830 U.S. law that forced thousands of American Indians from their lands in the South to areas west of the Mississippi River.
Provocative, yes, says the co-curator of the exhibit “Americans” that opened last month at the National Museum of the American Indian. Bold and visionary in imagining a country free of American Indians. A spectacular success in greatly expanding wealth from cotton fields where millions of blacks worked as slaves.
“When you’re in the show, you understand bold and visionary become tongue in cheek,” co-curator Cecile Ganteaume said.