Visual arts of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas

[6][page needed] Lithic age art in South America includes Monte Alegre culture rock paintings created at Caverna da Pedra Pintada dating back to 9250 to 8550 BCE.

Greenlandic Inuit have a unique textile tradition intregrating skin-sewing, furs, and appliqué of small pieces of brightly dyed marine mammal organs in mosaic designs, called avittat.

[12] The art of the Haida, Tlingit, Heiltsuk, Tsimshian and other smaller tribes living in the coastal areas of Washington state, Oregon, and British Columbia, is characterized by an extremely complex stylistic vocabulary expressed mainly in the medium of woodcarving.

Stone tools found at Poverty Point were made from raw materials which originated in the relatively nearby Ouachita and Ozark Mountains and from the much further away Ohio and Tennessee River valleys.

They built platform mounds larger and more complex than those of their predecessors, and finished and developed more advanced ceramic techniques, commonly using ground mussel shell as a tempering agent.

Nez Perce, Yakama, Umatilla, and Cayuse women weave flat, rectangular corn husks or hemp dogbane bags, which are decorated with "bold, geometric designs" in false embroidery.

Great Basin tribes have a sophisticated basket making tradition, as exemplified by Dat So La Lee/Louisa Keyser (Washoe), Lucy Telles, Carrie Bethel and Nellie Charlie.

The most elaborate pictographs in the U.S are considered to be the rock art of the Chumash people, found in cave paintings in present-day Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo Counties.

From multiple archaeological studies that occurred in various historical sites (the Channel Islands, Malibu, Santa Barbara, and more) many effigy figures were discovered and portrayed several zoomorphic forms, such as fish, whales, frogs, and birds.

[31][32] As a result from analyzing these effigy figurines in these studies, several strong conclusions were drawn that provided context to the Native Americans of California, such as social attributes between the Chumash and other tribes, economical significance, and possibly used in rituals.

Their culture was the first to develop many traits that remained constant in Mesoamerica until the last days of the Aztecs: a complex astronomical calendar, the ritual practice of a ball game, and the erection of stelae to commemorate victories or other important events.

In his 1957 book on Mesoamerican art, Miguel Covarrubias speaks of Remojadas' "magnificent hollow figures with expressive faces, in majestic postures and wearing elaborate paraphernalia indicated by added clay elements.

With access to a wide range of native bird species, Amazonian indigenous peoples excel at feather work, creating brilliant colored headdresses, jewelry, clothing, and fans.

In the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes region, tribes dependent upon the rapidly diminishing fur trade adopted art production a means of financial support.

Three of the most celebrated Californian basket weavers were Elsie Allen (Pomo), Laura Somersal (Wappo), and the late Pomo-Patwin medicine woman, Mabel McKay,[61] known for her biography, Weaving the Dream.

Roger Amerman, Marcus' brother, and Martha Berry, Cherokee, have effectively revived Southeastern beadwork, a style that had been lost because of forced removal from tribes to Indian Territory.

Performance allows artists to confront their audience directly, challenge long held stereotypes, and bring up current issues, often in an emotionally charged manner.

On the other hand, Marcus Amerman, a Choctaw performance artist, maintains a consistent role of the Buffalo Man, whose irony and social commentary arise from the odd situations in which he finds himself, for instance a James Bond movie or lost in a desert labyrinth.

"[90] She has suntanned phrases into her skin, donned cross-cultural and cross-gender disguises, and incorporated songs, ranging from Inupiaq throat singing to racist children's rhymes into her work.

Peter Pitseolak (Inuk, 1902–1973), from Cape Dorset, Nunavut, documented Inuit life in the mid-20th century while dealing with challenges presented by the harsh climate and extreme light conditions of the Canadian Arctic.

[97] Other prominent Inuit printmakers and graphic artists include Parr, Osuitok Ipeelee, Germaine Arnaktauyok, Pitseolak Ashoona, Tivi Etok, Helen Kalvak, Jessie Oonark, Kananginak Pootoogook, Pudlo Pudlat, Irene Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq, and Simon Tookoome.

Potawatomi artist Woody Crumbo created bold, screen prints and etchings in the mid-20th century that blended traditional, flat Bacone Style with Art Deco influences.

[98] Melanie Yazzie (Navajo), Linda Lomahaftewa (Hopi-Choctaw), Fritz Scholder and Debora Iyall (Cowlitz) have all built successful careers with their print and have gone on to teach the next generation of printers.

Roxanne Swentzell (Santa Clara Pueblo) is known for her expressive, figurative, ceramic sculptures but has also branched into bronze casting, and her work is permanently displayed at the National Museum of the American Indian.

Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole carvers such as Charlie James, Mungo Martin, Ellen Neel, and Willie Seaweed kept the art alive and also carved masks, furniture, bentwood boxes, and jewelry.

[102] Cotton and wool from alpaca, llamas, and vicuñas have been woven into elaborate textiles for thousands of years in the Andes and are still important parts of Quechua and Aymara culture today.

In both techniques, dog, mountain goat, or sheep wool and shredded cedar bark are combined to create textiles featuring curvilinear formline designs.

Experimental 21st-century textile artists include Lorena Lemunguier Quezada, a Mapuche weaver from Chile, and Martha Gradolf (Winnebago), whose work is overtly political in nature.

[118] In international situations, institutions are not always legally required to repatriate indigenous cultural items to their place of origin; some museums do so voluntarily, as with Yale University's decision to return 5,000 artifacts and human remains to Cusco, Peru.

For instance, Native American art pieces and artifacts would often be shown alongside dinosaur bones, implying that they are a people of the past and non-existent or irrelevant in today's world.