Crow in a Boat (Primary Title)
Rick Bartow, Mad River Band of Wiyot Indians, 1946 - 2016 (Artist)
Many of Rick Bartow’s works reference the theme of transformation and the power of storytelling. He was an avid reader, writer, musician, and storyteller who described his artistic process as giving him the ability to vent something of his Native experience in an articulate manner. Crow in a Boat illustrates the titular bird, here seen with text that is reminiscent of an early childhood poem or storybook.
Indigenous peoples had a unique vantage point from which to experience the “reading revolution” of the 19th century. Reading transitioned from an intensive practice of memorizing religious texts to a rapid consumption of information and entertainment. For schoolchildren, this meant recitation of poetry, prose, and schoolbooks that frequently romanticized the world of the American pioneer. As Native children were forced into boarding schools, they were often on the front lines of these new approaches to pedagogy and didactics, while simultaneously being forbidden to speak in their native language or relate their own stories.
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