New book focuses on UND’s American Indian art

The University of North Dakota will host a special reception for “Storytelling Time: Native North American Art from the Collections at the University of North Dakota” at 3:30-5 p.m., Monday, May 3, in the East Asian Room, fourth floor, Chester Fritz Library. The reception will honor the people who created the book—artists, editors, and writers.

Storytelling Time, published by Hudson Hills Press, examines how the University’s collection of Native art is understood and appreciated within its campus setting, said the book’s co-editors, UND professors Arthur Jones and Lucy Ganje.

“As art collections are best understood within the context of historical trends of collecting, the book’s authors consider significant changes that have affected the philosophy behind how and why collections of American Indian art should be cared for, researched, and displayed,” said Jones, who presented a copy of the book to Cynthia Lindquist, president of Cankdeska Cikana Community College (CCCC) during last week’s Community Connect Forum at Fort Totten.

The book’s authors explore the development of the UND collections of Native American art, as well as current attempts to reconsider such works in relation to contemporary Native American interests and concerns, Jones and Ganje said.

Objects made by Native American artists are examined in ways that allow concepts embodied within them to reinforce a sense of greater cultural understanding, according to Jones and Ganje. Special efforts were also taken to respectfully document ceremonial objects in an attempt to be responsive to their content, form, and function.

Storytelling Time was written and edited by UND professors Arthur Jones and Lucy Ganje (who also was the book’s lead designer), and Nelda Schrupp, a nationally known Native American artist and UND alum. Leigh Jeanotte, director of UND’s American Indian Student Services and the American Indian Center, wrote Storytelling Time’s Introduction. The book also includes poetry by Native American poet Denise Lajimodiere. Several UND students, faculty, and staff helped with research for the book and with its production.

Lavishly illustrated with historical as well as contemporary Native American artwork, the publication’s design and layout are culturally driven, using a numerical scheme based on sacred geometry that has special significance within many Native cultures, Jones and Ganje said.

Stone Soup Bowl
At last week’s Community Connect Forum at Fort Totten, CCCC president Lindquist received from UND President Robert O. Kelley a ceramic Stone Soup Bowl, which was created by Wesley Smith, assistant professor in the UND Department of  Art and Design. The Stone Soup Bowl was made at the request of the UND Center for Community Engagement, the host and coordinator of the Community Connect, and it presented by Kelley to Lindquist at the forum Saturday, April 24.

“The intent of the bowl is to symbolize community cooperation and community sharing, which reflects the collaboration that occurred between our two institutions and those attending the forum,” said Center founder and director and UND professor of communication Lana Rakow.

“The Center for Community Engagement uses as a theme the legend of Stone Soup, a tale about hungry travelers who come to a hungry village and start a soup from a stone, coaxing the villagers to contribute what they have to share and creating a soup that feeds the community,” Rakow said. “The legend of Stone Soup, and the values of the Spirit Lake Dakota Nation, remind us of the importance of working together to take care of our communities.”