Native women artists in the exhibition How to Catch Eel and Grow Corn at the Kenkeleba’s Wilmer Jennings Gallery in New York City, Spring 2015. From left to right, Maria Hupfield, Melissa Staiger, Nadema Agard, Pena Bonita and Athena LaTocha.
WHILE PURSUING HER ART CAREER, BONITA MANAGED
TO RAISE AN ACTIVE AND ARTISTICALLY TALENTED FAMILY. “GOING TO SCHOOL AND RAISING THREE BOYS WAS QUITE A CHALLENGE,” SHE SAYS.
“THANKFULLY ALL THE BOYS LOVE ART. WE CREATED A PHOTOGRAPHY DARKROOM IN OUR HALL CLOSET, BUILT OUR OWN DRAWING TABLE AND PAINTED EVERYTHING IN SIGHT.”
“This piece was created just for this exhibit,”
she replied. “For some time, I was employed as a licensed New York City tour guide on a double-decker bus. This taught me how little America’s tourists actually knew about Man- hattan’s early history or the tribes that traded here long ago. I decided to create a piece based on the trade trails and the resulting changes in lower Manhattan as hills, streams and all the land was changed into flat areas of landfill by the Dutch, British and New Yorkers. “It has been a costly change of landscape,
lives and years of exfoliation on this once beautiful hilly island. Mohawks, Canarsie, Lenape, Ramapo and other tribes traded on what is now Broadway. Money enclosed in the hanging bags are references to the histor- ical exploitation of New York and the current
wealth that still profits from this historical exploitation.” “The art subject offers an opportunity for
meditation on this city’s cycles and offers a chance to reflect on our part in the city’s life.” Her own trail to the New York art scene
started with her childhood in New Mexico. “In most Native communities, being an artist is not uncommon. As a kid I cut out figures from the Sears & Roebuck catalogues,” she says. “Only scissors and crayons were available at the time. “My earliest drawings took place on New
Mexico sand hills using sticks or my fingers. My drawings and lettering were not always approved of because some of my first refer- ence material came from a stop in a local gas station bathroom. My grandmother and
aunts were shocked and made sure the draw- ings were blown away and that this never hap- pened again. Yet they constantly told the story over and over.” Her family and upbringing reflected very traditions and customs,
different Native
with very different values. “Mom came from a Christianized background in Oklahoma but it was still matriarchal,” she says. “She was a talented quiltmaker and made most of my dresses. “My dad’s family was moved from Okla-
homa Indian territory back to New Mexico when he was a tiny child. His folks’ social attitudes were oriented toward traditional ceremonies. My growing years often included living with aunts and uncles and grandparents as my mom and dad both had to often travel
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 17
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