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Art for a New Understanding, an exhibition from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art that opened in October 2018, seeks to radically expand and reposition the narrative of American art since 1950 by charting a history of the development of contemporary Indigenous art from the United States and Canada, beginning when artists moved from more regionally-based conversations and practices to national and international contemporary art contexts.

This fully illustrated volume includes essays by art historians and historians and reflections by the artists included in the collection. Also included are key contemporary writings—from the 1950s onward—by artists, scholars, and critics, investigating the themes of transculturalism and pan-Indian identity, traditional practices conducted in radically new ways, displacement, forced migration, shadow histories, the role of personal mythologies as a means to reimagine the future, and much more.

As both a survey of the development of Indigenous art from the 1950s to the present and a consideration of Native artists within contemporary art more broadly, Art for a New Understanding expands the definition of American art and sets the tone for future considerations of the subject. It is an essential publication for any institution or individual with an interest in contemporary Native American art, and an invaluable resource in ongoing scholarly considerations of the American contemporary art landscape at large.

“I write from a continuous space of erasure. Poetry was the one way that I was able to hold onto…my history, geography, and language.” — Craig Santos Perez, contributor
In this groundbreaking anthology of Indigenous poetry and prose, Native poems, stories, and essays are informed with a knowledge of both what has been lost and what is being restored. It offers a diverse collection of stories told by Indigenous writers about themselves, their histories, and their present. It is a celebration of culture and the possibilities of language.
Featuring forty-four poets, including Ishmael Hope, Bojan Louis, Ruby Murray, Simon Ortiz, Leslie Marmon Silko, Luci Tapahonso, Joy Harjo, dg okpik, Sherwin Bitsui, Heid E. Erdrich, Layli Long Soldier, and Orlando White.
Original influence essays by Diane Glancy on Lorca, Chrystos on Audre Lorde, Louise Erdrich on Elizabeth Bishop, LeAnne Howe on W. D. Snodgrass, Allison Hedge Coke on Delmore Schwartz, Suzanne Rancourt on Ai, and M. L. Smoker on Richard Hugo, among others.
And, a selection of resonant work chosen from previous generations of Native artists.
“There really is no better anthology out there that collects indigenous poets publishing from 1960 to the present.” — Dean Rader, co-editor

Indigenous perspectives on sustainability, culture, and community

In this collection of twelve biographies, one from each of the Native nations in Wisconsin, author Patty Loew (Bad River Ojibwe) introduces readers to prominent figures in Native sustainability—people whose life’s work reflects the traditional ecological knowledge and cultural values of their people.    

Born out of Loew’s thirty years as a journalist and historian, Seventh Generation Earth Ethics highlights individuals who helped to sustain and nurture their nations.         

Walter Bresette, Red Cliff Ojibwe, community activist 

Hilary Waukau, Menominee, environmental warrior 

Frances Van Zile, Mole Lake (Sokaogon) Ojibwe, keeper of the water  

James Schlender, Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe, treaty rights guardian  

Jose Rose, Bad River Ojibwe, elder, environmentalist, and scholar  

Dorothy Davids, Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians, educator  

William Gollnick, Oneida, culture keeper 

Thomas St. Germaine, Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe, attorney  

Truman Lowe, Ho-Chunk, organic sculpture artist 

Jenny and Mary Thunder, Forest County Potawatomi, medicine women 

Wanda McFaggen, St. Croix Ojibwe, Tribal Historic Preservationist  

Caroline Andler, Brothertown Indian Nation, genealogist 

The indigenous people whose lives are depicted in Seventh Generation Earth Ethics understood the cultural gravity that kept their people rooted to their ancestral lands and acted in ways that ensured the growth and success of future generations.