Native Studies Review 7 no.

2 (1991) Articles

Advertising Plains Indian

Art in the 1980s

Laurie Meijer Drees

Inside the cover of the Summer 1984 issue of American Indian Art
Magazine is a full-page, glossy advertisement. It features a Plains Indian
man's traditional shirt. In full colour, tbe beaded and ermine fringed shirt
contrasts stunningly with the solid black background against which it is
portrayed. "War shirt, circa 1865," formerly belonging to "Joseph, Chief
of the Nez Perce," is asserted by the advertisement. The value of the shirt
is unmistakably high, though its price is kept discreetly confidential-
available "upon inquiry."
Similarly, a centrefold advertisement in a well-known fashion magazine
presents a new perfume. The small, curvaceous, artistically crafted bottle
sits perched on a black velvet cushion, and is lit, seductively, from behind.
The advertisement breathes money and mystique. The slogan reads, "for
the discriminating woman."
Obviously these two advertisements have a number of features in
common though they deal with two very different objects. Both reflect a
concern with status, singularity and exclusivity; they serve as excellent
examples of how both advertising and objects function as important
vehicles of social communication] Based on this idea, this article seeks
to examine the advertising of Plains Indian art, traditional and
contemporary, with the aim of gaining insight into current attitudes
towards Plains Indian art. What do the advertisements reveal about the
poul~r perceptions and appeal of Plains Indian art?
To d~te , literature dealing with Native art has tended to take an art-
historical perspective, tracing and discussing evolution of style and
t<!chnique. Tn these studies emphasis is on discussing links between the
form of Western European an and society, and the form of Native art:
how Western materials and craft techniques have influenced Native art.
Examples of such art-historica l studies include Christian F. Feest's Native
Am oj"NorthAmerica (1980), dealing with the general impact of European
contact on Native crafts. and Richard Conn's Circles oj" the World (1982),
a more specific study focusing on Plains Indian traditional art. The
2 Laude Meijer Drees, "Advertising Plaim Indian Art"

majority of these publications pertaining to Native art, its styles and

techniques are in the form of museum exhibit catalogues. Publications
where Native people discuss their own art history, such as Doreen Jensen
and Polly Sargent's Robes of Power (1986), are delinitely in the minority.
In addition to the investigations being carried on in thc art world,
studies of Native art are being done through the discipline of
anthropology. These anthropological studies, in turn , emphasize the
processes involved in the collection of Native art and artifacts. They
investigate the appeal of the "exotic" and the "collection." As Native
people begin to assert claims on Native art collections, the history of, and
justification for, the acquisition of Native art become an increasingly
politicized issue and, as a result, the histories of Native art collections are
now under scrutiny. Studies in this area have focused on the reasons for,
and methods of, collecting Native art of the "high-brow" world of museums
and philanthropists. George W. Stocking'S Objects and Others (1985), and
James Clifford's The Predicament of Culture (1988), for instance, are
excellent examples of such literature. Stocking's work discusses the
historical role of Native art objects and museums in the representation of
Native cultures, while Clifford's book includes a section on the
phenomenon of "collecting" and on "tribal" art.
Existing literature reveals the current state and history o[ Native art
in North America; however, what seems to be missing from this body of
writing are investigations into the popular appeal of art and artifacts of
Native manufacture. Museums and other large institutions are not the
only co llectors of Native art and their intellectual rationalizations for
acquiring this material are generally not identical to those of the popular
buying public. Where do individual and average consumers currently place
Native art in the scheme of aesthetic creations? This question has yet to
be answered. elson Graburn's Ethnic and Tourist Am pioneered the
analysis of ative art production and sale, but few researchers have
followed it up.2 In the Canadian arena, Karen Duffek's short article,
"Authenticity and the Contemporary Northwest Coast Indian Art Market,"
appears to stand alone in its discussion of the Native art industry.3
Art as an industry is never far removed from politics and economics,
imagery and marketing. This paper is concerned with the Native art
industry and the consumer wants and needs it retlects. Specifically, it will
investigate popular attitudes towards Plains Indian art as revealed by the
marketing stra tegies of a popular and influential Indian art magazine.
Though advertisements cannot be judged unequivocally as true mirrors of
popular attitudes and valucs, they do form a basis for plausible inference
about socicty.4 Advertisements tend to reinforce and shape the same
popular attitudes they seek to reflect, rather than challenge their
Native Studies Review 7 no. 2 (1991) 3

audience. 5 Like any other kind of advertising, Plains Indian art

advertisements reveal their audience.
The data-base for this investigation is the American Indian Art
Magazine (AL4M), a "premier" trade magazine unique in its dealing with
North American Indian art. AIAM's hybrid journal/maga£ine structure has
made it an appealing reference source for both academics and commercial
art dealers in Canada. As a result, the images and ideas that ALAM
presents have wide circulation in the Indian art world, whether Canadian
or American. This is not a fringe publication. The magazine is also
popular among Native groups; issues of ALAM's forerunner publications
are being used as textbooks for Canadian Plains Indian Survival Schools,
and Native craft groups frequently refer to the magazine for information
relating to the creation of "traditional" crafts. 6
This paper will begin by discussing the history of American Indian Art
Magazine - the setting for Plains Indian art advertising. It will then outline
several characteristics of the Plains Indian art advertisements, and will
look for meaning in the current ALAM marketing strategies. 7
American Indian A/l Magazine represents one of the few arenas for
Plains Indian art advertising. Understanding the magazine and its features
can give greater insight into the place of Native art in the contemporary
art market. ALAM is a quarterly publication with a circulation of almost
16,000. 8 Advertisements in the magazine, therefore, reach a substantial
though select (target) audience. The current form of the magazine was
born in 1974 out of its two forerunners, the American Indian Hobbyist,
and Ame/ican Indian Tradition.
The Ame/icon Indian Hobbyist appears to have been established in
1954 as a small, volunteer-run, inexpensively produced magazine aimed at
an audience interested in recreating traditional Native North American
crafts. 9 Norman Feder, the founding editor of the magazine, was
connected with the Denver Art Museum, and later publication staff had
similar links to the museum world (see Richard Conn, Fredrick
Dockstader, Bill Holm). The Hobbyist concerned itself primarily with
articles aimed at elucidating Native craft techniques and their history.
Patterns and measurements were often included for the home hobbyist.
Advertising in the Hobbyist was done mostly by craft materia.1 suplie~.
Following the American Indian HobbYist was American TndlOn
Trot/aw/l, which began circulating in 1961 with only a slIght but notIceable
change in content. The emphasis in articles was now on historical trends
in Indian art styles and less on craft techniques, tho~g these were still
pn:sented. Advertisements in Tradition dealt prlmanly With the sale o~
craft materiab: "Real Indian made scalps looks lIke Human hair,
and "Tipi poles genuine lodgepole pines preferred as the best by
4 LaU/ie Meijer Drees, ''Advertising Plains Indian Art"

Indians ... .',10 A few galleries selling Indian crafts were also beginning
to become involved.
The creation of American Indian Art Magazille saw distance being put
between the magazine's "craft" roots and its new image, which emphasized
exclusive, original art. Today AlAM is a glossy, well-produced magazine
with contributions by experts in the Native art field, art historians,
museum curators and researchers. The feature articles include art-
historical and historical approaches to various forms of Indian art, museum
collection reviews, auction prices, and museum/gallery events. The
advertisements have moved away from promoting craft materials and
towards presenting "masterworks," "important," "handmade" art and
artifacts "from the heart and soul of the American Indian."l1 An
important percentage of all Indian art marketing, therefore, occurs in an
environment emphasizing not only prestige but also scholarly merit , and
this serves to validate how the art is marketed.
AlAM has attempted to create a new image for itself and the objects
it features- moving away from its association with amateur craftsmen.
Between 1954 and 1980, Indian art slowly enhanced its status from "craft"
to "high art." A description of current Plains Indian art marketing reveals
the position of this material on the contemporary market.
Advertisements present their target audience with information of both
a factual and symbolic nature. For instance, many of the Plains Indian art
advertisements give factual information, such as the age of a piece, its
function, its price, its tribal origins, and the name of the gallery or dealer
selling the piece. These vital facts are usually presented clearly to the
audience, and form the heart of the advertisement. At another level,
however, the advertisements evoke in the minds of their audience a
myriad of real and mythic mental associations- usually through visuals
rather than texts. 12 A given piece may be associated with a historical
photograph in the advertisement, thereby indirectly signalling the piece's
ties to tradition, history and authenticity as opposed to mass production
and modernity.
The visual imagery in advertisements usually works by allusion. 13
Since the visual suggestivity of advertisements is difficult to analyze, the
first part of this investigation will deal with the obvious "facts" presented
by Plains Indian art advertisements, in an attempt to uncover what they
emphasize. Only Plains Indian art advertisements featuring a visual of the
object being advertised were chosen for investigation. It might be added
that advertisemen ts with only text and no picture formed a very small
minority of the total Plains Indian art advertisements.
Evaluation of advertisements placed in AIAM during the 1980s led to
a number of conclusions. Firstly, it appears that the type of items most
Native Studies Review 7 no. 2 (1991) 5

commonly featured include bags, decorated clothing (shirts, vests, leggings,

dresses, belts, moccasins), paintings, sculptures and jewellery. Occasionally
odd items such as quilts, robes or horse-tack are advertised. Though
advertisements in AlAM appear to display a wide selection of Plains
Indian items, those items featured are most certainly not representative of
the total range of Plains Indian art-far from it. Conspicuously missing or
uncommon are traditional items such as headdresses, tipi covers, tools,
backrests, parfleches, saddles and shields, to name just a few. Modern
Plains art, such as beaded caps and shoes, decorated shawls, car ornaments
and modern pageant and pow-wow regalia are similarly nowhere to be
found in the advertisements. The advertisements, therefore, reflect the
current range of Plains Indian art only to a certain and small degree.
Secondly, almost sixty percent of the items advertised are Plains Indian
art "antiques," otherwise known as artifacts. Half of these are advertised
with their age indicated to emphasize their antiquity. Of the remaining
forty percent, approximately half are reproductions of traditional items,
and only the remainder is contemporary creative art. Every item
advertised in the selected issues, it should be noted, is based on a
traditional theme. Obviously the emphasis in the Plains Indian art
advertisements is on ethnic traditions.
Thirdly, seventy-three percent of the advertisements listed either a
tribal affiliation for the ohject advertised, or the artist's name. Once
again, the emphasis appears to be on the ethnicity of the artist. The
mentioning of tribal affiliation occurred more frequently than the listing
of personal names.
Finally, Plains Indian art advertisements make up only a small
percentage of the advertisements in AlAM. A survey of additional issues
of A/AM showed that Plains Indian art advertisements consistently make
up twenty-three percent or less of the advertisements in AlAM. Items
from the American Southwest, from tribes such as the Hopi, Navajo, Zuni,
and from Pan-Southwest contemporary artists, appear to get more
coverage in the magacine- around forty percent.
The type~ of objecb represented in the Plains art advertisements, as
well as the LOtal number of Plains art advertisements per issue, further
reveal altitudes towards Plains Indian art. As already stated, Plains art
advertisements are less common than Native art advertisements for other
culture areas, and when present, Plains art advertisements feature only a
narrow range of ohjecb. Advertisers are appealing to already established
Furo-Amerlcan aesthetics in their advertisements: adverll ers are not
challenging the tastes of their target audience. This point. can also be
mad ' tor the art of other Indian groups. If the advertisements for
outhwest Native art are scanned, it quickly becomes evident that the
6 Laude Meijer Drees, "Advertising Plains Indian Arl"

items featured are mostly pottery figurines , dolls and weavings or textiles
(Navajo blankets, in particular). Similarly, Northwest Coast Native art
advertisements feature basketry and wood carvings. Such objects already
have an established position in an average Euro-American aesthetic
framework. Most non-Natives have little problem appreciating the
aesthetics of textiles, ceramics and miniature figurines, all of which have
counterparts in Euro-American culture. The materials and shapes of the
objects are already familiar. Objects that are easily recognizable from a
Western point of view are most popular. Plains Indian art objects, on the
other hand, less frequently fall into the categories so readily appreciated
in Euro-American culture. Ceramics, textiles and wood carvings were less
common in Plains traditional culture and today form less of a base for
contemporary innovation. Plains Indian art, therefore, is less familiar and
consequently less popular.
Based on the data collected, the types of Plains art objects advertised
as "masterworks," "significant" and "unique treasures" aga in fit easily into
Euro-American established definitions of "art." Mos t of the objects are
small to mid-sized, colourful (beaded) and easily displayed o r worn.
Clothing is easily appreciated, as are bags, paintings and jewellery. Items
such as baby-carriers, shields and pipes are perh aps less familiar to
Western tastes; however, they are visually stunning and ca n be easily
managed in an average home. These are often very real considerations in
the mind of the purchaser of Plains Indian art. Items such as feather
headdresses, hairy hides, buffalo skulls, large tipi covers and unwieldy
backrests and saddles are obviously mo re problematic to the non-museum
art collector. Display difficulty, material deterioration (feathers, hair) and
Western ideas of "good taste" (is it generally acceptable to hang a buffalo
skull in your living room?) tend to draw the buye r away from the latter
items.
Indirect examples of Euro-American definitions of art ca n be found in
the following two advertisements. The first advertisemen t, put out by the
Indian Arts and Crafts Association, appea ls directly to Euro-American
ideas of art by stating boldly in its text that "the Native American Indi an's
HANDMADE WEAVINGS make 'climbing the wall ' a pleasure.. . . It's
easy to get the HANG of it!"14 A second advertisement shows a fully
beaded baby-carrier, with a close up feature of the beadwork- not of the
finely tanned hide, which appeals less to Euro-American tastes th an the
beadwork.ls
The vi,ual imagery emp loyed by Plains Indian art advertiseme nts is as
interesting as the slogans used, and the objects featured. In the
advertisi ng world, a considerable amo unt of resea rch goes into establishing
the nature and importance of the symbolic att ributes of goods. 16 Goods
Native Studies Review 7110. 2 (1991) 7

are an important means by which consumers can communicate to others

abstract ideas such as social status, lifestyle and expectations. I? If the
advertiser can appeal to established values in the target audience, his
message is believed to have a greater impact. Because these values are
less precisely defined in the target audience, visuals are the most effective
way of signalling associations in advertisements. As opposed to text,
visuals provide the advertisement with the greatest versatility in terms of
range of interpretation. 18 Visuals are important in the advertising of
Plains Indian art because, unlike objects produced within Euro-American
culture, Plains art objects themselves usually signal an unintelligible
message to the target audience. For example, an automobile
advertisement featuring a Rolls Royce needs only to enhance the "status"
already exuded by the car. A Plains war shirt, on the other hand- an item
of prestige in Plains culture-says little to even an educated Euro-
American audience. It therefore becomes the function of the
advertisement to signal the value of the object.
Plains art advertisements have also been created to send out very
limited and distinct messages, messages that easily fit into one of five
categories: museum advertisements, lifestyle advertisements, trading post
advertisements, art gallery advertisements, and craft advertisements. The
museum advertisements allude to similarities between the featured object
and ones found in museums. Museums, in Euro-American culture, are
establishments associated with prestige, civilization, tradition, education
and mystery. These associations are a result of the history of museums,
which originated as collections of curiosities belonging to the rich and
leisured class. and of the type of objects presented in them-old, rare
objects from distant countries. Possession of exotic objects can be seen
as a signal of worldly knowledge. 19 Museum advertisements seek to
highlight these values in their objects and do this by displaying their
objects as a museum would- on a neutral, well-lit background, with
accompanying text in a discreet label-like format describing cultural
provenance, age, size and sometimes event cultural context. Some
advertisements even go so far as to proclaim their pieces as being
"mu~e quality," or appeal directly to museum collectors.
20
These
advertisements form the bulk of Plains Indian art advertising.
The lifestyle advertisements are less common. Lifestyle advertis~mn
are a recognized genre in advertising, and in them product-ela~ Images
become emblems for social collectivities through their aSSOCiation With
particular lifestylesY In the case of Plains !ndian art, the lifestyle is
usually one associated with money and high SOCial status. Such
advertisements often associate Plains art objects With Euro-Amencan
symbols of status- particularly antiques. expensive home interiors and
8 Laurie Meijer Drees, "Advertising Pia ills Indian Art"

fashionably dressed people. Lifestyle advertisements demonstrate to their

audience how to deal with Plains Indian art, and that incorporating this art
into daily life is possible. These advert isements suggest, ind irectly, how
Plains Indian art can best be displayed or incorporated into a home
selling: parfleches can be set o n the man tle and drums can be used as
coffee tables.
The trading post advertisements, in tu rn, hea rken to the all-American
(perhaps less Canadian?) dream of the "open frontier." They appeal
visually to cliche ideas of American identity. For example, they present
their audience with a visua lly overwhelming quantity of materials, and
emphasize the importance of the fami ly. Ga llery owners are frequently
featured in the advertisement as a family, and proudly proclaim their
association with tradition- "over 36 years in the same location," and "a
family business since 1963.'>22 The establishments sponsoring these
advertisements are also often associated directly with a trading post image
through their name: The Great Northwest Fur and Trading Post, Indian
Territory or the Indian Post. This reflects an appeal to a romantic type
of history- frontier history. The visuals tend to conjure up images of over-
stuffed souvenir shops, or the "O.K. Corral." Prestige is not emphasized
here, nor are individual artists, tribes or artistry. What matters is that "the
stuff is Indian" and is a product of the "last best West." The Trading Post
advertisements generally feature traditional objects, whether reproductions
or originals. This style of advertisement is interesting because it presents
its audience with a paradoxical image: the advertisements emphasize the
orth American ideal of "plenty"- by portraying display floors crowded
with hundreds of similar items- while simultaneously claiming rarity and
authenticity for their pieces.
The museum, lifestyle and trading post advertisements appear to
predominate in Plains Indian art advertising. The remaining two
categories, the art gallery and craft advertisements, deal with
advertisement styles that are less common, are smaller and use minimal
visual manipulation, though they are worth noting. The art gallery style
of advertisement is characterized by the emphasis placed on the artist and
bis or her creation. Visuals associated with these advertisements limit
themselves to presenting the piece and explanations, slogans or labels are
missing. Art gallery advertisements almost always list the artist's name and
the format of the advertisements is almost identical to advertisements
found in prominent art magazines. The advertisements further emphasize
the medium and the techniques used by the artist, and the pieces are
often named. Art gallery style advertisements most frequently deal with
contemporary art, including paintings, sculpture and jewellery. The
advertisers are usually art galleries.
Native Studies Review 7 no. 2 (1991) 9
Finally, the craft advertisement style can perhaps be traced back to
AlAM's history as a craft-oriented magazine. These advertisements are
generally produced on a smaller scale. without the stunning and controlled
visuals found in the museum, lifestyle or trading post advertisements.
Craft advertisements tend to make their point through text, and stress
"craftsmanship"- "hand-carved, hand-polished, hand-tanned." Much like the
older American Indian Tradition or Hobbyist advertisements, these push
the use of traditional, "authentic" techniques and materials. For example,
a typical advertisement reads: "cra(twork using traditional materials,
methods and styles of 19th century Native Americans. Our pieces are
tastefully patina ted in an appropriate manner to bring about the richness
of the colors, designs, and materials."23 Another example reads, "All
items made with authentic materials.,,24 As in the Hobbyist and American
Indian Tradition magazines, pieces in craft advertisements are usually
replicas of traditional Plains Indian objects.
All in all , the visual imagery employed by Plains Indian art
advertisements generally and overwhelmingly portrays the objects as
exclusive collectors items, souvenirs and historic relics, whether real or
reproduced. There appears to be little room for "modern" Indian art in
AlAM. It seems that Euro-American ideas of tradition and authenticity
play dominating roles in the production, and ultimate form, of most pieces
advertised as "art." The objects treated as art actually fall into the
category described by Graburn as "tourist art": objects that present a
particular self-image and are created by Fourth-World peoples (Indigenous
ethnic minorities) using more than one symbolic/aesthetic system for First
World consumplion.25 The art and the way it is advertised appeal to
Euro-American preconceived notions of what is accepted as "Plains
Indian." In addition, the ethnicity of Plains Indian art seems to be of
central importance. Emphasis is placed on the tribal affiliation rather than
the personal characteristics of an artist. Finally, in every advertisement,
Plains Indian art objects have been recontextualized. These objects are
not portrayed in the environment in which they were conceived, but rather
have b ' en given new Euro-American sanctioned settings: on walls and in
display cases.
The seemingly trivial and superficial nature of Indian art advertising
belies its deeper and more symbolic nature. Based on the study of the
advertisements in A lAM. it appears that Native American art, and
specifically Plain~ Indian art, have an interesting function in Euro-
American society: this tribal material has been ~etachd from Its
conceptual milieu to circulate freely in another world ot museums. markets
and connoisseurship.26 As indicated by the overwhelming abundance of
advertisements portraying these objects as museum pieces, It seems that
10 Laurie Meijer Drees, "Advertising Plains Indian Art"

much emphasis is placed by the purchasing public on acquiring and using

these objects as parts of collections. Collections, because of their self-
enclosed nature, can be considered a historic since they aim not to restore
their members to their original context; they instead create a new context,
a new world. They are "a form of art as play. a form involving the
reframing of objects ... and manipulation of context.,,27 Plains Indian
art advertisements, particularly the museum type that emphasize
collections, involve a great deal of symbolism. Not only do they worship
individual objects as potential museum pieces, with the historicity and
exclusivity that idea connotes, but they also allude to the pieces as
potential parts of collections. The objects are not important for their ties
to reality, but rather for their potential role in the invention of tradition.
What is actually occurring in the perpetuation and creation of collections
is a process of Western-identity formation. 28 Through the appropriation
of objects, particularly foreign objects, Euro-Americans conquer and
reconstruct an unknown past and confirm Western knowledge and tastes.
Not surprisingly, what is collected over time varies directly with the self-
image of the collector. In addition, collections also have the ~ower to
invent identities for the groups they supposedly represent. 2 Since
collections consist of a finite number of objects, each forms a part of a
collective symbol for an entire culture. The advertising focus on
collections therefore implies that Plains Indian art is currently being used
to invent new worlds and new identities using elements hearkening to a
distant and dim past. An example of this relationship between collections
and traditions can be found in the history of Native art marketing in the
American Southwest. At the turn of the century the trade in both historic
and reproduced Native artifacts boomed under the stimulation of museum
philanthropists who considered these objects to be pieces of national
heritage and pride.30 The types of objects saved, and which Natives were
encouraged to make, were not random selections but rather careful
choices based on rigid criteria set by the Euro-American collectors. 31 Is
there a parallel here between this type of selection and that which occurs
in the advertisements of AIAM? Are modern collectors of Plains Indian
art looking to reconstruct a new past out of both new and old pieces?
Throughout this investigation the emphasis in Plains Indian art
advertisements on authenticity has been noted. This authenticity is
associated with hand-production and ethnicity, also emphasized in the
advertisements. and the definition of "authentic" Native art seems to be
controlled directly by the buying connoisseurs- who are generally non-
ative. 32 These three concepts form a strange triangular relationship:
authenticity and standard of workmanship are very much tied up in
preco nceived notions of ethnicity. Graburn 's study of reactions of an
Native Studies Review 7 no. 2 (1991) 11

uniformed public to various (orms of Native art describes a similar

relationship between hand-production, ethnicity and authenticity. Graburn
(ound that when objects of Native manufacture con{1icted with the
audience's preconceptions, the objects were given a bad review?3 To be
authentic, and truly ethnic, therefore, Indian art has to be hand-crafted.
Such an emphasis on, and use of, ethnicity in the portrayal and sale of
Plains Indian art serves to control what objects are recognized as "fine
art," and what is produced.34 Based on the abundance of advertisements
focusing on traditional , ethnic arts in AlAM, it can be concluded that,
indirectly or directly, the advertisers encourage the restriction of Native
artistic express ion to a particular historic phase: the late nineteenth
century, in particular. The concepts of ethnicity, authenticity, value,
tradition and rarity are all tangled in the same web. What the market
appears to be looking for is a link to an authentic cultural tradition. As
progress and innovation reign and craftsmanship, tradition and cultural
distinctions become scarce in a world of global culture and mass
production, buyers look [or an identity with an historic basis. Plains
Indian art objects appeal to such a longing for history. In addition, how
the objects are advertised and marketed confirms that this appeal is
recognized.
Finally, the Plains Indian art advertisements reflect the idea that Plains
Indian art objects made (or sale are neither truly Plains Indi an in the
mythical authentic sense, nor "art" in the Euro-American sense. These
objects, though readily accepted in the First World, do not seem to attain
the same status as "(jne art." At the same time, many of the objects
rep~ntd in the advertisements do not retlect the same types of
innovations or trends represented in Objects created by Native people for
their own use. Whose art is this? Plains Native people have selected
[rom their culture, and from Western aesthetics, certain symbols and
features and combined them into saleable items. In such a way, these
objects form a kind of cross-cultural dialogue: Indian-White relations in
the aesthetic arena.
In conclusion, Plains Indian art advertising in AlAM shows that Plains
Indian art is sold on its appeal to a buying public lusting after historic
(nineteenth-century), ethnic hand-made objects that are valuable because
01 their rarity. But not just any piece o[ Plains In?i an art is accepte? as
such: pic es must fit , largely, into the es tablished Euro-~enca
framework that defines what constitutes "art." The modern Plams Indian
art industry. in turn, appears to be catering to these market dema~s (or
"traditiuna I," ethnic and rare pieces with historic overtones. With the
Indian art industry choosing such a focus , a question that naturally. follows
is: arc Plains Indian artists being dominated and controlled (colonized) by
 12 Laurie Meijer Drees, "Adveltisillg Plains Illdian Art"

the demands and romantic sentiments of their market. or have Plains

Indian early historic traditions simply been successfully transformed into
a marketable commodity? If Plains Indian traditions have been
commodified. as commodities they appear to be highly desired by a sector
of North American society looking for a new identity, a rom antic identity,
an identity hearkening back to an innocent and pre-industrial world.
Whatever the answer may be, both the appeal of Plains Indian art and the
strategies used to market this material give an important view on Euro-
American perceptions of Native culture in general. Art is easily made
politica l: marke ting strategies provide art with an image, and images are
powerful com municators in the political arena. As a result, like the
Hollywood and lite rary images of Native people, the marketing of Native
art is an important indicator of current understandings of Native culture.
The lack of research carried on in this area is lamentable since the
amount of material involving allusions to Native culture produced by
advertising companies is e normous and reaches mass audie nces. These
images also easily spi ll over into other intellectua l rea lms, including the
sacrosanct legal and academ ic systems. Given the current focus of Pl ains
Indian art advertising o n traditio ns of the nineteenth century, it may be
concluded that acknowledgement of the contempo ranei ty of Native culture
has yet to occur at a general level.

Notes:
ut Jhally, Stephen Kline and William Leiss, Social Communication in Advertising
(Toronto: Meuthen, 1986), p. 3.

2 Nelson H.H. Graburn, Ethnic and Tourist Arts: ClIltllral Expressions from the Fourth
World (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976).

3 Karen Duffek, ' Authenticity and the Contemporaty Northwest Coast Indian Art
M arket ; BC Studies 57 (spring 1983).

4 Roland Marchand, Advertising the American Dream (Berkeley: University of California

Press, 1985). p. XIX .

5 M archand, p. xx.

6 Carol Sheehan, personal communication, April 1989.

7 The Issues chosen for evaluation were the non-feature issues of summer 1982 summer
1984, and winter 1988. These ISSUes were chosen because they represent a' range of
years In the 19805 and were not special feature issues. The format and con lent of the
magazine were consistent throughout the 19805 and 11 appears, and is assumed, that the
ISSUes analyzed are representative of American Indian Art Magazine in lhe 1980s.

8 American Indian Art Magazine, spring 1989, p. SO.

9 American Indian Hobbyist, Sept/Oct. 1959.
Native Studies Review 7 no. 2 (1991) 13
10 American Indian Tradition, vol. 8, no. I, 1%1.

II American Indian Art Magazine, winter 1988, p. 12.

12 Jhally, Kline and Leiss, p. 239.

13 Jhally, Kline and Leiss, p. 239.

14 American Indian Art Magazine, winter 1988, p. 78.

15 American Indian Art Magazine, summer 1982.

16 Jhally, Kline and Leiss, pp. 242-43.

17 Jhally, Kline and Leiss, p. 243.

18 Jhally, Kline and Leiss, pp. 239-40.

19 George E. M arcus and Michael MJ . Fischer, Anthropology as Cultural Critique

(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986), p. 134.

20 American Indian Art Magazine , spring 1989 and summer 1984.

21 Jhally, Kline and Leiss, p. 295.

22 American Indian Art Magazine , summer 1982, p. 26, and winter 1988, p. 84.

23 American Indi(m Art Magazine , summer 1984.

24 American Indian Art Magazine , summer 1982, p. 74.

25 Graburn, 1976, p. 5.

26 James Clifford, "Histories of the Tribal and the Modern," Art in America 73 (April
1979): 171.

27 Susan Stewart, On Longing (Baltimore: John Hopkins U niversity Press, 1984), p. 151.

28 James Clifford , "Objects and Others - An Afterword," in Objects and Others, edited by
George W . Stocking (Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1985), pp. 239-40.

29 Clifford, 1985, p. 239.

30 Edwin L. Wade, "The Ethnic An Market in the American Southwest 1880-1980," in

Objects and Otilers, edited by George W. StOCking (Wisconsin: U niversity of Wisconsin
Press, 1985), pp. 175-76.

31 Wade, p. 181.

32 Duffek, p. 100.
33 Nelson H .I!. Graburn, "1 Like Things 10 Look More DiffereOi Ihan that Stuff Did," in
Art in Society, edited by M . Greenhalgh and V . Megaw (London: Duckworth, 1978),
p.64.

34 Duflck, pp. 104 and 107.