Nov. 23rd, 2020.
TAKEN AS A GIVEN
Title: REMEMBER 1837?
TITLE: NEXT ASSINIBOINE?
TITLE: NOT LIKE THE BUFFALO!
TITTLE: HERD IMMUNITY
TITLE: MASK MANDATE
TITLE: PRE-EXISTING
A digital camera captured a computer screen generating double exposures of the pages of a digitized book. The pages of a physical book, the digitized pages and the re-photographed images on a computer screen are transformed into reinforcing narratives. The Assiniboine were specifically chosen on these pages to acknowledge the genocide of this First Nation not unlike the buffalo also portrayed which were almost exterminated from the North American Plains.
The tittle “Taken as a given” questions the traditional meaning of the celebration of “Thanksgiving”, and invites a re-interpretation of the collective histories experienced throughout the North American continent. In 2020 this national holiday coincided with unprecedented numbers of COVID-19 cases throughout the Continental United States.
These images are a reminder of virus outbreaks in the history of the United States. Health policies pursued by the U.S. government disproportionately exposes certain segments of American society. The portraying of Native Peoples symbolizes the disparity and inequality sustained by communities of color during the current COVID-19 virus outbreak. The high number of COVID-19 casualties and contamination among communities of color today are similar to the demise Native Nations experienced during virus outbreaks of the colonial past.
~ Dedicated to the resilience beauty and strength OF NATiVE PEOPLES.
Where the original book plates came from? The use of content under public domain from digital libraries was chosen as the basis of this work. it is a reflection of the advances of photographic technology, the wide digitization of collections and the demand for decolonization of narratives it is fostering in cultural archives and institutions worldwide.
Original plates are from the following publication:
Wied, M., Lloyd, H. Evans, & Bodmer, K. (1843). Travels in the interior of North America. London: Ackermann and Co.
These images are part of a series of works called I wash my hands being created by Jennifer Cabral throughout the pandemic.