Beadwork became a strategy for survival for the Tuscarora after their forced dispossession from North Carolina. This artwork includes beaded birds made by Tuscarora women. Artist Jolene Rickard says she juxtaposed them against a stark taxidermy image of the passenger pigeon, which was hunted to extinction by 1902. “Before their disappearance, the sky would go dark from the vast flocks of pigeons overhead. The etched photograph of the taxidermy pigeon in combination with the Tuscarora beaded bird bridges the ecological and cultural space we live in now. We can’t bring the pigeon back, but we are continuing to celebrate their song, and subsequently our being, through beadwork.”

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From the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery website:

“Women have long been the creative force behind Native American art, yet their individual contributions have been largely unrecognized, instead treated as anonymous representations of entire cultures. ‘Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists’ explores the artistic achievements of Native women and establishes their rightful place in the art world.”

Best to view in "Original" because other versions resized by Pbase are decidedly unsharp.

Lone bloom, posted earlier: