When will the Red Leader Overshadow Images of the 19th Century Noble Savage in Hollywood Films that Some Think are Sympathetic to American Indians
Social Media Share Tools
Object Details
- Artist
- Gail Tremblay, born Buffalo, NY 1945-died Olympia, WA 2023
- Exhibition Label
- This basket is filled with meaning, from the title to the color choice and type of stitch. It incorporates 35mm film from the 1981 western Windwalker, in which one Native American tribe is portrayed as noble and the other as villainous. The red film leader and the reference to “Red Leader” in the basket’s title symbolize the derogatory term used to describe Native Americans. Gail Tremblay twists the film into a prickly porcupine stitch. Often using movies and documentaries with Native characters and storylines, the artist notes, “I enjoyed the notion of recycling film and gaining control over a medium that had historically been used by Hollywood and documentary filmmakers to stereotype American Indians.”
- This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World, 2022
- Credit Line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by Ms. Brenda Erickson in honor of the James Renwick Alliance
- Copyright
- © 2018, Gail E. Tremblay
- 2018
- Object number
- 2021.11
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Sculpture
- Crafts
- Medium
- 35mm film from "Windwalker" (1981), red and white film leader, silver braid
- Dimensions
- 15 1/2 in. × 14 in. × 14 in. (39.4 × 35.6 × 35.6 cm)
- See more items in
- Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
- Department
- Renwick Gallery
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Topic
- Abstract
- Indian
- Record ID
- saam_2021.11
- Metadata Usage (text)
- Not determined
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7a7846cca-05f1-4be4-adf3-497fe55db446
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.