"Indian Land for Indian People" [NMLH.2023.75]

Catalogue Number
NMLH.2023.75

Object Name
Poster

Title
Indian land for Indian people

Date
1972-1982

Description
The Poster Collective was a collective formed in 1971 at the Slade School of Art,  a group formed to initially produce posters in response to the miners strike and on the wars in both Vietnam and Ireland. It was formed on the basis of developing a coherent visual style, which addressed the political issues of the time. This included the armed struggles against colonialism in Africa, the struggle of women for equal rights and the continuing struggle against racism. The collective was active in the 70's and 80's, producing posters on a wide range of issues, including for educational purposes. The group was not-for-profit and used a variety of hand-printing techniques to create their posters. This is a large blue, red and white poster. It is about Indigenous and Native American Land Rights. There are lotd of images and text. The main title of the poster is in large red text at the bottom of the poster readings "INDIAN LAND FOR INDIAN PEOPLE." Above this, in the centre of the poster
there is an image of people protesting, and raising their fists. There are police officers holding guns behind them. The top half of the poster has a red box with white text in the centre. This reads, "They made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they never kept but one, they promised to take our land and they took it." This quote is from Red Cloud, a leader of the Oglala Lakota from 1865 to 1909. He helped defeat the U.S government forces. In 1866, the U.S government planned to bring more troops to the land, so Red cloud took action. He defeated the U.s military during red cloud’s war, which was a fight over the powder river country land. There are several images on the top half of the poster. One shows a factory with barbed wire in front of it and a sign which reads “private property, no trespassing, Pacific Power & Light Company.” This is most likely in reference to Electricity and Gas companies, particularly PacificCorp, building on, and destroying Native
American land. In 1970, the Pit River Tribe began a boycott of PG&E. Underneath there are three soldiers with a truck behind them; there is a a white star on the truck. The top left of the poster shows land with small properties, trees, fields, and different people working. Undernheath this it says “Oglala – Sioux. Chief Crazy Horse 1877). Crazy Horse was a Lakota War leadler of the Oglala band. He helped fight against American white settlers. He is commemorated by a memorial in the Black hills of South Dakota. This is carved out of a mountain side. The Oglala, are one of seven groups of the Lakota peoples of the Titowan (Lakota) division of the Great Sioux Nation. Majority of the Oglala peoples live on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The official title of the tribe is “Oglala Lakota Nation”, and previously known as the “Ogalala Sioux” tribe. The name for the Sioux is the People of the Seven Council fires (Oceti Sakowin Oyate). The Sioux are one of the
largest and oldest Native American groups in North America. Oglala is a Lakota word meaning to “scatter one’s own.” There is an illustration of a viillage, with people, crops, huts and trees. This is an illustration of the Roanoke Indian town of Secotan. This image was originally painted by John white in the 1500s, and was then engraved by Theodor de Bry in 1588. Along the the left side of the poster there is blue text reading, "Indians came to be characterized as nomads, interested only in keeping their lands as 'hunting gounds. A justification to seize their lands. An anonymous artist's rendering of an Indian town." This poster uses the term “Indian”; it is important to acknowledge the diversity of Indigenous people’s cultures, traditions, stories and languages. It is always best to use the most specific language to the community we are talking about.