The Treaty with the Cherokee 1794 Broken Treaty Quilt
© Gina Adams / Accola Griefen Gallery, New York, NY
A descendant of both Indigenous (Ojibwe) and Colonial Americans, Adams works in a range of media, including large-scale quilts. She draws on cultural practices passed down from her ancestors as well as from a personal family history of forced assimilation. As the name implies, the Broken Treaty Quilt Series takes as its subject matter the numerous treaties entered into with American Indian tribes, the terms of which were subsequently broken by the US government. Adams reproduces the text of a treaty by cutting out individual letters from calico fabric, then sewing the letters onto antique quilts that evoke the time period when the treaties were signed. Letters blend and fade into the background, a visual metaphor for the intentionally confusing wording of the treaties themselves. Adams intends each quilt to serve “as an act of giving back the misuse and abuse of power. My greatest hope is that this quilt inspires a movement of healing and prosperity.”
Exhibition Title: Asheville Art Museum: An Introduction to the Collection
Label Date: 2021
Type: Catalogue Entry
Written by: Cindy Buckner
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