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Artist
Gina Adams (Primary)
Title

The Treaty with the Cherokee 1794 Broken Treaty Quilt

Date
2015
Century
21st century
Medium & Support
Hand cut calico letters on antique quilt (double-sided)
Dimensions
Overall: 79 x 80 in.
Object Type
Textiles
Credit Line
2018 Collectors' Circle purchase
Accession Number
2018.40.01
Copyright
In Copyright
© Gina Adams / Accola Griefen Gallery, New York, NY
Description

Different colored hand cut letters sewn to an antique quilt. The words are taken from The Treaty with the Cherokee, 1794. Recto is white background and reads: "Treaty With the Cherokee 1794 / WHEREAS / the treaty made and concluded / on Holston river on the second / day of July one thousand seven / hundred and ninety one between / the United States of America / and the Cherokee nation of Indians / has not been fully carried into / execution by reason of some / misunderstandings which have / arisen And whereas the / undersigned Henry Knox Secretary / for the department of War being / authorized thereto by the President / of the United States in behalf of the / said United States and the ". Verso is a pink checkered background and reads: "undersigned Chiefs and Warriors in / their own name and in behalf of the / whole Cherokee nation are desirous / of re- establishing peace and / friendship between the said parties / in a permanent manner Do hereby / declare that the said treaty of / Holston is to all intents and purposes / in full force and binding upon the / said parties as well in respect to the / boundaries therein mentioned sin / all other respects whatever It is hereby / stipulated that the boundaries / mentioned in the fourth article of the / said treaty shall be actually / as errained and marked in the / manner prescribed by the said article / whenever the Cherokee nation shall / have ninety days notice of the time / and Place at which the commissioner ".

Label History

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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