Pottery in the Contact Zone :: Essays Papers

Pottery in the achieve Zone It is nearly impossible to discuss congenital American artwork without taking into consideration the effect that western culture has had on it. Native American art, in its purest sense, is something that no longer exists. In its place is an uniting of an art form that was once solely Native American and the determine that western culture has placed on that art form. This cultural phenomenon is what bloody shame Louise Pratt has termed the Contact Zone which is used to refer to the social spaces where cultures meet, clash and cover with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical relations of violence such as colonialism, slavery or other aftermaths as they be lived out in many parts of the world. (Pratt 34) What Pratt is referring to is the situation that is created when two completely distinct cultures, that operate on totally different levels, attempt to interact. from each one culture brings with them certain values and trad itions that the other may not altogether understand. This predicament often leads to confusion, misunderstandings or sometimes worse. The meeting of western and Indian cultures created exactly this Contact Zone situation that Pratt defines. The aftermaths of the situation have been two positive and negative and have simultaneously posed a bane to the art form while providing opportunities for the artists. Before contact with the western world, clayware making among the Hopi-Tewa Indians was a communal activity which served to strengthen social relations with tribal members not of the same family. Pottery thus objectified valued social relations where sharing with individuals not of ones matrilineage was some(prenominal) important and necessary for households to functions. (McChesney, 13) As with most Native American tribes, the Hopi-Tewas strove to view as a strong social network by dividing up the projection and working together to accomplish it. Immediately the dif ferences can be seen surrounded by the social structure of American Indian cultures as compared to that of westerners which value laissez faire over community. With the introduction of the railroad to the areas of northern Arizona where the Hopi-Tewas lived, entered new social challenges that threatened the Native Americans lifestyles. In an attempt to operate in an American cash economy, many Native Americans began to make pottery to be change in trading posts to collectors and tourists.