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Everson Exhibit Challenges Native American Stereotypes Everson Exhibit Challenges Native American Stereotypes

By Jonathan Kinane

Buffaloes on the moon
© 2023 Jonathan Kinane

ANCHOR: A new exhibit at the Everson Museum of Art is trying to make people rethink stereotypes about Native Americans. N-C-C’s Jonathan Kinane is live with more.

JONATHAN KINANE: Virtual sovereignty is a series of paintings at the Everson Museum in downtown Syracuse that depict Native American men in traditional dress with V-R headsets covering their faces. The art…from Onondaga Nation member Frank Buffalo Hyde is part of an exhibit called Native Americana. Artist and Onondaga Nation member Tracy Thomas says the goal of Native American art is to educate.

TRACY THOMAS: We got a rich history. The reason why we do art or craft is to teach people about us because we’re still here.

KINANE: Buffalo Hyde’s art mixes traditional symbols with pop culture. Thomas agrees that this style can help challenge preconceived notions.

THOMAS: We’re not the stereotypical thing that people believe. We are a people that have been here longer than the white man.

KINANE: The exhibit will is on view at the Everson through September 10th. Reporting live, I’m Jonathan Kinane, N-C-C News.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) – One of the first things you see in the Everson Museum of Art in Downtown Syracuse is a series of three paintings titled “Virtual Sovereignty.” 

The art from Frank Buffalo Hyde shows Native American men in traditional dress immersed within virtual reality headsets.

Those paintings are part of Buffalo Hyde’s exhibit, titled “Native Americana,” which is on display at the Everson. The exhibit’s goal is to challenge people to rethink stereotypes about Native Americans.

Buffalo Hyde was born in New Mexico but ended up spending a good part of his youth on the Onondaga Nation. He was born missing parts of an arm and a leg as a result of his father being exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. He overcame those challenges and now has his art on display all over the country.

The exhibit at the Everson is full of juxtapositions. In one painting, buffaloes roam on the moon while UFOs hover above. Another features Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, the Bills logo, a plate of Buffalo wings, and the cowboy Buffalo Bill all painted over the titular animal.

In mixing traditional symbols with popular culture, Buffalo Hyde is attempting to make the audience reconsider what they think they know about Native American culture.

“We’re not the stereotypical thing that people believe,” said local artist and Onondaga Nation member Tracy Thomas. “We are a people that have been here longer than the white man.” 

Like Buffalo Hyde, Thomas was born with what he called a “convenience,” missing all of his fingers on one hand and only having two partial fingers on the other. He didn’t let that stop him from getting into art.

Thomas thinks that Native American art’s main purpose is to educate.   

“We’ve got a rich history,” Thomas said. “The reason why we do art or craft is to teach people about us because we’re still here.”

Thomas has seen more people embrace Native American culture and hopes the trend will continue.

“It’s getting better,” he said. “People are understanding us because we’re getting to do our own thing now.”

The Native Americana exhibit is on display at the Everson until Sept. 10.

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