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Indiana, “land of the Indians,” was named in remembrance of Native
Americans who lived in the territory long before white settlers pushed the
last of them westward in the 1830s. It should come as no surprise, then, that
this capital city is home to the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and
Western Art.
The surprise, of course, is that although the Miami, greatest in number,
the Potawatomi, last to leave, and other tribes who once roamed the
grasslands, woods and waters of America’s 19th state are represented here,
they are far from the centerpiece of this 10-year-old ethnic treasure house.
That honor goes to the artisans of the Southwest, whose work was greatly
admired and collected by Indianapolis-born Harrison Eiteljorg, the museum’s
late founder.
As a young newspaper reporter, Eiteljorg had shown an interest in Western
art, buying his first painting, “Cutting Horse” by Olaf Weighorst, in the
1920s. Later, as manufacturing and processing expanded after World War II, he
traveled west in a quest for coal and became enamored of the terrain, the
colors, the climate, the folklore and the creative work of both whites and
Indians.
Films of the ’40s did their share to promote interest in the Southwest.
Grade-B Westerns featuring Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry had
blossomed on the silver screen in the early ’30s, but with the coming of John
Wayne in “Stagecoach” in 1939, the epic Western was established as solid box
office fare. Other successes such as 1948’s “Fort Apache” and “She Wore a
Yellow Ribbon,” released a year later, continued to focus attention on this
sun-splashed region of the country.
Aware of the growing national interest, former reporter and adman Eiteljorg
cast his artistic eye on hand-crafted products created and sold by the Pueblo
Indians to enhance their farming income — Navajo textiles, Zuni silver and
turquoise jewelry, Apache basketry, Hopi pottery and kachinas, carved wooden
dolls representing deities or spirits of the dead.
One of his favorite haunts was Taos, largest of New Mexico’s 19 pueblos and
home of the Taos Society of Artists, founded in 1898 by Bert Geer Phillips and
Ernest L. Blumenschein. As his personal fortune grew, Eiteljorg returned to
Taos again and again, adding more art objects to his burgeoning collection.
Works by Blumenschein, Joseph Henry Sharp and E.I. Crouse are highlights of
the Western Art collection in the museum that bears his name.
During his visits he grew to love and respect Native Americans, their
history and their deep regard for nature, which is reflected in the pottery,
basketry, clothing and bead-and-quill work among the 3,400 pieces that are
displayed in two of the four galleries. Drums, cooking utensils and hunting
tools tell the story of Indian life in the Pacific Northwest as well as the
Southwest.
Prior to the opening of the 73,000-square-foot museum in June 1989, an
effort was made to include items of local significance from the Museum of
Indian Heritage, which operated in Indianapolis’ Eagle Creek Park from 1967
until the late `80s. However, many of these were reclaimed by their owners,
who did not want them housed in an art museum and treated as “art,” according
to Ray Gonyea, associate curator for Native American affairs. Furthermore,
there are very few Miami-related objects in anyone’s collection, public or
private, he said.
Thus, there is a paucity of items representing the Miami, Mohican,
Delaware, Munsee, Shawnee, Kickapoo, Piankeshaw, Wea, Huron and Potawatomi who
once inhabited Indiana. Given the difference in climate, raw materials, time
and attitude of the people of the United States, chances are they spent more
of their lives than Southwestern Indians in foraging for food and fending off
enemies, less in honing artistic skills.
In addition to permanent and special exhibitions, the sand-colored,
Southwestern-style museum presents entertaining and educational programs,
including artists-in-residence, workshops and lectures. The admission-free
White River Trader store offers shoppers handcrafted fine art, gifts, jewelry,
books and apparel.
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Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art is open 10 a.m. to 5
p.m. Tuesday through Saturday (closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s
Day). Admission: $5, $4 seniors, $2 ages 5-17. Accessibility: Handicap
accessible, wheelchairs available on site. Miles from downtown Chicago: 188.
Address: White River State Park, 500 W. Washington Street, Indianapolis.
Phone: 317-636-9378. E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.eiteljorg.org.