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Photograph by Addison Doty. Copyright 2010 School for Advanced Research.

Drawing

Photograph by Addison Doty. Copyright 2010 School for Advanced Research.

Drawing

Date: 1978
Artist or Maker: Kio Gasper
Dimensions:
Overall: 56.5 x 44 cm (22 1/4 x 17 5/16 in.)
Medium: illustration board : black | pencil, white
Credit Line: Gift of Sallie Wagner, 1979.
Place Made:
Zuni Pueblo, McKinley County, New Mexico, Southwest, United States, North America
Object Number: SAR.1979-1-4
Not on view
DescriptionA man (left) and a woman (?) (right) stand facing each other, holding cornmeal baskets. The man wears a traditional kilt and the woman (?) wears a skirt. (The possible female figure appears to be a male from the torso up, but wears a woman's skirt, so its gender is indeterminate.) A rainbow stretches between the baskets. An arch of small drawings of pictographs and petroglyphs from ancient sites at Zuni floats above the rainbow and between the two standing figures. A corn plant and several other fruits of the harvest are on the ground between them. They stand on a band of stepped cloud symbols and more petroglyphs and pictographs. White colored pencil on black paper.
Tribal Collection Review RemarksOctavius Seowtewa during collection review visit Nov. 16 and 17, 2009 (Events Record “Collection Review: Zuni Tribe, Review 3”): The scene in the drawing likely represents a harvest offering, as evidenced by the prayer sticks with turkey feathers visible in the basket on the right and the presence of the harvest foods on the ground between the two figures. The pictographs in the drawing are from ancient sites at Zuni. The figure on the right appears to be a male dressed as a female, because of the style of skirt he is wearing; in ceremonial contexts, men sometimes represent/impersonate women.
In Collection(s)
Bibliography:
The Indian Arts Research Center, in collaboration with Native American community scholars, strives to present accurate collections records. Records may be updated as new information becomes available and is reviewed with the Native American community having cultural affinity to particular items. Please write to iarc@sarsf.org if you have questions or concerns related to the documentation.