Indigo, cochineal, red earth, and corn pollen: these are among some of the traditional materials used in the art of Dakota Mace (Diné), Kéyah Keenan Henry (Diné), and Daisy Trudell-Mills (Santee Dakota, Mexican, and Jewish) in the Naaldeeh exhibition at the Bosque Redondo Memorial.
Dakota Mace is a nationally renowned artist and instructor at the Institute for American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. In addition to her work at Bosque Redondo, her art is on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, the Minneapolis Museum of Art, and the Center for Native Futures in Chicago.
In creating work for the Bosque Redondo Memorial, Dakota invited her students, Kéyah and Daisy, to create works alongside her that would speak history of the place and the suffering endured by the Diné people during the Long Walk and their four-year internment at Fort Sumner.
Encounter Culture host Emily Withnall invited the three artists to speak about their art, the history of Bosque Redondo, and the ways art can provide healing for the Diné and Ndé whose histories are tied to the land.
“For my family and hearing from their stories from our ancestors, we have such a deep connection to the landscape and that site for us isn’t just a memorial, it’s a place of rest.” For Dakota, the histories of suffering have become their own kind of burden. Her art is a connection with her ancestors and with the land that still holds memories.
