The Feast

For this educational intervention, visitors are invited to partake in a feast designed to educate, bring awareness to and spark dialogue surrounding issues affecting Indian Country historically and presently. Individual tribes and their histories are represented on plates depicting tribal seals with corresponding placemats. Participants learn about the diversity that exists among the 573+ federally recognized tribes in the United States today.  Topics examined in the piece include the destruction of Native society, culture, language, and lifeways and the loss of land through acts of removal and relocation to reservations. Because food is connected to land, this history is directly related to the current food situation which causes health problems among American Indians. The piece aims to promote an Indigenous worldview based on community, reciprocity and respect. The Feast changes in one way or another each time it is presented. Click on each place below to see additional photos and information about that location’s event.

Kansas City, MO

Hosted by Charlotte Street Foundation and La Esquina Gallery as part of Yeah, No, I Mean It: Time, Situation, Dexterity Performance Art Symposium curated by Jessica Borusky

Johnson, VT

Hosted at the Vermont Studio Center

Vermillion, SD

Hosted by Coyote Twin Theatre, the University of South Dakota and Amber Hansen

Muncie, IN

Hosted by PlySpace Residency Program and Minnetrista Gathering Place

Iowa City, IA

Hosted by Grant Wood Art Colony, the University of Iowa Office of Outreach and Engagement and Vero Smith as part of Art in Public, the 6th Biennial Grant Wood Symposium

Lincoln, NE

Hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan University Art Department and Juan José Castaño-Márquez