Odessia R. Serawop

Using old books to showcase some of the dress pieces is a very important part of my senior show. These books tell the loss of my family heritage and the knowledge that I am trying to recreate and learn. I also want to share this showcase with my family members and community in Utah to help them understand that without our culture and the history of our people, the Ute traditions will forever be lost.

I am utilizing the old books by creating a hidden compartment to store the hair and dress items from my performance. The covers will have photos of women that have made some type of contribution in the world and in history. I will also have some of the women from my family on the covers of the books to show that I have been inspired by these women in my life.

​

I am using a utility knife and glue to strengthen the books’ pages and the covers to reinforce the materials and stabilize the pages to hold the installed materials. I wanted the covers to be variegated in the design and color.

For the demonstration piece, I have chosen the cover to be red because it signifies a pioneering spirit and leadership qualities, promoting ambition and determination. My initial influence for creating these books was Arista, my current photography instructor.

We have been working on these books, and I have researched other book art artists that I thought would be helpful during this process. These artists include: Kristy Ruggiero, Su Black Well, Louisa Boyd, just to name a few. In the world of art, there are many great artists who love to do what they do on a daily basis. I am just borrowing their ideas and adapting it for my installation.

​

The idea of printing money came from looking at the paper bills that we use in everyday life, which only depict men. Then I started to think about the coins and how they are all men, wit one exception: Sacagawea on a half dollar coin. Women have given the world so much more than we get credit for, so I made these dollars from the photographs I showed last year. They are printed and hot pressed together at 350 degrees.

I wanted to give empowerment to women and hope that one day we will have a woman on a dollar bill. I started to think of women in history who helped out, but there where so many. I then thought of the women that helped out the Ute Tribe. I came across Chipeta. She was the wife to our Chief Ouray for which our reservation is named. She was thought to be “The Queen of the Utes.” That is, of course, what the people in the state of Utah and Colorado called her in the books and on the websites that I researched.

 

According to CHIPETA: "QUEEN OF THE UTES" AND WIFE OF OURAY book

by NOEL on June 26, 2013

When Chipeta was a baby, a band of Tabeguache Utes found her crawling in the ruins of a Kiowa Apache village, the only survivor of a savage attack. The Utes adopted her and raised her as their own. She became a caretaker for Ouray’s son after Ouray’s first wife died. The two became close and married. Ouray and Chipeta were inseparable. It was rare for Ute women to travel with their men, but the two traveled together as Ouray negotiated with whites and other Ute leaders for Ute lands. Ouray received a salary for his role as an interpreter and hunter for the Los Pinos Agency. Other Utes became suspicious and assumed that the money he received was in return for selling off Ute lands. But while Ouray was no longer welcome with certain Ute bands, Chipeta was accepted with open arms by everyone. The council she kept with other Utes became invaluable to Ouray. Soon, Chipeta was giving council to visiting chiefs, tribal headmen and U.S. functionaries. She continued in this role for the rest of her life. It was Chipeta who stayed up all night with Ouray as the White River Utes fought with the U.S. Cavalry up North, convincing him not to ride to their aid and thus, preserving what peace the Utes had left. After Ouray died and the Utes were stripped of their remaining Colorado lands, she continued to advocate for her people and for peace. Then the government subdivided the reservation and took more land away. Yet Chipeta’s spirit wasn’t broken and she still spoke for many Utes. In 1897, her brother McCook represented her opinions in Washington D.C. When she died, the city of Montrose insisted she be exhumed from her humble grave in Utah and buried in Montrose in an elaborate ceremony. Her brother McCook agreed and today, she rests there in her ancestral homeland.

 

I also feel a great closeness with her. My uncle’s last name is McCook, and I feel that her lineage has moved throughout our family and our tribe. This is the reason I have decided to use her on the money that I will be printing as take-aways for my exhibition installation.

I started my third process by making this projector screen, which will be used to project my video performance. The image will be played from the back of the screen so that the viewer will be able to see the video play in a loop. This frame was initially used as a mirror. I reconstructed it so that I would be able to use the frame to stretch the linen in the back area.

Originally, the mirror was to be a sort of reflection of ourselves looking into the past, present, and future. It was to show how we either grow as Native Americans or how we are still being assimilated in today’s life on and off reservations. Since I am no longer using the mirror, I started to look an alternative usage of the frame.

​

Because I wanted have the frame reflect the appearance of an embroidery or weaving hoop, I can have justified the frames rustic appearance. My grandmother would use this tool as I was growing up in her house. She was a woman that believed in using all things around her and that things were never to go unwanted.

From the color of the paint on the walls to the rustic picture frame, I feel the connection between my grandmother and me. As a child, I both admired and respected the women who helped raise me. This installation is one small way that I can pay tribute to those who are still with us and to those who have gone before. Since the concept of the video, I have remained true to my original idea which is being a strong Native American woman and trying to connect with my past.