"Off the Reservation (or Minnesota Nice)"
Oil painting on canvas by Jim Denomie, 2012. Purchased from the 2012 "Ded Unk'unpi - We Are Here" exhibit.
In his artist statement, he writes, "During my years in public education I began seeing that much of our history was not taught in school. From this experience I have been inspired to create works that speak of these historical events ignored in public education. In this piece I felt it important to express some of the facts on the events of the Dakota/U.S. war that most residents of Minnesota dont even know about. While doing research and creating the imagery many emotions arose anger, pain. I decided not to diffuse these feelings with humor or color as I normally do in many of my historical works. This painting is left raw; the tension visible through both subject matter and color. I allowed myself the emotions that come with this painful history."
