Stitched in Sovereignty

An exhibition of contemporary art at Couse-Sharp Historic Site spotlights the ways in which Indigenous peoples maintain their identities, culture and artistic expression.

- JOHN O’HERN

In 1906, the federal government placed Blue Lake and the surrounding area, sacred to Taos Pueblo, under the jurisdiction of the Forest Service and declared the lake an area for multiple use. After years of negotiations, the area was returned to the people of Taos Pueblo in 1970. At the time, President Nixon said, “This is a bill that represents justice, because in 1906 an injustice was done in which land involved in this bill, 48,000 acres, was taken from the Indians involved, the Taos Pueblo Indians. The Congress of the United States now returns that land to whom it belongs.” Taos Pueblo regained sovereignty over its land and its use.

On the 50th anniversary of the return of Blue Lake, the Couse-Sharp Historic Site in Taos has put together an exhibition, Stitched in Sovereignty: Contemporary Beadwork from Indigenous North America. It is planned for an opening in June with programming planned for October.

Chelsea M. Herr (Choctaw), the exhibition’s guest curator, explains that it “highlights how Indigenous peoples maintain control of their own cultures, social and governing systems, belief and knowledge systems, and relationships with other sovereign groups. These concepts are expressed in the materials and processes of beadwork, a medium that has a long tradition in Indigenous North America and continues to evolve today.”