The Wisconsin Project: Found: Beautiful Indian Maidens, Eau Claire, WI

26.11.12

Found: Beautiful Indian Maidens, Eau Claire, WI

Found: Two Beautiful Indian Maidens photographed and published by
G.R. Brown Co., Rt. 5, Eau Claire, Wis circa 1950s

Found: Greetings - Eau Claire, Wisc. Winnebago Indian Maiden photographed by Arthur Langford genuine
Natural Color Made by Dexter Press with "Pray for Peace" postmark dated June 30, 1958(?)
with Thomas Jefferson two cent stamp

Found: Beauty of the Dells: An Indian maiden wading in the Rocky Island Region of the Lower Dells
of the Wisconsin River
Photograph by John A. Trumble. Published by Dells Photo Service,
Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. circa 1960s

Now part of the American kitsch landscape, the "Beautiful Indian Maiden" won't go away. These mid-century postcards fetishize the fringed suede and beaded form fitting attire, feather head dress and braids. The maiden gazes ponderously at the landscape--there to be consumed by the postcard recipient. A simple alteration of the Land O Lakes Butter box (still available at your local grocery store) turns an Indian maiden's knees into knockers (albeit hidden behind a box of butter on a tray). Directions for the alteration appear online. Land O Lakes, Inc. corporate office, located in St. Paul, Minnesota, apparently evolved from a co-op named Minnesota Co-Operative Creameries Association with "new ideas about producing butter" in sticks (rather than tubs in the early 1920s). The LOL website offers no background on the adoption of a "beautiful Indian maiden" as part of its logo. Disney's Pochahontas 1995 film further perpetuates the Indian princess in popular American culture. "Indian Maiden" wigs and "very sexy-looking" Sacajawea costumes are abundantly available on the Interwebs and the fashion world continues to include such imagery only to be reprimanded.

Found: Land O Lakes Sweet Cream Butter Indian Maiden altered packaging

2 comments:

Anonymous14:34
The fashion industry seems to keep repeating this mistake, if this article is to be trusted:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/amyodell/victorias-secrets-native-american-gaffe-continue

-Erik Rinard
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johnie18:36
Incredible documentation of the fashion world's continued insensitivity. A must read! Thanks Erik.
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THE WISCONSIN PROJECT

Our research-driven Wisconsin Project contemplates the rooted-ness and state-of-mind resulting from inhabiting a single place, our native Wisconsin, for a long time. Through critiquing postcard views both made and found, we learn a great deal about past and present Wisconsin. We began making postcard views of the places immediately around our studio and on our drives around Wisconsin in about 2008. We use the vintage postcard film format and print the cards in palladium and cyanotype. By communicating details of a specific place, seeming to register only marginally on the national radar, the project seeks to bring audiences into a Wisconsin mental space. Some in the art world would argue that the Midwest, particularly Wisconsin, makes for banal “fly over” subject matter. Our project challenges that by finding meaning in the ordinary and inviting audiences to examine, dialog, and reflect on the particular emotional quality of the idiosyncrasies of place and the perceptions of those both inside and outside of it. Sometimes distant memories are involved and a longing for a time now gone. Wisconsin’s glacier inflected landscape and proximity to the Great Lakes creates an exotic arena for living that informs our project. The life cycle plays out and rural and urban ruins serve as monuments to existences as people, places, and ideas surface then vanish. Ultimately, we aim to grapple with complex perceptions of Wisconsin ranging from nostalgic, romantic, and idealized--as depicted on myriad real photo postcard and standard tourist postcards--to mysterious, dark, and Gothic as conveyed in works of art and literature such as Michael Lesy's "Wisconsin Death Trip" book and Werner Herzog's "Stroszek" film. The project culminated in a residency with workshops and community collaborations and the installation "We Go From Where We Know" at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center 10.13.2013-3.7.2014 and later the Harvestore Bandshell for Fermentation Fest in 10.2014. The blog continues the exploration of postcards.