Revival on the stronghold

Author

Katherine Evans, James Madison UniversityFollow

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Date of Graduation

Spring 2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)

Department

School of Art, Design and Art History

Advisor(s)

Evelyn Tickle

Wanda Dye

Ronn Daniel

Abstract

This proposal is an architectural landscape that commemorates a cultural history while providing a cultural understanding for others of the unjust actions against Native Americans throughout history. Through a series of spaces sited in the South Unit of the Badlands, South Dakota for the Oglala people of the Pine Ridge Reservation, this proposal will be an experiential and spiritual journey echoing the religious practice of the Ghost Dance, which contributed to the Wounded Knee Massacre killing 250 Native Americans in 1890. The Ghost Dance was a ritual practiced and believed to encourage the coming Messiah to save the Native Americans, bring back the buffalo, restore the land and rid the land of the whites while reuniting the people with ancestors. This dance was put to a stop by the US Calvary in fears the Natives would revolt against them. The continuation of practice ultimately led to the massacre. The proposal will have a series of 7 places of pause: each location will reorient the individual to 7 different directional points that relate to the dance and the massacre. The 7 directions were used to carry out the dance. North, South, East, West, Up, Down and Within. The final spot on the journey will be for the 7th direction, within, looking out over the Pine Ridge Reservation to the site of the massacre where their ancestors were killed and buried.

Recommended Citation

Evans, Katherine, "Revival on the stronghold" (2018). Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019. 519.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/honors201019/519