More Tomahawks for Our United Warriors, Buy War Bonds Now!; Buy War Bonds!
[Washington, D. C.]: US Government Printing Office, 1942. 97x60.7cm. Single Uncut Sheet, includes three broadside posters printed in color with explanatory text. Distributed to Native American boarding schools around the country to be displayed. Original mailing folds with minor smoothed out fold to lower edge. Off setting to bottom poster from being folded for mailing. Light wear and toning. Near Fine.
In 1942, the U.S. Department of the Treasury organized a poster contest for Native American students attending boarding schools across the country as part of its effort to promote the sale of war bonds. The three winning artists, Eea-Ha-Wa (Eva Mirabel), Charles Presbetonequa, and Há-ӑ-tee-Ben (Ben Quintana), were all students at the Santa Fe Indian School. Their success was unsurprising, as they all attended the school’s well-known art program, “The Studio,” founded by Dorothy Dunn, which later became the foundation for the Institute of American Indian Arts. Although Dunn directed the program for only five years, her successors continued to emphasize students’ innate understanding of Indigenous culture and artistic expression. This approach was characterized by a flat, outlined, two-dimensional style depicting Native American life, features that are clearly visible in these posters.
As stated on the sheet, the posters were “reproduced and distributed by the Education Section, War Savings, Treasury Department, through the State War Savings Offices.” They were meant to be cut on the dotted trim lines and then displayed in government-run Native American schools throughout the country. At a time when Indigenous peoples were still subject to government-sanctioned assimilation, these posters reflect how Native children were enlisted to produce pointed Native American propaganda in support of a nation that continued to suppress their cultures.
Interestingly, all three artists went on to enlist in the military. Eva Mirabel served in the Women’s Army Corps and later became one of the first women cartoonists to publish a comic strip, “G.I. Gertie.” After the war, she taught and worked as an artist-in-residence at Southern Illinois University; in 1946, she was also the only woman included in the National Exhibition of Indian Painting at the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa. Presbetonequa* joined the Air Force, serving until 1947, and went on to become a prominent contemporary Meskwaki artist, known for depicting scenes of daily life on the Meskwaki Settlement in Tama, Iowa. Tragically, Quintana, despite early success as a young artist, winning several poster contests and earning as much as $1,000, was mortally wounded in 1944 during a counterattack in the Philippines. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his heroism, having exposed himself to enemy fire to prevent his unit from being overrun and to rally his fellow soldiers to overcome the attack.
An important artifact to both Native American communities and World War II history, seldom found in such great condition.
*Charles Presbetonequa can be found under several artist names including: Wawabano Sata, Dawn Walker, Mesquakie, Red Earth People, and Charles Push.
Price: $1,500.00
Item #10642