Jolene Rickard (Turtle Clan, Tuscarora Nation, born 1956)

Two Canoes refers to the old belief that the Native and Western cultures would always exist as two separate canoes traveling on parallel courses in the water, never meeting.  However, we live in a multi-cultural world, so this diptych is comprised of two images: the parallel trunks of two separate trees that appear limitless and a Western woman marrying a Native man, their feet touching to signify the joining of their heritages and their commitment to a shared future.

Jolene Rickard was born a member of the Turtle Clan in the Tuscarora Nation of Iroquois peoples. Dr. Rickard was an associate professor of art history at the University at Buffalo who has presented at national conferences on indigenous art and iconography. As an artist and curator, she was one of a select group of curators who helped to design the permanent exhibitions at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, which opened in 2004. Her installations and photographs revolve around Native American issues.(NW)