Jim Denomie was an extraordinary Native American artist who captured many injustices in society through vibrant painting which depicted crude and dark humor. Jim Denomie was never afraid to hold anything back in his art, he would often include nudity, sexual acts, and visually demonstrate the acts of abuse, violence, discrimination and racism against indigenous people, often in a humorous way. This project will be focusing on his paintings that represented his experiences as a Native Person at the Standing Rock protests.

Themes:

The works of Jim Denomie create a theme of the effects of racism and political environmentalism. The illustration of racism is best seen in his painting, “Dog Day Afternoon” which reflected the reoccurring white supremacy felt by the native populations in the wake of the Standing Rock Protests. It develops an image of white people blindly scaring and terrorizing the Native American community. The white people in question were made to represent the political audience of the Republican Party. This is because a key role in the loss at Standing Rock was the republican President Donald Trump.

As it did include political illustrations, including some very explicit depictions of the Former President Trump, Demonie comments on the role politics plays in environmentalism. The paintings show the abuse the U.S. government has in its power over its population by using unnecessary and destructive force against the protestors at Standing Rock.

January 2016 was a great stride in the direction for Native American unity, unfortunately it came at a great cost. Over 200 tribes came together for the first time in more than 150 years to protest the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline that would transport crude oil across the Native Standing Rock Sioux Nation. This pipeline would decimate ancestral burial grounds and run through key water supplies that not only effect the people of the region, but could possibly poison clean water for millions of Americans downstream. Oil Companies have pushed native tribes over and over again and destroyed their homes, land, and stole valuable resources without any compensation. Although the Standing Rock Protests were peaceful, the police, state troopers, and militarized law enforcement were called to disperse and send back the protestors by force. Such devastating equipment included but not limited to: high pressure water deterrent in subzero temperatures, automatic rifles, and sound cannons. Nearly three hundred protestors were injured but the worst was yet to happen.

Despite their hard efforts, Former President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order to disperse the Protestors through military force and expedite the construction of the pipeline. Although the protestors didn’t win, they were able to prove that the Native American Nations of America were stronger together and that this effort was a humanitarian crisis that everyone should be vocal about. This huge cultural change encouraged many artists to make symbolic pieces of their experiences, including Jim Denomie.

As an indigenous artist, Jim Denomie provides a unique perspective on the events of the standing rock protests. Not only does he provide a cultural perspective, but Denomie was actually there at the protests. His paintings reflect the emotions and thoughts that he had during his experience.

Along with his experiences, his style of art allows Denomie to be a bit more political, vocal, and raw in his portrayal of events. His reputation to not being afraid to speak out against injustices gives him a credibility to showcase his opinions. Finally, his use of crude humor allows his messages to be interpreted by a very large audience which helps spread the message of social injustice in America.

Sadly, Jim Denomie has passed since he created these paintings and cannot continue to share his experiences. This adds a depth to the meaning of his work as we know that there is no way to make up for the atrocities that he went through. But there is a call to action to support Social and Environmental Change for future generations, indigenous or not.

Published paintings and Historical Context: https://hyperallergic.com/482973/jim-denomie-standing-rock-paintings-bockley-gallery/

About the Artist: https://cla.umn.edu/art/news-events/news/memoriam-jim-denomie