{"id":6684,"date":"2025-06-26T14:02:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T19:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/?p=6684"},"modified":"2025-06-26T14:02:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T19:02:13","slug":"a-new-story-emerges-introducing-homelands-mnenanak-maenaewah-tesisik","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mam.org\/info\/pressroom\/2025\/06\/a-new-story-emerges-introducing-homelands-mnenanak-maenaewah-tesisik\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Story Emerges: Introducing Homelands: Mn\u00eb\u2019n\u00e1nak, M\u0101\u0113n\u0101\u0113wah, Te\u0161i\u0161ik"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The title of the reinstallation\u2014which centers Native voices in American art\u2014reflects Milwaukee\u2019s Indigenous roots as a gathering place where land meets water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Andrea Carlson (Ojibwe, b. 1979), Published by Highpoint Editions (Minneapolis, Minnesota),
Exit<\/em>, 2018. Screenprint. Image and sheet: 33 15\/16 \u00d7 47 15\/16 in. (86.2 \u00d7 121.76 cm). Purchase, Lucia K. Stern Trust, M2023.162<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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John James Audubon (American, b. Santo Domingo [now Haiti], 1785\u20131851),
Entrapped Otter (Canada Otter)<\/em>, 1827\/30. Oil on canvas. 24 3\/16 \u00d7 29 1\/2 \u00d7 1 1\/16 in. (61.44 \u00d7 74.93 \u00d7 2.7 cm). Layton Art Collection, Inc., Purchase, L1961.1. Photo by John R. Glembin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

MILWAUKEE, WI<\/strong>\u2014June 25, 2025\u2014The Milwaukee Art Museum unveiled Homelands: Mn\u00eb\u2019n\u00e1nak, M\u0101\u0113n\u0101\u0113wah, Te\u0161i\u0161ik<\/a><\/em>\u2014a groundbreaking reinstallation of its former \u201cAmerican West\u201d gallery\u2014on Saturday, June 21. Developed with the institution\u2019s Native Initiatives Advisory Group (NIAG) and supported by a major grant from the Terra Foundation for American Art, the new presentation, co-curated by Chyna Bounds and Kendra Greendeer, PhD, foregrounds contemporary Native art and reinterprets historical works, centering Indigenous voices and honoring the region\u2019s cultural roots through the themes of land and water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Homelands<\/em> reasserts Native voices to tell a more comprehensive American art history. Milwaukee is, and always has been, home to Indigenous people with diverse tribal affiliations, and the reinstallation honors these communities by bringing Native art into the spotlight. It invites visitors to consider how Native artists depict the landscapes they live in, reflect on their relationships with land and water, and express the deep cultural and spiritual significances these natural resources hold for Native communities. While the presentation includes art from beyond the Great Lakes region, it maintains a focus on Wisconsin and the western Great Lakes. Its title reflects Milwaukee\u2019s Indigenous roots as a gathering place where land meets water: mn\u00eb\u2019n\u00e1nak<\/em>* (Potawatomi) for \u201cthe good land,\u201d M\u0101\u0113n\u0101\u0113wah<\/em> (Menominee) for \u201csome misfortune happens,\u201d and Te\u0161i\u0161ik<\/em> (Ho-Chunk) for \u201cbad lake.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe works by contemporary artists depict Indigenous art, culture, and traditions in Wisconsin and beyond as they have always been: vibrant, enduring, and thriving,\u201d said the reinstallation\u2019s co-curator Kendra Greendeer, PhD, member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, descendent of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe<\/strong>, and Ihlenfeld Curator of Collaborative and Community Exhibitions<\/strong> at Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis, Minnesota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highlights from the reinstallation include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n