The design, revealed for the first time Friday, is from Oklahoma artist Allan Houser's "Sacred Rain Arrow” sculpture at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa. Houser, who died in 1994, was a member of the Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma.
In a previous posting I reported there were five finalists, not six. I don't know if Oklahoma changed the finalists or if someone misreported them.
Previously the finalists included four Indians and a cowboy, which I thought was good. The revised finalists included three Indians, two cowboys, and Will Rogers dressed as a cowboy, which I guess you'd count as half and half.
So the percentage of Indian finalists declined from 80% to 58.3% (3.5/6.0). I wonder if someone pressured the state to add more cowboys to the mix.
Still, all that really matters is the final winner. Kudos to Oklahoma for choosing an Indian.
Missed it by that much
Then there's Russell Bates's comment on the previous posting:
As usual, you spent too much time channeling the "EuroMen" you supposedly disdain. You don't think minorities can be elected president and you don't think they can be selected for license plates. You were dead wrong about the plate, so let's hope you're dead wrong about the president.
Here's a hint for your next prediction: Go with the option that has an 80% chance of winning, not the one with a 20% chance. I have a BA in mathematics (cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) and you don't, so trust me on this.
8 comments:
I'm glad they went with a Native theme, but ... I don't know, can't we get something a little less stereotyped? Isn't there a more contemporary image of a Native person around? I mean, if we had tons of representations in the popular media to choose from, it'd be different, but too many people already think that all Indians ride horses (I'm thinking of your post on the Chumash storyteller who got asked if he rode a horse to the school) and shoot bows and arrows.
Good point, Zora. Yes, the image isn't ideal. But it's a start.
They could've gone with the Will Rogers image. But that wasn't very visually interesting. It would've been hard to distinguish on fast-moving license plates.
This is one case where I don't mind the stereotypical image. Here's why:
1) It isn't inherently false--unlike, say, a Plains chief in Massachusetts. Some Oklahoma Indians undoubtedly looked like this.
2) It's been done to death elsewhere, but not on license plates. As far as I know, this is the first official state license plate to feature an Indian.
3) It's hard to think of another image that's as visually arresting. With most images--e.g., coins, sports logos, statues--you have plenty of time to see and examine them. Not so with license plates. You need an image you can recognize at a glance from a moving vehicle 10-20 feet away.
What would the alternative be? Not a modern Indian in a suit or lab coat, surely (again, too hard to distinguish). A closeup of Sequoyah's face? An Indian on horseback? A cluster of tipis? An abstract pattern? I'm open to suggestions.
Writerfella here --
in all his 67 years (or at least those past his being 16), writerfella never has owned a car (didn't get a driver's license until he was 40 and thus was the only USAF member {1964 - '68} who didn't drive]. So he also never has had to buy a license plate. The comment that the fifth design might be selected was taking the logical extension from the preceding plate design. Bet the plate chosen STILL will say, "Native America..."
The plate selected already is getting its bad reviews, as shown in the above two posts. 'Zora' had the nerve to say that Allen Houser's art was "stereotyped." She doesn't know art and she also reveals that she knows what she doesn't like, and that is Allen Houser.
As far as Barak Obama, with over 65% of the US electorate being Caucasian, one only has to do the math. And they will...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
I'm glad you implicitly conceded how wrong you were, Russ. Skip the license-plate and presidential predictions and stick to whatever it is you know. You won't embarrass yourself so often.
I like Allan (not "Allen") Houser's artwork. I've posted pictures of it before. I even like this statue, titled Sacred Rain Arrow. It's bold and dynamic.
But that doesn't mean it isn't stereotypical. Zora's point is correct. Houser's statue is partly if not wholly stereotypical. It depicts the same half-naked Indian "brave" seen in 10,000 other works of art.
In case you didn't realize it, Natives can produce stereotypical art too. They can even stereotype themselves. The American statue is a good example of this. So is any Native high school nicknamed "Redskins" or "Savages" or "Warriors."
If you disagree, explain how a statue of a half-naked Indian isn't stereotypical. If you're not too afraid to answer a simple question, that is. Good luck with your answer...you'll need it.
Writerfella here --
Geez, wrong again. writerfella only posts on blog items that match his interests, maybe 3 in 10. Only Rob posts on every item that receives posts and we must assume that he was using projection while looking in a mirror...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
Writerfella here --
Art is art, and critique is critique. But which commodity exists FIRST? Without art, there can be no critics...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
If you're saying I always comment on other people's comments, Russ, you're wrong, as usual. A simple scan of the blog will verify that.
Actually, criticism, like every other form of writing, is an art. That's why the practitioners of literary criticism have ranged from Aristotle and Plato to Samuel Johnson, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Mark Twain, Arthur Conan Doyle, H.L. Mencken, Bertolt Brecht, Eugene Ionesco, and Harlan Ellison. Perhaps you've heard of them?
In fact, many novelists, playwrights, and poets also review literary works and write literary essays. I guess you didn't know this because you're only a hack TV writer? Well, now you know. No need to thank me for your continuing education.
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