Echo-Hawk’s Nike N7 t-shirt design

Nike N7 collection featuring designs by Bunky Echo-HawkBunky Echo-Hawk, of the Pawnee Nation in Oklahoma and Yakama Nation in Washington, is a graduate of the Institute of American Indian Arts who is focused on fine art, graphic design, photography, creative writing, traditional singing and dancing, community outreach and a unique style of “live art” aimed at merging his traditional values with art for greater purpose.

Echo-Hawk’s design for the Nike N7 collection T-shirts focuses on the traditional native warrior holding a basketball in a strike pose, embodying his belief, and interpretation of Nike N7, that there is a warrior within every athlete. Echo-Hawk portrays the warrior with an eagle feather standing straight up within a roach head dress, and scalp feathers positioned to the side of his head. The warrior is positioned in the basketball triple threat stance, which readies the athlete for any move he or she needs to make next--shoot, pass or dribble. Celestial stars embrace the warrior in the design, providing a connection to the earth. The T-shirts designed by Echo-Hawk are made with organic cotton and will be available in challenge red and dark grey heather for women and challenge red and dark turquoise for men.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Echo-Hawk's Art Confronts Stereotypes and Obama Portrait Puts Echo-Hawk on Map.

Echo-Hawk's art confronts stereotypes

Disproving stereotypes with art

By Kayla OliverioEcho-Hawk's goal is to educate his audience on Native American culture by converting old stereotypes created by the mass media into a more positive perspective. Echo-Hawk sometimes uses the media in his work as a vehicle to deliver his messages.

"For example, I used images of Yoda from Star Wars and I converted him to a Native (wearing) a war bonnet and at first people will laugh, as it is an amusing image, but it forces the viewer to consider Natives as the good guy for a change. In movies, Natives are usually the bad guys. This country accepts Indians were the bad guys. By making them heroes, it reverses the effect," Echo-Hawk said.

The Media Awareness Network of Canada website has observed the negative portrayals of Natives in the media, displaying Natives as "the wise elder, the aggressive drunk, the Indian princess, the loyal sidekick, obese and impoverished." Echo-Hawk feels that these stereotypes are damaging to Native people because of their insulting and outdated nature.

"I think (media) has a profound effect (on Native American culture). There is a lack of representation of Native American culture and when there is a representation, it is misrepresented. For our Native youth, it is sad we don't have positive role models. We don't have our heroes in the movie screens or on TV and music," Echo-Hawk said.Comment:  I attended a conference with Bunky back in 2005. You can read about it in PEACE PARTY vs. Toxic Waste.

For more on challenging art, see Obama Portrait Puts Echo-Hawk on Map. For more on Echo-Hawk, see Curtis Photos vs. Smiling Indians and Photos Challenge Native Stereotypes.

Below:  If Yoda Was An Indian.

Obama portrait puts Echo-Hawk on map

Echo-Hawk, the artistEcho-Hawk, 33, has long been expressing himself through painting and drawing, but it was last August, during the Democratic National Convention in Denver, that his work began to attract an even larger nationwide Native following.

The Pawnee and Yakama tribal member was invited to attend an Aug. 27 event celebrating Native contributions to the Democratic Party. There, he was asked to create a unique live painting, with dozens of attendees watching over him as he worked.The result:In the end, Echo-Hawk’s portrayal somehow made Obama seem like both a revolutionary warrior and a peaceful listener.

Just as artist Shepard Fairey was able to express the feelings of the change movement by creating a distinctive representation of Obama in a much celebrated poster with the block words “Hope” imprinted at the bottom, Echo-Hawk was sending a message: Obama should be the clear choice for Natives. He was a man who would understand. He was a man who would listen.

Soon, the painting began getting attention throughout Indian country; YouTube videos were made about its creation; and it received plenty of tribal attention in the Denver region.More on Echo-Hawk:“I get inspired and motivated to do my art from injustice in Indian country,” Echo-Hawk said in a recent interview posted on YouTube. “There are a great number of atrocities that our people faced throughout the past 500 years. My fuel for my art comes from how those atrocities affect us today as Americans, as Native Americans.”

Echo-Hawk believes art is a pathway to re-educating the public and correcting stereotypes about Native Americans.

“Through art, that can be achieved,” Echo-Hawk said. “It can set sparks off in people’s minds, in people’s hearts, and inspire them to want to look at these issues and do something about it.”Comment:  I thought Echo-Hawk was pretty well known before he did this portrait. But if it finally put him on the map, great.

As you may recall, I met Echo-Hawk at an International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management roundtable in November 2004. We were the only two "creative" people in a roomful of scientists, managers, and educators. Since then we've been pen-pals.

For more on the subject, see:

Bunky's Native icons
Bunky paints live!
NVision multimedia artists
Native icons live on