Indian Look-Alike
Melanie Yazzie, Navajo/Diné, United States
1993
Height: 29 in. Width: 22.5 in.
Gift of Melanie Yazzie and Clark Barker, 2007.4155
Photograph © Denver Art Museum 2012. All Rights Reserved.
Born in 1966, Melanie Yazzie grew up on the Navajo reservation in northern Arizona. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree at Arizona State University and a Master of Fine Arts degree in printmaking at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she is now an associate professor of art. Yazzie works in a variety of media including printmaking, painting, sculpture, installation art, and ceramics, and has led several collaborative international projects with artists in New Zealand, Siberia, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Germany, and Japan.
Yazzie’s artwork explores themes of childhood memories, travel and transformation, the role of women in Navajo culture, post-colonial dilemmas, and her personal health. “The work I make is about my personal experience as a Navajo woman in today’s society,” she says.
The overall concept of this piece was inspired by Yazzie’s work with the community and her efforts to educate students about Native American stereotypes. She was shocked when she went to speak to a school class and saw that the children were given a worksheet with stereotypical images of Indians under the same prompt that appears at the top of her print:
Circle the Indians in each row that look the same. Color the pictures.
“I looked at [the worksheet] and thought I do not look like these [nor does] anyone I have ever known. I decided to take the art project and make one of my own, inserting my own childhood image,” Yazzie explains.
Details
The Title and Prompt
The title of the print and the instructions at the top are exactly the same as those on the worksheet that was given to the elementary school children.
Childhood Image
The image of Yazzie as a girl doesn’t resemble the cartoonish Indians at all. By inserting her image into each row, Yazzie makes it obvious which “Indians” look the same and makes the point that Native Americans are individuals, not types.
Background Color and Pattern
According to Yazzie, the background color and pattern resemble a turquoise stone. Turquoise plays a large role in Navajo religious ceremonies and is prominent in Navajo jewelry. It is thought to promote healing and good luck.
More Resources
Melanie Yazzie Discussing Indian Look-Alike
Artist Melanie Yazzie discusses the inspiration behind her piece Indian Look-Alike.
Melanie Yazzie: Collecting Things
Melanie Yazzie describes and explains the "knick-knacks" she collects and displays in her studio for inspiration.
Melanie Yazzie: Space and Color
Melanie Yazzie explains how she organizes her studio space to facilitate her process of “painting like a printmaker.”
Melanie Yazzie: No Blocks
Melanie Yazzie shares her perspective on creative blocks.
Melanie Yazzie Workshop with IAIA Students
This video shows Yazzie and students from the Institute of American Indian Art working during a printmaking workshop Yazzie, the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the Denver Art Museum held for them.
Colorado and the West: Native American History in Colorado
A few American Indians from various cultural backgrounds talk about how American Indians are still relevant today and not solely cultures of the past.
Glenn Green Galleries: Melanie Yazzie
Watch this video of Melanie Yazzie explaining more of her process and see examples of her work.
Holding the Truth: Reflections of a Navajo Artist
This video is of a lecture Yazzie gave at Harvard University, as an event co-sponsored by the Harvard Native American Program, in which she talked about her travels around the world and the meaning in her art.
Websites
Glenn Green Galleries: Melanie Yazzie
Artist site with her bio, exhibits, as well as examples of her work. Use links at the top to see examples of Yazzie’s artwork.
Department of Art/Art history University of Colorado, Boulder: Melanie Yazzie
Professor biography from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a few examples of her work.
Weaving Memory: Monotypes by Melanie Yazzie
Learn about and browse a gallery of Melanie Yazzie’s prints from her Weaving Memory Exhibit at the University of Colorado Art Museum.
Official Site of the Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation Government website
Navajo People- The Diné
The Navajo People- the Diné website.
Books
Contemporary Journeys: American Indian Invitational. Roswell Museum and Art Center, Jan 24- May 10, 2009.
This is an exhibition pamphlet for this exhibition in which Yazzie participated. Her work in this exhibition and her inspiration are found on page 15.
Knowles, Gerald M. The Navajo of North America. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 2003.
A photographic illustration of the history and culture of the Navajo, including contemporary culture.
Max, Jill, ed. Spider Spins a Story: Fourteen Legends from Native America. Rising Moon Publishing, 1998.
This compilation of Native American stories includes “The Legend of the Moon,” a Navajo tale.
Pasqua, Sandra M. The Navajo Nation. Mankato, MN: Bridgestone Books, 2000.
A colorful introduction to contemporary clothing, houses, tribal industry, and ceremonies of the Navajo, including a bibliography for further reading.
Roessel, Monty. Kinaaldá: A Navajo Girl Grows Up. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1993.
A book about the coming-of-age ceremony for Navajo girls.
Tapahonso, Luci and Anthony Chee Emerson. Songs of Shiprock Fair. Walnut, CA: Kiva Publishing, 1999.
An illustrated story told through the eyes of a young girl of a trip to the Navajo Shiprock Fair, held annually in Shiprock, New Mexico.
Children’s Books
King, David C. The Navajo. Terrytown, New York: Marshal Cavendish Corporation: 2006.
Overview of Navajo culture by showing aspects of Navajo daily life past and present.
Bruchac, Joseph. Navajo Long Walk: The Tragic Story of a Proud People’s Forced March from Their Homeland. Washington DC: National Geographic Society, 2002.
Story of the Navajo Nation’s removal from their homelands in the 1800’s and the events leading up to it. Beautifully illustrated.
Funding for object education resources provided by a grant from the Morgridge Family Foundation. Additional funding provided by the William Randolph Hearst Endowment for Education Programs, and Xcel Energy Foundation. We thank our colleagues at the University of Denver Morgridge College of Education.
The images on this page are intended for classroom use only and may not be reproduced for other reasons without the permission of the Denver Art Museum. This object may not currently be on display at the museum.
