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<\/a><\/p>\n\u2018\u201cWhere are my people?\u201d the mountains cry out.\u2019 This line from a young Din\u00e9 (Navajo) poet sets the tone for an exhibition curated by Dr. James Swensen, Melanie Allred, and Meagan Anderson. Featuring visual art, poetry, and ephemera produced by students of the Intermountain Indian School, the display sensitively acknowledges the established narrative of Native American boarding schools as sites of cultural genocide while simultaneously celebrating the creative works of these Intermountain students.\u00a0 <\/span>Though the exhibit is confined to the small square footage of the fifth floor gallery space of the Harold B. Lee Library, Returning Home<\/i> manages to confront big issues and broaden the discussion of its content.<\/p>\n Among the hundreds of students that filtered through the school between its opening in 1950 and closure in 1984 was a student by the name of Robert Chee. Born Hashke-Yil-e-Cale and from St. Michaels, Arizona, Robert came to the Intermountain school and found himself serendipitously under the tutelage of Allan Houser. Houser, a renowned Chiricahua Apache sculptor, painter and book illustrator who had a significant impact on Chee. The training Chee received and lessons he observed equipped him with the artistic skills necessary for various aesthetic projects. Whether it was the design of the 1956 school yearbook, or his army building murals in Mainz, Germany, where he served a stint in the US military following graduation, Chee was recognized as an \u201cenergetic and capable young paper.\u201d<\/p>\n Robert Chee’s “First Date”<\/p><\/div>\n Chee\u2019s work offers a friendly greeting to the left of the exhibition. His silkscreen diptych entitled \u201cFirst Date\u201d is a vibrant treat for the eye and, depending on how it is displayed, encapsulates both the excitement and disappointments of the youth experience. The profile of a young girl trots across the desert landscape on her faithful horse. She clings to the reigns and looks slightly downward in an effort to remain focused on her destination. In a separate frame, a young boy in profile essentially does the same. The curators have chosen to display the frames in such a way that the riders face each other, perhaps implying that they are eagerly, though not without some trepidation, journeying towards their first romantic encounter. However, if the images were displayed in reverse, the figures would be riding away <\/i>from each other, giving new meaning to the girl\u2019s downcast stare and the boy\u2019s gallop. \u201cFirst Date\u201d and \u201cNavajo Family,\u201d both on display in the gallery, are other excellent examples of the artist\u2019s signature style. The profile approach to his two-dimensional figures harkens back to the black silhouette portraits so popular during the 18th<\/sup> century. However, his colorful but muted hues add a distinctive modern element that is easy to look at and genuinely enjoy. There is nothing complicated about them, and yet a viewer could be fascinated for hours by the elegance of the wind blowing through the strands of the loosened hair or the graceful momentum of the figures proceeding along a path that extends beyond the paper.<\/p>\n While Robert Chee represents at some level the success of the opportunities available at \u201cIntermountain,\u201d the work of the student poets included in the exhibition speak more specifically about their experience away from home at the boarding school. In his poem \u201cRemembering the Mesa,\u201d Alex Tso wrote:<\/p>\n Standing alone on the mesa,<\/i><\/p>\n The air was still\u2014soundless<\/i><\/p>\n My heart was heavy and torn<\/i><\/p>\n As I looked down across the<\/i><\/p>\n great wide plains<\/i><\/p>\n Tears come to my eyes.<\/i><\/p>\n c. 1970<\/p>\n This feeling of homesickness was ever present for the students. Although the federal representatives advocating for the school initially included representation from the Reservation communities involved, it is difficult to say how voluntary the participation truly was. The poetry speaks to the complexities of assimilation and further invites viewers to consider the ethical underpinnings of the school\u2019s purpose. Another student, Joann Shepard, confronts this even more directly in her poem \u201cLeaving the Reservation\u201d:<\/p>\n Leaving the reservation<\/i><\/p>\n Ignoring the world<\/i><\/p>\n Throwing myself into it<\/i><\/p>\n As a swimmer throws himself<\/i><\/p>\n Into the sea.<\/i><\/p>\n As wandering people do,<\/i><\/p>\n I brought with me bundled belongings<\/i><\/p>\n Of personal value\u2014<\/i><\/p>\n Memories mostly.<\/i><\/p>\n Ignorant of the world<\/i><\/p>\n I fronted it<\/i><\/p>\n As a boat, the waves.<\/i><\/p>\n I asked no more than a chance<\/i><\/p>\n To live a full life<\/i><\/p>\n And leave some record<\/i><\/p>\n Among the crowded distortion<\/i><\/p>\n Of indifferent places.<\/i><\/p>\n I survived on what I\u2019d brought<\/i><\/p>\n With me\u2014<\/i><\/p>\n A provincial\u2019s sensibility.<\/i><\/p>\n Ignoring still<\/i><\/p>\n I set out to cross life<\/i><\/p>\n As sailors, the sea.<\/i><\/p>\n Some survive.<\/i><\/p>\n Some sink.<\/i><\/p>\n Will I?<\/i><\/p>\n While the poetry included throughout the space engages with similar themes of nostalgia, fear, survival and resilience, Shephard\u2019s experience is particularly vulnerable and profound. Her work is thoughtful, questioning, and sincere, offering a glimpse into the memory of a young girl far from home.<\/p>\n Since the school\u2019s closure and subsequent demolition, the words and works that whisper from the walls are among the few remaining relics of the Intermountain Indian School. One of the few remaining artifacts from the building is a mural. Although the artist is unknown, it has been beautifully preserved and in its frame acts as a window to the desert landscape. How many students walked by this very image longing for their homes and families? How many were confused at why they were even there, looking at piece of painted drywall, when they could have been in the very land it depicted? And how many walked from the entire experience truly better off?<\/p>\n Returning Home<\/i> facilitates an environment in which these questions can be appropriately and productively considered. The art and the experience of its creators can be appreciated at every level. The works are of high quality, the presentation is appropriate, and the discussions fostered have the potential to bring about a change in how complicated local histories are viewed and sensitively treated.<\/p>\n<\/a>