Sandra Hale Schulman
ICT
The latest: Weighty words, new record and tour, bold traditions in art
ART: Exposing performative words
Cahuilla artist Gerald Clarke doesn’t do anything small. As an educator and tribal leader using wit and material innovation to expose historical and present-day injustices, he has previously created two large scale sculptures — a giant 100-foot basket of straw for Desert X and satellite dish baskets made of crushed beer cans for an exhibit at the Palm Springs Art Museum.
Now, in a new series created for the 2026 Converge45 Triennial in Portland, Clarke has created “Between the Lines,” which takes on the by-now-routine land acknowledgments through a 16-foot “rubber stamp” sculpture and stamped branding iron prints contrasting the words “Unceded” and “Sorry.”
The exhibit is on display now through Oct. 17 at the Center for Native Arts + Cultures in Portland, Oregon.
Crowds visit the opening of Cahuilla artist Gerald Clarke’s latest exhibition, “Between the Lines, which features a 16-foot “rubber stamp” sculpture at the 2026 Converge45 Triennial in Portland, Oregon. The exhibit is on display through Oct. 17, 2026, at the Center for Native Arts + Cultures. Credit: Photo by Mario Gallucci, courtesy of Gerald Clarke
“For several years now, various institutions have implemented a policy of delivering land acknowledgments as part of their practice,” Clarke said in a statement, noting that the Cahuilla Band of Indians is located in Southern California on unceded, ancestral lands.
“Describing the land as unceded is factually correct,” he said. “However, as an Indigenous person from so-called unceded lands, I don’t sense that the weight of the word is really understood or being expressed. While one may know the definition of the word unceded, that doesn’t mean that they can truly understand or comprehend the emotional weight of the word upon the tribal people whose lands have been taken.”
The Land Acknowledgement Series developed with the creation of a maquette for a larger work, “Unceded,” which is in the form of a large rubber stamp, he said.
“I chose the form of a rubber stamp to convey the idea that the word unceded lacks the emotional weight and true recognition of its meaning to Indigenous people,” he said. “I see it as similar to receiving a birthday card from a loved one that is unsigned but is simply stamped with a signature. Lacking the emotional connection that’s being expressed, it becomes meaningless and could even be seen as an aggression or disregard for Indigenous land rights.”
Other rubber stamps spell out “Sorry” and “Stolen,” and a series of prints use black ink on the “Unceded” maquette and red ink on the “Sorry” maquette, Clarke said, to “reconsider the words, their context, and their histories involving settler governments, relationships, and the treatment of Indigenous people.”
MUSIC: Miller takes a head trip
Two-time JUNO winning singer/songwriter/guitarist Derek Miller from Six Nations of the Grand River is a journeyman musician with a knack for guitar-based roots rock with a pop sensibility.
With a new album, “Outta My Head,” he has booked a tour across Canada starting Sept. 18 in Toronto.
He has appeared in the film, “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World,” and on stages all over the U.S. and Canada.
Two-time JUNO-winning singer/songwriter/guitarist Derek Miller from Six Nations of the Grand River is launching a tour across Canada starting Sept. 18, 2026, with his new album, “Outta My Head.” Credit: Courtesy photo
“‘Outta My Head’ is out now, so excited,” Miller said. “First LP on vinyl on the @silverheelsrecords label with 11 songs. I’m really stoked to share this medicine. These songs helped me a lot through life lately, hope they can help you.”
Miller has shared a stage with artists Blood, Sweat & Tears, George Thorogood, Smokey Robinson and The Neville Brothers. Canada’s Olympic Committee, wanting an artist that reflected Canada’s roots, hired Miller to rock the crowds at the closing ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
In addition to recording with Willie Nelson and Daniel Lanois, Miller recorded for the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian, resulting in the 2016 JUNO-nominated album, “Rumble: A Tribute To Native Music Icons,” covering songs by Link Wray, Redbone, Peter La Farge and many more.
ART: Apache traditions in paint
The Southern Plains Indian Museum in Anadarko, Oklahoma, presents a new exhibition, “Talrick Enjady: Bold Traditions,” celebrating the painting work of Mescalero Apache artist Talrick Enjady.
The works of Mescalero Apache artist Talrick Enjady are featured in a new exhibition at the Southern Plains Indian Museum in Anadarko, Oklahoma. The exhibition, “Talrick Enjady: Bold Traditions,” runs through Oct. 16, 2026.
Credit: Courtesy Museum of New Mexico
This painting, “Red Moon,” by Mescalero Apache artist Talrick Enjady, is among those featured at a new exhibition at the Southern Plains Indian Museum in Anadarko, Oklahoma. The exhibition runs through Oct. 16, 2026.
Credit: Courtesy photo
The exhibition runs through Oct. 16, 2026.
Talrick was immersed in Apache customs and traditions in his upbringing, and he conveys these traditions, experiences, and community values onto his canvases. Each work takes shape through experimentation by sketching on canvas and then adding design to determine the direction of the artwork.
Talrick adds subjects, with enhanced silhouettes of dancers and spirits that are brightly colored for dynamic perspectives. He uses acrylics, graphite, watercolor, pastel, and charcoal, with natural paints from local sources.
While Talrick sees his paintings as traditional, the works also offer a unique view of Apache culture.
A full-time artist since 2022, Talrick has paintings in the Amerind Museum in Dragoon, Arizona, and the Mountain Arts Gallery and Tanner Tradition in Ruidoso, New Mexico.
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