PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Almost a year's work culminated at the end of June 2000 when Arizona's Native American community gathered at the Heard Museum in Phoenix to dedicate a major work commemorating their tumultuous and traumatic history. Created by Millennium Artist Steven Yazzie, the work - an 8-foot by 160-foot mural titled "An American Holocaust" - is the result of months of research, consultation, and interviews with tribal elders and other community members.

"An American Holocaust" depicts the forced removal and relocation of native people to the southwest in the mid-1800's. It explores the historic and the contemporary ramifications of that period as well as the outcomes of modern assimilation policies. Focusing on the stories of the Navajo, Yaqui, and Colorado River people, the monumental work encompasses three walls in the Heard Museum's Ullman Learning Center.

"The visual story being told is extremely serious and speaks to the chaos, noise, and catastrophic impact of the forced removal of Indian people, and the ongoing ramifications of that historic period," commented Joe Baker, Education Outreach Manager at the Heard. "This is not an easy, feel-good image - this is a painful part of our collective history."

Steven Yazzie's Artists & Communities residency with the Heard Museum evolved from the development of the Learning Center's inaugural exhibition, "We Are! Arizona's First People," examining the issues and values identified by tribal members as central to modern Native American life. Discussions with tribal elders, youth, and other residents revealed the untold story of the region's history - one that impacted several of Arizona's tribal communities.

It is a story never revealed in the history books, and Navajo-born Steven Yazzie was selected to visually interpret the forced land marches over inhospitable terrain and settlement in foreign environments lacking traditional spiritual associations that devastated people's social ties and threatened their cultural integrity.

Tribal members were active and contributing partners, advising and directing during the six months Yazzie took to paint the resultant mural. He maintained an open studio throughout this time, interacting with school groups and other visitors to the Museum, walking them through the sweep of history presented in his work.

Yazzie also drew inspiration for the mural from his own experiences in the Gulf War, and from his paternal grandfather who was a Navajo code talker during World War II. To help him imagine the agony suffered by the Navajos during the Long Walk of 1864, Yazzie recalled his own pain marching into Kuwait dehydrated, weighted down with equipment, and fearful of what lay ahead.

On his work at the Heard, the artist commented, "I'm not doing anything for shock value. That's not my intention...I'm just trying to pull what's important, a story of our history, especially of cultures that are being assimilated."