Meet Jeremy Dennis, Indigenous Fine Art Photographer and tribal member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation
Jeremy Dennis, Sky Woman, 2017, On view in NYU Kimmel Windows through September 10th, 2019
We've read you grew up on the Shinnecock Nation Reservation and this has, in part, informed your interest in creating the project On This Site. Can you tell us a bit about the process and project as well as how your upbringing and indigenous identity informs the art you make? We see, also, that this project resulted in a book that we'd love to read! Where can we find this?
On This Site began in 2016 in association with Pennsylvania State University and with my mentor Lonnie Graham. We received a $10,000 grant from the non-profit Running Strong For American Indian Youth, co-founded by Oglala-Lakota Native Billie Mills. We were one of ten chosen during their arts and culture year to develop a project that would uplift our home tribal community and encourage youth participation in the arts.
For my project, I proposed the idea of a site-specific historical project called On This Site that involves documenting and preserving significant indigenous sites throughout Long Island, New York. These sites include sacred sites, historical sites, and archaeological sites - along with our contemporary history.
To complete this work, I visited many historical societies, libraries, and visited the Smithsonian collections in Washington, D.C. to gather texts and references to create a database. From there, I digitized, filtered, and transcribed the texts relating to the indigenous people of Long Island. That gave me a great 'to-do' list of histories to include in the project and offered a great way to represent my community. I use various maps to keep track of where the historical sites are located, and after about a dozen or so are located in an area, I plan a trip to photograph them. Only when they are researched, photographed, and on the web-archive is when I share them with the public; so there are many sites still to be released!
The current project can be seen at www.jeremynative.com/onthissite and there are books available on that site as well!
When you speak about assimilation and tradition, we're curious how these concepts play out in your life and work. What misconceptions, if any, have you or those in your community experienced as an indigenous artist/person? Can you tell us a story about how these two factors have resolved or created tension that you've explored through your art?
In relation to the On This Site project, much of the motivation behind that work relates to assimilation and tradition - trying to weave through what makes us unique, our contributions, and moments that make us proud of who we are.
I think the biggest misconception for indigenous communities is the idea that we are long gone or a vanished people. By sharing our past, I hope to change peoples minds about what they know about indigenous people.
A feeling of resolve and tension are both felt in regard to indigenous history - that is something I am interested in exploring in my current work. Having been able to interact with the public in educational and artistic formats, I've observed a strong calling for our unique voice and perspective, but have also witnessed tension when it comes to colonial reconciliation.
Stories—Indigenous Oral Stories, Dreams and Myths sounds like such an amazing project! Can you tell us about your favorite myth/legend explored in this series? Stories includes images inspired by so many great stories. One of the many elements that make the series so compelling is that there is a story for every moral and life lesson. After telling the stories behind so many of the images, I think my favorite is Choknanipok (The Man of Flint), which is a creation story about two brothers, one who is large, evil, and made of stone, and the other who resembles a heroic human. They fight over a long period of time. The younger brother fights with a bow and arrow, slowly chipping away at his older brothers body. Eventually, he triumphs, and the shards of the older brother are scattered everywhere - explaining the origin and explanation behind why flint is so commonly found. On Long Island, I swap flint for quartz because that is the more common stone.
Choknanipok (Man of Flint), 2014
What's next for you in the coming year that you're really looking forward to and where next can we experience your work?
I am excited to work again with the local Parrish Art Museum for a group exhibition with a theme of storytelling planned for June of 2020, along with a project led by indigenous artist Cannupa Hanska Luger called Settlement, which is a radical Indigenous-led performative encampment in which Indigenous artists from across North America will occupy Plymouth’s Central Park in the United Kingdom for four weeks from July 6-August 7, 2020 during the quadricentennial commemoration of the Mayflower voyage.
Glooscap and The Baby, 2014