First American Art : The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection of American Indian Art

"First American Art" celebrates the rich aesthetic traditions of North American Indians through a series of concepts that define the aesthetic realm in Native American art.

The key concepts of ideas, emotion, movement, integrity, intimacy, composition, and vocabulary were chosen at a recent gathering of Native and non-Native artists and scholars, and are used in examining this extraordinary collection.

The works included here, from many tribal traditions across Canada and the United States, are manifestations of the cultures from which they spring.

They add individual or tribal points of view to an already diverse body of scholarship on the subject of Indians.

Various perspectives interpret an art object as commodity, artifact, specimen, heirloom, objet d'art, treasured cultural heritage, or sacred emblem.

This book attempts to answer the question, What would be the native perspective? "First American Art" provides the welcome opportunity to explore and celebrate the aesthetic achievements, creativity, and diverse artistic traditions of North American Native people. By offering an aesthetic analysis of the underlying spiritual and cultural inspirations and values that inform these works, this book gives a more complete picture of what is meant by Native art.