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McMaster, Gerald
niya nêhiyaw
1993

The artist uses irony, humor, and satire in both words and images to question the fixity of Indigenous identities and tochallenge stereotype. However the title, Niya Nehiyaw – “I am a Cree Person” – is an unequivocal statement of Indigenous presence. For Gerald McMaster, the act of making art is inherently political for an Indigenous person, “All Native artists are political just because of their existence within the Western world. They’re fighting to be known in different ways and whatever strategy they employ is great.” (1992)

 
McMaster, Gerald
born Red Pheasant Reserve, SK 1953
niya nêhiyaw
1993
acrylic, graphite on unstretched canvas
185.30 x 258.50 cm
Purchase, Chancellor Richardson Memorial Fund, 1995
38-039

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