Visualizing Parallels Between the US ‘Indian Wars’ and the ‘Global War on Terror’

FAIN: AV-286755-22

Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois (Chicago, IL 60612-4305)
Therese Quinn (Project Director: October 2021 to November 2024)
Aaron Hughes (Co Project Director: March 2022 to November 2024)
Ronak K. Kapadia (Co Project Director: March 2022 to November 2024)
Joseph Lefthand (Co Project Director: April 2022 to November 2024)

An eight-month preparatory program for veteran curator-artists and museum studies graduate students, followed by their collaborative facilitation of public discussion programs on veterans’ artistic responses to war experiences.

The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), in partnership with the emerging Veteran Art Movement (eVAM), proposes an NEH Dialogues on the Experience of War program that incorporates academic study, curatorial practices, and focus group discussions culminating in veteran-led discussion forums at the second National Veteran Art Triennial and Summit at the Chicago Cultural Center and Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago, Illinois. Through this partnership, UIC and eVAM will develop a comprehensive program that prepares a cohort of predominantly Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) veteran artists/community leaders who served in the Global War on Terror (GWOT) as humanities discussion leaders.These veteran fellows will study an interdisciplinary cross-section of humanities sources that illuminate the connections and contradictions between the eighteenth and nineteenth-century US “Indian Wars” and twenty-first-century “GWOT” across time and space.

Associated Products

SURVIVING THE LONG WARS [website] (Web Resource)
Title: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS [website]
Author: Aaron Hughes
Author: Ronak K. Kapadia
Author: Therese Quinn
Author: Joseph Lefthand
Author: Amber Zora
Author: Meranda Roberts
Author: Becky Nasadowski
Abstract: From the “American Indian Wars” to the “Global War on Terror,” SURVIVING THE LONG WARS explores the multiple, overlapping histories that shape our understanding of warfare, as well as the alternative visions of peace, healing, and justice generated by diverse communities impacted by war. Inspired by the powerful artwork of Indigenous artists responding to the “American Indian Wars” and artists of the Greater Middle East reacting to the “Global War on Terror,” the second Veteran Art Triennial & Summit focuses on how these artistic responses complicate and are entangled with the creative practices of veterans. The featured artworks, projects, programs, and exhibitions create opportunities for people to gain a deeper understanding of the impact of war. The project began in September 2022 with a virtual scholarly seminar series at the nexus of critical ethnic studies, Native/Indigenous studies, and Middle Eastern Studies on the histories and futures of Native rebellion in relation to US militarism and warfare. The project culminated in the second Veteran Art Triennial & Summit, in spring 2023, at the Chicago Cultural Center, Hyde Park Art Center, and Newberry Library. This website hosts information on the SURVIVING THE LONG WARS exhibitions, summit, scholarly series, events, and writings.
Year: 2022
Primary URL: http://www.survivingthelongwars.online/

2023 Veteran Art Summit Highlight Video (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: 2023 Veteran Art Summit Highlight Video
Writer: Aaron Hughes
Writer: Ronak K. Kapadia
Writer: Therese Quinn
Writer: Joseph Lefthand
Writer: Amber Zora
Writer: Meranda Roberts
Director: Truth in Documentary
Producer: Aaron Hughes
Producer: Ronak K. Kapadia
Producer: Therese Quinn
Producer: Joseph Lefthand
Producer: Amber Zora
Producer: Meranda Roberts
Abstract: Highlight video from the 2023 Veteran Art Summit, four days of exciting programming that emphasized building relationships and fostering community care. From the “American Indian Wars” to the “Global War on Terror,” the SURVIVING THE LONG WARS (STLW) summit explored the multiple, overlapping histories that shape our understanding of warfare, as well as alternative visions of peace, healing, and justice generated by diverse communities impacted by war. The summit featured the STLW performance program and concluding discussion series of the yearlong NEH Dialogues on the Experience of War program. There were poetry readings, panels, artmaking and movement workshops, a portfolio review, exhibition tours, fifteen-minute Open Platform presentations, and more. Video features the song "I See Me" by Elexa Dawson
Year: 2023
Primary URL: https://youtu.be/kUle2V6qD70?si=pafy7GrkGycsV-DD
Primary URL Description: 2 minute YouTube video on the SurvingTheLongWars YouTube Channel. Video features the song "I See Me" by Elexa Dawson.
Access Model: Open Access
Format: Video
Format: Web

SURVIVING THE LONG WARS: Residues and Rebellions (Exhibition)
Title: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS: Residues and Rebellions
Curator: Aaron Hughes
Curator: Ronak K. Kapadia
Curator: Therese Quinn
Curator: Joseph Lefthand
Curator: Amber Zora
Curator: Meranda Roberts
Abstract: The 18th- and 19th- century “American Indian Wars” and 21st-century “Global War on Terror” are two of the longest military conflicts in US history. Although rarely considered in relation to one another, these “long wars” are endlessly intertwined through parallel military strategies and the persistence of anti-colonial resistance. The residues of these entanglements are visible in the creative responses to these long wars by Indigenous, Black, Middle Eastern, and South Asian artists, including by the BIPOC veteran artists featured in this exhibition. SURVIVING THE LONG WARS: Residues and Rebellions highlights intimate connections across vast differences in time, geography, and medium to propose uncommon alliances that can serve as a foundation for solidarity. Historic works from the Newberry’s Edward E. Ayer Collection, including Kiowa and Cheyenne ledger drawings along with a selection of ink and watercolor drawings by Frederick Gokliz (San Carlos Apache), are paired with contemporary artworks to reclaim visible yet overlooked strategies of BIPOC survival and resistance. From ledger art to beadwork to portraiture, the featured works use different strategies to record distinct yet overlapping community histories, redirect the colonial gaze, and recycle the technologies of US militarism, opening up alternative ways of knowing, sensing, and living in the long wars. Featuring artists Miridith Campbell (Kiowa), Mahwish Chishty, Gilbert Kills Pretty Enemy III (Standing Rock Sioux), Rodney Ewing, Darrell Wayne Fair, Frederick Gokliz (San Carlos Apache), Terran Last Gun (Piikani), Monty Little (Diné) and more, including selections from the Black Horse Ledger and Kiowa Indian ledger drawings. Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton St., Chicago, IL 60610. February 28 – May 26, 2023 Opening Program: March 16, 2023
Year: 2023
Primary URL: http://www.survivingthelongwars.online/newberry
Primary URL Description: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS exhibition webpage
Secondary URL: http://www.newberry.org/calendar/surviving-the-long-wars
Secondary URL Description: Newberry Library exhibition webpage

SURVIVING THE LONG WARS: Unlikely Entanglements (Exhibition)
Title: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS: Unlikely Entanglements
Curator: Aaron Hughes
Curator: Ronak K. Kapadia
Curator: Therese Quinn
Curator: Joseph Lefthand
Curator: Amber Zora
Curator: Meranda Roberts
Abstract: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS: Unlikely Entanglements reveals the connections that emerge between personal and collective histories of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities marked by the legacies of the two longest wars in US history—the “American Indian Wars” and the “Global War on Terror.” Visual parallels and connections surface—from contrasting viewpoints and across differences—between artworks by civilians impacted by these long wars and BIPOC military veterans. These “unlikely entanglements” highlight the aesthetic affinities that form between different histories, geographies, and peoples resisting colonialism. The featured artists use collage, embroidery, soft sculpture, and installation to unravel dominant histories of militarism while weaving together intimate stories of survival and resistance. Collectively, these consequential artworks of wartime survivors and their descendants conjure meaning out of the traumatic afterlives of the long wars while creating space for solidarity and alternative futures. Featuring artists Bassim Al Shaker, June Carpenter (Osage/Shawnee), Mahwish Chishty, Jose deVera, Sabba Elahi, Rodney Ewing, Sarah Farahat, Rajkamal Kahlon, Ruth Kaneko (Kanaka Wahine), Eric Perez, Yvette Pino, Gregory Rick, Dwayne Wilcox (Oglala Lakota), and Yiran Zhang. Opening performances by Hipólito Arriaga III, GOODW.Y.N., and Hussein Smko. Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Ave., Chicago, IL 60615. March 16 – July 9, 2023 Opening Program: March 17, 2023
Year: 2023
Primary URL: http://www.survivingthelongwars.online/hpac
Primary URL Description: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS exhibition webpage
Secondary URL: http://www.hydeparkart.org/exhibition-archive/veteran-art-triennial-and-summit/
Secondary URL Description: Hyde Park Art Center exhibition webpage

SURVIVING THE LONG WARS: Reckon and Reimagine (Exhibition)
Title: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS: Reckon and Reimagine
Curator: Aaron Hughes
Curator: Ronak K. Kapadia
Curator: Therese Quinn
Curator: Joseph Lefthand
Curator: Amber Zora
Curator: Meranda Roberts
Abstract: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS: Reckon and Reimagine features the powerful work of Indigenous artists responding to the “American Indian Wars” alongside artists from the Greater Middle East and its diasporas reacting to the “Global War on Terror.” The exhibition explores how these works complicate and relate to the creative practices of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) veterans whose experiences profoundly challenge the dominant histories of these long wars. Collectively, these works begin to reckon with an ongoing violent history while creating space to build solidarity across difference. Unlikely connections emerge as the artists use diverse strategies to construct meaning out of the ruins of the long wars. They critique dominant colonial conventions and propose dissident people’s archives, while reworking the complex terrain of public monuments and memorials through the perspective of diverse BIPOC communities. By reckoning with these complex legacies the featured contemporary artists transform colonial materials and technologies to reimagine histories and futures. Featuring artists Dorothy I. Burge, Miridith Campbell (Kiowa), Melissa Doud (Ojibwe), Ali Eyal, Tom Jones (Ho-Chunk), Chitra Ganesh, Mariam Ghani, Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds (Cheyenne and Arapaho Nation), Gina Herrera (Costa Rican and Tesuque Pueblo), Rajkamal Kahlon, Monty Little (Diné), Hanaa Malallah, Hector René Membreño-Canales, Chris Pappan (Kaw/Osage, Lakota), Michael Rakowitz, Gerald Sheffield, Dwayne Wilcox (Oglala Lakota), and more. Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St., Chicago, IL 60602 March 12 – July 2, 2023 Opening Program: March 18, 2023
Year: 2023
Primary URL: https://www.survivingthelongwars.online/chicago-cultural-center
Primary URL Description: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS exhibition webpage
Secondary URL: https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/long_wars.html#:~:text=Surviving%20the%20Long%20Wars%3A%20Reckon%20and%20Reimagine%20features%20the%20powerful,and%20relate%20to%20the%20creative
Secondary URL Description: Chicago Cultural Center exhibition webpage

2023 Veteran Art Summit (Conference/Institute/Seminar)
Title: 2023 Veteran Art Summit
Author: Aaron Hughes
Author: Ronak K. Kapadia
Author: Therese Quinn
Author: Joseph Lefthand
Author: Amber Zora
Author: Meranda Roberts
Abstract: In March 2023, the Veteran Art Summit hosted four days of exciting programming that emphasized building relationships and fostering community care. From the “American Indian Wars” to the “Global War on Terror,” the SURVIVING THE LONG WARS (STLW) summit explored the multiple, overlapping histories that shape our understanding of warfare, as well as alternative visions of peace, healing, and justice generated by diverse communities impacted by war. The summit featured the STLW performance program and concluding discussion series of the yearlong NEH Dialogues on the Experience of War program. There were poetry readings, panels, artmaking and movement workshops, a portfolio review, exhibition tours, fifteen-minute Open Platform presentations, and more.
Date Range: March 16 – 19, 2023
Location: Chicago: Newberry Library, Hyde Park Art Center, & the Chicago Cultural Center
Primary URL: https://www.survivingthelongwars.online/summit
Primary URL Description: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS Summit webpage

SURVIVING THE LONG WARS Scholarly Series "US Settler-Colonialism: Endless War and Genocide" (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS Scholarly Series "US Settler-Colonialism: Endless War and Genocide"
Abstract: Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz presents "US Settler-Colonialism: Endless War and Genocide" hosted by NEH Veteran Fellow Gina Herrera
Author: Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Author: Gina Herrera
Date: 09/15/2022
Location: Virtual
Primary URL: https://www.survivingthelongwars.online/dunbarortiz
Primary URL Description: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS Scholarly Series webpage

SURVIVING THE LONG WARS Scholarly Series "Indigenous Sovereignty, Black Freedom: Blackness, Indigeneity, and Kinship as Solidarity" (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS Scholarly Series "Indigenous Sovereignty, Black Freedom: Blackness, Indigeneity, and Kinship as Solidarity"
Abstract: Kyle T. Mays presents "Indigenous Sovereignty, Black Freedom: Blackness, Indigeneity, and Kinship as Solidarity" hosted by NEH Veteran Fellow Anthony Torres
Author: Kyle T. Mays
Author: Anthony Torres
Date: 10/13/2022
Location: Virtual
Primary URL: https://www.survivingthelongwars.online/mays
Primary URL Description: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS Scholarly Series

SURVIVING THE LONG WARS Scholarly Series "Tomahawks, Chinooks, and Geronimo: Settler Colonial Fantasies of US Navy Seals" (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS Scholarly Series "Tomahawks, Chinooks, and Geronimo: Settler Colonial Fantasies of US Navy Seals"
Abstract: Laleh Khalili presents "Tomahawks, Chinooks, and Geronimo: Settler Colonial Fantasies of US Navy Seals" hosted by NEH Veteran Fellow & Community Organizer Natasha Erskine
Author: Laleh Khalili
Author: Natasha Erskine
Date: 11/10/2022
Location: virtual
Primary URL: https://www.survivingthelongwars.online/khalili
Primary URL Description: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS Scholarly Series webpage

SURVIVING THE LONG WARS Scholarly Series "Abolish Border Imperialism" (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS Scholarly Series "Abolish Border Imperialism"
Abstract: Harsha Walia presents "Abolish Border Imperialism" hosted by NEH Veteran Fellow Eric Perez
Author: Harsha Walia
Author: Eric Perez
Date: 1/26/2023
Location: virtual
Primary URL: https://www.survivingthelongwars.online/walia
Primary URL Description: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS Scholarly Series webpage

SURVIVING THE LONG WARS Scholarly Series "Operation Wounded Knee, 1973: The Militarization of Policing in Indian Country" (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS Scholarly Series "Operation Wounded Knee, 1973: The Militarization of Policing in Indian Country"
Abstract: Nick Estes presents "Operation Wounded Knee, 1973: The Militarization of Policing in Indian Country" hosted by NEH Veteran Fellow Monty Little (Diné)
Author: Monty Little (Diné)
Author: Nick Estes
Date: 2/16/2023
Location: Virtual
Primary URL: https://www.survivingthelongwars.online/estes
Primary URL Description: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS Scholarly Series webpage

SURVIVING THE LONG WARS Scholarly Series "Not Our First Apocalypse: Indigenous Struggle on the Edge of Everything" (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS Scholarly Series "Not Our First Apocalypse: Indigenous Struggle on the Edge of Everything"
Abstract: Kelly Hayes presents "Not Our First Apocalypse: Indigenous Struggle on the Edge of Everything" hosted by Surviving the Long Wars Co-director Aaron Hughes
Author: Kelly Hayes
Author: Aaron Hughes
Date: 3/30/2023
Location: Virtual
Primary URL: https://www.survivingthelongwars.online/hayes

SURVIVING THE LONG WARS Scholarly Series "Relations of Survival: Building a Black and Indigenous Feminisms in the Midst of War" (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: SURVIVING THE LONG WARS Scholarly Series "Relations of Survival: Building a Black and Indigenous Feminisms in the Midst of War"
Abstract: Tiffany King presents "Relations of Survival: Building a Black and Indigenous Feminisms in the Midst of War" hosted by NEH Veteran Fellow Gerald Sheffield
Author: Tiffany King
Author: Gerald Sheffield
Date: 4/13/2023
Location: Virtual
Primary URL: https://www.survivingthelongwars.online/king

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