Danilo's 2nd Artist's Statement Deborah's Office

Dezmond and I are making a quilt square which depicts Native Americans in The Civil War. In my quilt square, you see a Confederate Native American soldier on one side, and on the other, there is a Union Native American soldier, who are battling each other. Dividing them, there is a banner that says, "Even to Today, Native Americans Do Not Trust the White Man." The quilt square's connection to 2011 is that, by and large, not a lot has improved for the Indians. Most still live away from the general public on Reservations, they face racism and though some have become successful from owning casinos, selling tobacco and gasoline tax-free, year-round salmon fishing, and other concessions they were given by the people who stole their land (the white man), most live in extreme poverty. While Native American soldiers that fought on the winning, Union side, fared better than those who fought for the Confederacy, none of the Native Americans actually won. They were a minority people who either lost what they fought for, or gained very little ultimately. The people who they fought alongside had slaughtered countless of their people, and in my opinion, it was unwise of them to fight, as I believe they were used.