A Choctaw Story of Land and Blood

A Choctaw Story of Land and Blood is a solo art exhibition by Prescott-based native artist Karen Clarkson. The exhibition will illustrate both the history and the effects of past governmental regulations on Choctaw land and blood.

The exhibition opens in the Jewel Gallery with a Members Preview Reception on Saturday, January 6, 2018, alongsideArrangement for a Silent Orchestra in the Main Gallery. There will be a public opening reception on Saturday, January 13, and the show will be open during regular hours January 9 through February 10.

In the late 1800’s the forced regulatory compliance of the Dawes Commission Rolls required numerous tribes to register their percentage of native blood to petition for ownership of their land – a concept entirely foreign to Native Americans. Thus ensued a bizarre set of checks and balances. An act of Congress finally decreed any Indian claiming more than half blood would have his rights severely restricted – forbidding him to sell, deed or will his land to anyone, even family, for a period of 25 years. This law had disastrous effects then and continues to this day.