American Indian in Iran…

American Indian, created by Andy Warhol in 1976 (acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas), is one of sixty artworks from the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art which was scheduled to be shown next month at Berlin’s Gemälde Galerie. (Last month, while I was in Iran as a guest speaker for the Commonwealth Club of California, I visited the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art — which has the most valuable modern art collection outside of Europe and North America.) Now, however, it has been announced that American Indian will be staying in Tehran — because Iranian authorities are not allowing the paintings scheduled to go to Germany to leave the country. This particular painting depicts Russell Means, an American Indian of the Oglala Sioux Tribe who was a leader of the American Indian Movement, a politician, and an actor. In 1973, he led a group of Native Americans in a symbolic takeover of Wounded Knee which lasted 71 days. He died of cancer in 2012 on US Pine Ridge Reservation.

This Thanksgiving Day week, I have had Standing Rock on my mind and in my heart — and I am watching closely the brave protest there. As my family has roots in the Creek Tribe (a book was written about our Native American past), I was fortunate to be raised with an awareness of Native American history (and I later studied Native American cultures at Brown University). I am both appalled by the barbaric acts of intimidation and violence there, and inspired by the numerous acts of solidarity and love (in the words of Jane Fonda, who is there, “I’ve rarely seen so much love, gratitude, determination, resilience.”) Today, it was announced that the Army Corps has issued an eviction notice for December 5th to the Standing Rock camp protesting the North Dakota Access oil pipeline. With the eviction edict now issued, many are now asking: “What is to be done?”