Hachivi Edgar Heap of Birds: Native Host

Hachivi Edgar Heap of Birds, a Native American artist from the Cheyenne and Arapaho Nation of Oklahoma, created the Native Host series as a public art project with the Center for Exploratory and Perceptual Arts (CEPA) Gallery in Buffalo. The series honors the Haudenosaunee people (people of the Six Nations or the Iroquois Confederacy) with six individual, screen-printed signs to pay homage to each tribe of the Six Nations native to the Western New York area. The series subtly draws attention to issues of ownership, naming, borders, and cultural difference by juxtaposing regular and mirrored lettering to convey its message. The works were originally located in Buffalo at the Main Place Mall, Buffalo International Airport, window sites on Main Street, and in several subway stations. A new set of sites on the Buffalo State College campus included the Tuscarora work in the Education Corridor of the Burchfield Penney Art Center and the Mohawk work in Rockwell Hall's second floor display case. The presentation at the college was supported by the Native American Student Services and the Native American SUNY: Western Consortium.