Is Native art only handmade?

As a beadworker, moccasin maker, quilter, jingle dress maker, I know the long hours and sleepless nights it takes to make our cultural art.  As cultural art revitalizers we work hard to learn these forms, to share them with our communities, and to build access to tools for makers.  So with all of this said, why are we making MANUFACTURED Native art?  

As Indigenous people we have thrived on this land since time immemorial. We have continuously adapted, pivoted, and shifted with the times. I have often imagined the first Ojibwe woman who saw a cast iron kettle. I imagine her thinking of all the ways she could use this tool to make her good life for her family. I imagine her using it to not change who she is at her core but to do what she does in a new way. She used it as a tool for her mino bimaadiziiwin, her good life. 

The reality is beading is an evolved form from quillwork. Jingle dresses are just over their 100th birthday, and the quilt replaced the gifting of the hide. We are in a state of evolution while maintaining our hearts and our belonging to the land. We have always adapted.

Is everything up for change?  No. There are really important and powerful parts of our life that we work hard to keep intact, preserve, and revitalize.  But we are not static. 

The question of why Native people are making manufactured art is based on the idea that we are not in charge of our own narratives. Non Native companies have been making products with pan-Indian art for over 100 years. If Nike can make shoes, why can't Native people make shoes? People are wearing shoes.  If Pendleton can make blankets, why can't we make them?  The narrative that Native people are only sepia images in the past is outdated. We live in this time, using our iphones, rocking levis, and chucks. We are all these things.

As Native people we do not have to choose between being traditional and modern.  We get to be all these things on one path. This is the beauty of this time. I reject the notion entirely that we cannot be whole while we make this life. As an artist who loves a beautiful pair of beaded earrings, I also love to see our Native artists and designers writing show such as Reservation Dogs in their form of modern storytelling just as much.  Again, we are modern and traditional. Ancient and the future. Inspired.