Robins presents at Native American Art Studies conference

Barbara Robins, NAS faculty member and associate professor of English, presented at the NAASA (Native American Art Studies) 16th Biennial Conference held in Norman, OK October 21 - 24, 2009. Her talk was titled "Healing a Nation: Native American Artists Respond to 9/11." Immediately after the 9/11 attacks, Jewell James (Lummi Nation) created a series of totem poles to help all Americans heal from those losses. This paper presents a survey of post-9/11 art while focusing on the concern for healing trauma. Representing a dozen tribes/cultures, these artists are participating in a 21st century outreach with concerns for encouraging cultural diversity within a national identity. The presentation examined a wide range of artistic works within a context of current theorizing on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Historic Trauma Response (HTR), and Intergenerational Trauma for the potential to prohibit or promote healing.