Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami

In North Miami, the exhibition ‘MONARCHS: Brown And Native Contemporary Artists In The Path Of The Butterfly’ is on display in the Museum of Contemporary  Art (MOCA). This display of art uses metaphors  to draw comparisons between the lives of monarch butterflies and the Native American people.  



A metaphor is an object regarded as representative or symbolic of something else, especially something abstract. In this exhibition the migratory path of a Monarch butterfly is analyzed because it travels through the midwestern states such as North and South Dakota,  Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, Texas,  and others to its final destination of the forests in Michoacan, Mexico. 

For generations the monarch butterflies have traveled across land that was once heavily populated by Native Americans. The Lakota tribe lived in North and South Dakota, where they were famous for their historic leaders and warriors such as Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Touch the Clouds and so many more.

Through Nebraska and Kansas you can find the proud tribes of Cheyenne, Pawnee and Omaha. These Great Plains Indians were a sedentary group and were known for their beautiful pottery, hide paintings, and woven baskets.

Towards the south, there was the Apache tribe who lived in what is now Texas. The Apache tribe were a nomadic people whose women typically wore buckskin dresses and men wore breechcloths.  

The history and culture of the Native American people are rich and as vast as the Monarch’s migratory journey. Unfortunately, due to the intrusion of white European settlers a lot of the spirit and strength of the native people was lost. The aftermath of these issues that happened over four hundred years ago can still be felt in the Native American communities today. 

When white European settlers came to North America they believed that the land belonged to them in an idea called manifest destiny. In this vein, they murdered, pillaged, broke down and drove out entire Native American communities from their homeland. In an arbitrary attempt to find space for Native Americans the government placed them on what appeared to be the least favorable land at the time.  

Even today there are issues of dispossession between the U.S. government and the native people. Right now in Arizona there is a legal battle to decide whether the government should continue the sale of a public land called, Oak Flat.

 This site is considered sacred by the San Carlos Apache Nation as it is a religious ground like Mecca is to Muslims or Jerusalem is to Jews. However, underneath the site are valuable copper minerals that mining conglomerates want to buy. This environmental and economical controversy has all to often seen the Native American’s culture and lifestyle take a back seat to the greedy business owners of the U.S.

On many reservations the situation is bleak at best as many people struggle with unemployment and impoverished situations. According to the U.S. Census Bureau 17 % of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders and 27% of all self identified Native Americans and Alaska Natives live in poverty. In a survey between 2012-2016, researchers found that on the Standing Rock reservation 25% of the possible workforce was unemployed. 

The alarming unemployment rates in some of the reservations lead to other problems within these communities. For several years the Pine Ridge Reservation suffered a severe case of alcoholism. 11,000 cans of beer were bought and consumed each day for years in this community. Alcoholism can cause other serious problems such as domestic violence, theft, and even lead to suicide. 

Now there are many problems and issues within the Native American community. However just as the monarch butterfly always finds its way home so to will the community find its spirit and strength once again.