Posted on 11/27/2024:

2024 Annual Native American Heritage Art Poster Contest: Student Submissions

 

High School Student Art Submissions

 

Native American Design Written Reflection: Zyon Funderburk (Grade 9)

This art was made by me to symbolize the lifestyle

of Native American culture and how to change from

then to today. This is an artifact river showing the

lifestyle of the Native Americans that

they lived. The river resembles peace and happiness

and love and a calm place to be where people can

place their feet. The river where Native Americans

can dig for water. To feed their people and family.

The mountains that they use climb to get to

villages, the colorful sky is used to show a good

morning a good day or a sunny day it also shows

different colors that the Native Americans

oftentimes used. Native Americans are hard to find

to this day it is so rare to find them today it is 5.2

million American Indians and Alaska Natives

making up approximately 2 percent of the U.S.

population. There are 14 states with more than

100,000 American Indian or Alaska Native residents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Native American Design Written Reflection - Tatiana Davis (Grade 9)

My artistic inspiration is…

I just looked up Native American culture and saw inspo from the photos I saw, like the

symbols and what they wear or look like.

I tried to make this design unique by doing something different, and what I mean by that

is some Native American portrait artworks or statues are looking downward while mine is

looking upward. I also drew her holding a flower cause why not?

I want to emphasize it because that's what this month is about?

I had a lot of ideas. For example, I was going to draw a person dancing, looking at a

sunset with tents in the background, or someone holding a bow and arrow, but after a lot of

thinking I chose my final design. I used a pencil to plan out my sketches and for the

final I used color pencils and markers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Native American Design Written Reflection: Steven Munos Lovato (Grade 11)

My inspiration for my artwork was seeing the Cherokee sun and salmon for the first time while

researching for symbols that were significant to Native Americans. The suns I saw had crazy colors and

facial expressions, which matched my art style so I wanted to draw it. I combined the salmon and sun

together and used my coloring to separate the two. I also used blending techniques on the sun but didn't

blend the background, making it look rough and unique. I used a pencil for my sketch, alcohol markers

on my sun and background, and used color pencils on the salmon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Native American Design Written Reflection: Kitty Visoth (Grade 11)

I chose a bear for my Native American design because it symbolizes wisdom, guardianship, and

leadership. I thought these qualities were important and wanted to show them in my project. I found a

picture online of a bear trying to catch a fish and replicated it on my paper while adding my own

touches. The bear is black and has a cool design in red, and a blueish green color, which really makes it

stand out. I also used those same bold colors and patterns for the fish. After sketching it with a pencil, I

colored it with alcohol markers. I believe this design shows the strength and wisdom of the bear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Native American Design Written Reflection: Jamarion Perry (Grade 10)

When coming up with my design for me Native American design

project, I was inspired by Native American masks and decided to

make my own custom mask design to represent them, as masks in

Native American culture were worn for celebratory circumstances and

to please a spirit for protection. My design uses Native American

signature colors to represent and promote peace among them.

To create my design, I first made a sketch of a mask shape, then I

wanted it to represent peace so I drew certain Native American

symbols in it to promote peace for their people. Lastly, I used Markers

and colored pencils to color and finalize my original design.

 

 

 

 

Native American Design Written Reflection: Ivan Munoz Ojeda (Grade 12)

First I’m going to say that when I think about Native Americans my brain gives me an

image about an Indian plume. That is why I chose to draw an Indian plume in my project

and also I think the plume is the easiest way to do a representation about the Native

Americans and everyone will get the concept. Most of the tribes wear it in a similar way and

use plumes, many Tribal nations hold eagles and their feathers sacred. Highly revered eagle

feathers represent honesty, truth, majesty, strength, courage, wisdom, power, and freedom.

Native Americans spoke 300 different distinct languages across the continent. I turn the

design into my style, doing a colorful design for my project and just taking an idea for the

shape of the plume I made this project trusting the result because honestly

sometimes I do not trust myself, but I am really into the final result. I used several

concepts to make my drawing, one was to put a background to the plume and the shapes

that appear in the background are those that we can typically see in dull designs in

Native Americans.

 

 

 

Native American Design Written Reflection: De Andre Bertha (Grade 12)

For my submission to the indigenous peoples poster contest I was mainly focused on their

belief in respecting the wildlife around them. And caring for the land with the utmost

respect, so I chose to represent that to the best of my ability. I started by doing research into

which animals the natives implemented into their religion I found that the bear, eagle, bison,

wolf, and owl hold significant meaning. Then I looked to movies such as Pocahontas and

Brother Bear for inspiration on the color scheme, then I conceptualized with the idea of use

the color of leaves in the changing season to bring a natural feel to the piece. Enjoyed the

learning journey I went on when making this piece. I feel like it opens my perspective on

Natives and their way of life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Native American Design Written Reflection: Cailei Welch (Grade 12)

For my Native American poster design my artistic inspiration was Native American hair. When

you look at photos of Native American hair, recent or old, it's almost always long and shiny. It is

almost always in unique and intriguing styles. Their hair seems so healthy and I was influenced

to create a drawing displaying my admiration for their hair. I had to go through the process of

deciding which hairstyle to do. Originally I was going to draw 4 different styles to show off the

versatility of their hair but I settled on braided pigtails coming from every which way. I felt as if

this is what would make my drawing interesting and innovative. For the posters we had to use

alcohol markers and colored pencils. It was a bit hard to use the markers because it was easy to

create streaks. I used my sketch to test colors and see what it would look like before I actually

executed it on my final paper. I used the markers for the skin to create a base first and then I

shaded with a brown color pencil. I used the same technique for the braids, I first started with a

grey marker then with a black color pencil. I wanted to actually make it look like hair so parts

where I wanted it to look brighter than the rest I drew very lightly and the opposite where I

wanted the hair to look darker. I think I did very well executing my vision, I would like more

experience with alcohol markers though.

 

 

Middle School Student Art Submissions

 

 

 

Native American Design Written Reflection: Willa Hicks (Grade 6)

Inspired by the Native American cave art from the Paleolithic era.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Native American Design Written Reflection: Michelle Medrano (Grade 6)

Inspired by Paleoindians, indigenous peoples to the land of America.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elementary School Student Art Submissions

 

 

Native American Design Written Reflection: Mia Altman (Grade 3)

Inspired by the pictographs Native Americans used to communicate with one another.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Native American Design Written Reflection: Kamden Redic (Grade 2)

The Greatest of All Time:

Jim Thorpe and Kamden Redic

I chose to create a comic strip for my art project because I love to read comics like Spiderman and Black Panther. I also love sports and recently received the Offensive Player of the Year Award for my flag football season. I was so happy and was reminded about a book I have about the greatest athlete of all time, Jim Thorpe. Most people don ’t know that he was the first Native American to win an Olympic gold medal for the United States, play professional baseball, basketball, and football, and break lots of records, but I know it. I read in my book that when he was 6 years old he left his home in Oklahoma to attend a boarding school. He did not like it. He felt lonely at the school without his family and his twin brother who passed away. He also missed his home and the Sac and Fox and Potawatomi traditions he knew, so he ran away. Did you know that a long time ago when Indian children went to boarding schools they were not allowed to speak their Native languages, wear their traditional clothing, or wear their long hair? They were supposed to forget they were Indian. In my culture, our hair is considered sacred and represents power, physical strength, and our closeness to Mother Earth. When I run on the football field my hair sways in the wind like long grass. I would feel so sad if my hair was cut because the braid tapping against my back feels like a heartbeat as I run. It makes me feel fast and proud. When Jim ran away from the school, he ran 23 miles to his home. Wow that is far! His Dad still wanted him to get an education so he took him to another school called Carlisle Indian School. At this school, Jim met a great coach named Pop Warner. His coach believed in him and he went on to break many world records, and had a career in several professional sports. I want to be just like this and I am thankful that I can do it without losing who I am in my heart.  I'm proud to be a Lumbee Indian, yes I am.

 

 

Native American Design Written Reflection: Finn Launt (Grade 5)

Inspired by Paleoindians who lived peacefully with nature.