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• Jesse Cooday(Tlingit, born 1955)
• 1992
• Color silkscreen and graphite on paper
• Genevieve D. Searle Fund, 2002.92

Jesse Cooday is a Tlingit artist who creates artworks by combining layered images and text. In this work, Cooday has combined the image of American actor John Wayne, a ceremonial mask from the Tlingit tribe, and a quote from the actor. While an icon in American cinema featuring the romantic “West,” Wayne held deeply racist views towards Indigenous peoples. In a 1971 interview, when asked about his empathy toward them who often played minor roles in his films, Wayne stated “I don’t feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them...the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.”