Juanita Growing Thunder Fogarty Analysis

Juanita Growing Thunder-Fogarty was born in Castro Valley, CA in 1969. Although she now lives in North San Juan, California, her family comes from Fort Peck Indian Reservation where she spent time during her childhood. She began learning beadwork and quillwork from her mother, Joyce Growing Thunder Fogarty, a renowned beadwork artist who has won numerous awards. Her mother passed down the tradition of beadwork and quillwork while also exhibiting at large art shows, including the Santa Fe Southwestern Association for Indian Arts’ where she has won top honors three times. Although she began learning at the age of three, she completed her first belt at ten. Juanita frequently works in conjunction with her mother and daughter to produce

Red beads cover most of the bag, using various tones to emphasis certain areas. The crimson background is broke up by the outline of the figures on the piece. The strap depicts Uktena as a serpent like creature stretching all the way around to the other side. The head sits on the let side, facing in towards the center of the bag. The black outline of the head with green accents inverts on the body of the creature, where a green outline surrounds the black diamonds that form a pattern on its’ back. Uktena represents all three layers of through his antlers, wings, and snake like body. The piece’s border features thick black lines with a thin line of white along the edge. The body of the bag features a triangular flap, where the green, white, black and orange of the Cherokee flag takes center stage. The flap is outlined in black and white like the strap, and then has more concentric triangles in the colors of the Cherokee flag. At the center lies a medallion with a representation of the four winds of the four directions. The base of the bag features seven pointed stars in the bottom corners, their shape drawn from the Cherokee flag. According the Berry’s description of the bag, in Cherokee culture, the colors represent directions. Red represents East or the Dawn land, where the Cherokee peoples’ original land lies. Black represents West or the Darkening land where the sun sets each day and death occurred through the Cherokee removal to this land. White represents South through warmth, peace and prosperity. This work centers around the loss of the Cherokee people and the persistence of the culture; fitting with Berry’s overall goals for her art, she manages to utilize the cosmetology and the mythos surrounding Cherokee culture while reviving what was once lost and preventing it from being