Alex Jacobs

Alex Jacobs (born 1953), also known as Karoniaktatie,[1][2] is an Ahkwesase Mohawk artist, poet, and radio host.[3] He, along with Janet Rogers, make up the poetry collective Ikkwenyes. They co-produced the poetry CD Got Your Back.[4] His artwork has been displayed at locations such as the American Indian Archaeological Institute.[5]

This article is about the Native American poet, artist, and radio host. For the screenwriter, see Alexander Jacobs.
Alex Jacobs
Karoniaktatie
Born1953 (age 66–67)
Alma materManitou Community College
Kansas City Art Institute

Early life and career

He attended the Manitou Community College at LaMacaza, Quebec and graduated with an AFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Sante Fe. He also attended a summer session at the Alfred College of Ceramics and graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute with a BFA in Sculptor and Creative Writing.[6]

Jacobs worked for the Mohawk Nation newspaper and Akwesasne Notes, an international native journal, as a poetry editor from 1972-1974 and a co-editor from 1983-1986.[7] He was involved with the founding of the community newspaper, Indian Time, and he co-founded Akwekon, a Native arts journal he also co-edited from 1985-1986.[7] He has worked as a DJ, talk show host, news director, program director and assistant station manager for CKON, Mohawk Nation Radio.

He taught art and poetry at Akwesasne Freedom School, and was artist-in-residence at the Akwesasne Museum. His art reflects his concern with both the ideal and the real. He explores what it means to be Indian and the creation of the Indian-self. As a Mohawk with land situated across the Canada and U.S. border, he comments on the meaninglessness of borders.

Poetry

Jacobs has put out two poetry collections. His first, Landscape: Old and New Poems, was published in 1984 through Blue Cloud Quarterly Press.[8] His second, Loving... in the Reagan Era, was released in the 1990s. It is a beat-inspired autobiographical and social examination of the 1980s where Jacobs wrote about his work at a nuclear power plant, his children, Indians, Ronald Reagan's policies, and the truth about the American Dream. It relates both his personal experience and provides a cultural critique.[7]

In 1979 Jacobs did his first performance piece with an artistic band that consists of other Santa Fe artists called Tribal Dada at the Kansas City Art Institute. The purpose of the group was to create some kind of artistic movement in Santa Fe. The group also performed in 1992.[7] Through the performances of the group, they attempted to convey what Jacobs refers to as the Indian thinking, concepts and conceptual thinking.[7]

Visual Art

Todd Moe has likened Jacobs' art to decoupage, as he cuts fabric that came from his mother and grandmother — both quilt makers — and glues and varnishes it together into a collage.[9]

In the early days, Jacobs also used his mother's calico scraps, cigarette packaging and butter wrappers for material for his art.[9] He created mixed media art collages portraits of Native peoples as a way of countering pop culture images and stereotypes.[10]

Further reading
  • Bruchac, Joseph (1987). Survival this Way: Interviews with American Indian Poets. Sun Tracks. ISBN 978-0816510245.
  • Osborn, Patricia (1995-01-01). Finding America: The American Experience in Multicultural Literature. Amsco School Publications Incorporated. ISBN 9781567650259.
  • "Literary magazine reflects regional writing talents". Ogden Standard Examiner. January 30, 1974.
  • "12 Indian Visitors Presenting Programs at College, Schools" (January 30, 1974). Ogden Standard Examiner.
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gollark: Muahahaha I can now obtain 20 mana while only buying 1 5 mana.
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gollark: Now to generalize it so that I do not need to manually buy each one.
gollark: Hmm, I can now successfully execute three (3) +10 mana things at once.

References
  1. Bataille, Gretchen M. (2001-12-01). Native American Representations: First Encounters, Distorted Images, and Literary Appropriations. U of Nebraska Press. p. 94. ISBN 9780803200036.
  2. Gibson, Abigail M. (2016). "The Last Indian War: Reassessing the Legacy of American Indian Boarding Schools and the Emergence of Pan-Indian Identity". Global Tides. 2: 1.
  3. Alia, Valerie; Bull, Simone (2005). Media and ethnic minorities. Edinburgh University Press. p. 37. ISBN 9780748620692.
  4. "Lunch & Lit with Janet Rogers". Retrieved Feb 8, 2019.
  5. Charles, Eleanor (1987-12-27). "Connecticut Guide". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  6. "Alex Jacobs". 2014-06-23. Retrieved Feb 8, 2019.
  7. Abbot, Larry (Fall 1995). "Between Heaven and Earth: The Art of Alex Jacobs". Studies in American Indian Literature. 7 (3): 39–49. JSTOR 20736866.
  8. Karoniaktatie; Blue Cloud Quarterly Press (1984). Landscape: old and new poems. Marvin, S.D.: Blue Cloud Quarterly Press. OCLC 11732946.
  9. Moe, Todd; Fe, in Santa; NM. "A Santa Fe artist with roots in Akwesasne". NCPR. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
  10. Buken, Gulriz (October 2002). "Construction of the Mythic Indian in Mainstream Media and the Demystification of the Stereotype by American Indian Artists". American Studies International. 40 (3): 46–56. JSTOR 41279925.
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