To accompany the exhibition Powerful images, sponsored by Museums West and exhibited at the individual museums of the Museums West consortium.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Despite the diversity of North American native cultures, images in the popular imagination often are generalized and stereotyped. These images have been repeated, layer upon layer, in political, historical, and commercial contexts, resulting in blurred perceptions of Native American peoples. Powerful Images: Portrayals of Native America looks at the ways in which Indians have been portrayed by themselves and others from the early 1800s to the present. Paintings, sculptures, traditional native arts, and popular culture objects - neon signs, toys, automobiles, cigar boxes - are used to both reveal and challenge popular assumptions about native North Americans.