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The poster Indians of North America by Joseph Jacinto Mora offers a rich and detailed visual summary of the cultural and daily lives of various Native American tribes across the continent. Originally created in 1936, the image presents a comprehensive overview of Native American traditions, crafts, and lifestyle, featuring tribes from regions including the Plains, Pueblo, Forest, and Northwest Coast.
The poster is composed of vibrant, pictorial vignettes that depict different aspects of Native American life. Featured elements include traditional clothing, beadwork, pottery, weaving, hunting practices, ceremonial dances, and housing styles such as tipis and pueblos. The depicted tribes include the Navajo, Hopi, Mandan, Seminole, Iroquois, Walapai, Apache, and Comanche, among others.
Each section is visually divided by intricate borders, and the representations are accompanied by labels and details that highlight specific elements of each culture. For example, you can see traditional weapons, totems, transportation methods like travois, and different modes of shelter. The use of solid, colored backgrounds allows the intricately detailed illustrations to stand out while maintaining a cohesive, organized layout.
Mora created this poster as a tribute to the Native American way of life, with the intention of educating viewers and sparking curiosity about indigenous cultures. A note on the poster reveals the artist’s struggle to include as much information as possible within the constraints of the space, hinting at the breadth of his knowledge and the complexity of the subject matter. The dedication in the lower-right corner is addressed to a friend, reflecting Mora’s personal connection to the cultures he studied and admired.
Mora’s work is celebrated for its accuracy and depth of understanding, especially in capturing the essence of the American West and the indigenous peoples he admired. The Monterey Museum of Art, which featured an exhibition of his work, emphasized his role as an astute observer who was able to translate his deep respect for the landscape and its people into his art. This poster stands as a testament to Mora’s dedication to his craft and his desire to share his knowledge of Native American cultures with the world.
Joseph Jacinto "Jo" Mora, born 22 October 1876 in Uruguay, died 10 October 1947 in Monterey California. Mora came to the United States as a child, he studied art in New York, then worked for Boston newspapers as a cartoonist. He was a man of many other talents, artist-historian, sculptor, painter, photographer, illustrator, muralist and author. In 1903, Mora came to California, then in 1904 he moved to Keams Canyon in northeast Arizona, living with the Hopi and Navajo Indians. He learned their languages and photographed and painted an ethnological record, particularly of the Kachina ceremonial dances. In 1907, he married Grace Needham and they moved to Mountain View, California. He moved to Pebble Beach in 1922 and established a home and large studio there, it being near the Carmel Mission (San Carlos Borroméo De Carmelo Mission) after being commissioned to do the Serra Sarcophagus* for Padre (Father) Ramon Mestres.
During his long and productive career, Mora illustrated a number of books including Animals of Aesop (1900), Dawn and the Dons - The Romance of Monterey (1926), Benito and Loreta Delfin, Children of Alta California (1932), and Fifty Funny Animal Tales (1932). He authored three books, A Log of the Spanish Main (1933), Trail Dust and Saddle Leather (1946) and his posthumous publication, Californios (1949).
His map work included Monterey Peninsula (1927), and Seventeen Mile Drive (1927), California (1927), San Diego (1928), Grand Canyon (1931), Yosemite (1931), Yellowstone (1936), Carmel-By-The-Sea (1942), California (1945) (large and small versions), and Map of Los Angeles (1942).
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