Artwork copyright Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Artwork copyright Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Ode to Chief Seattle, 1991

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith
American Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation Bitterroot Salish (Flathead) (born 1940, died 2025)

Location: Franklin Elementary, Pullman

About the Artwork

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith created the Ode to Chief Seattle series to honor the idea of human unity with nature. The title is an homage to Chief Sealth, the Suquamish and Duwamish chief for whom the city of Seattle is named. Chief Sealth was a vocal advocate for environmental responsibility and the rights of Native Americans. He stated, "The air is precious to the red man, for all things share the same breath—the beast, the tree, the man, they all share the same breath...We are part of the earth and it is part of us." This artwork is part of a series of ten mixed-media artworks created by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith for the collection "Who We Are: Autobiographies in Art." The series was commissioned by the Washington State Arts Commission in partnership with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1990.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Pullman School District.

About the Artist

Jaune Quick-To-See Smith grew up on the Flathead Nation in Montana in a home where art and horses were equally important. She traveled around the Pacific Northwest and California with her father, who was a horse trader. She graduated from Puyallup High School in Western Washington and earned an Associate of Arts degree at Olympic College in Bremerton, Washington in 1960. She studied at the University of Washington before earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art Education from Framingham State College in Massachusetts in 1976. She had to take many breaks from college to earn money but in 1980, she earned a Master of Arts degree in Art from the University of New Mexico. Quick-to-See Smith’s artworks are represented in many museums, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C. and the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City. She was the first Native American artist to have a retrospective exhibition at the Whitney Museum of Art in New York City.