Signs of the Times
c. 1980
Publisher
Akwesasne Notes
Printer
Glad Day Press
Photographer
Henning Christoph
DIMENSIONS
17 1/2 x 22 1/2 in. (44.5 x 57.2 cm)
OBJECT NUMBER
PH.7747
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
United States
CREDIT LINE
Poster House Permanent Collection
KEYWORDS
Arizona, Civil Rights, Native American, Navajo county, Political, Protest

As noted in the lower margin of this poster, the photograph in it was taken by German photographer Henning Christoph. It shows a sign posted outside Old Oraibi, one of North America’s oldest continuously inhabited settlements, located on the Third Mesa of the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The sign was erected by the village council of Old Oraibi after tourists repeatedly ignored prohibitions against the photographing of sacred Hopi dances. After they were forcibly moved and confined to reservations, Native peoples continually faced invasion by tourists who disregarded both tribal and federal laws protecting religious practices. Many sacred ceremonies were simply treated as entertainment. This sign asserts self-governance over both Hopi land and Hopi culture, demanding that outsiders not treat those autonomous spaces as their own. Akwesasne Notes’s distribution of this image was intended to remind viewers that power includes the ability to say no—a seemingly small act of resistance and self-respect that can have a dramatic impact. The poster is printed in red ink on yellow paper, making it both a symbol of Native resistance and a warning.

For inquiries about image licensing, please contact collections@posterhouse.org.

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