Woman's Voices at the Council

Power: In “Women’s Voices at the Council,” Joan Hill (Muskogee Creek and Cherokee) depicts multiple generations of women wearing both precontact and postcontact adornment. “While male chiefs led Muscogee politics, women also held political power. As the mothers of warriors, women could decide if a town went to war or made peace," writes Hill in the “Hearts of Our People” exhibition catalog.

Joan Hill (Muskogee Creek and Cherokee), “Women’s Voices at the Council,” 1990; acrylic on canvas, 38.25" x 28.25"; gift of the artist on behalf of the Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women, 1990, Oklahoma State Art Collection, courtesy of the Oklahoma Arts Council. ©Joan Hill  Photo courtesy of Joan Hill