A Zuni Artist Looks at Frank Hamilton Cushing: Cartoons

Rating:
Summary: Fun!
Review: In A Zuni Artist Looks at Frank Hamilton Cushing, Phil Hughte portrays the images of F. H. Cushing who was an American ethnologist who resided in a late nineteenth century Zuni pueblo. Hughte, a trained artist, illustrates the life of Cushing in Zuni pueblo in a form of cartoon. Hughte offers forty-three cartoons which are developed upon Cushing's the reminiscence of his Zuni years, My Adventures in Zuni, and letters written by him, or to him by others. They are also accompanied by the cartoonist's explanatory comments on his drawings, reflecting his own interpretation of what Cushing did and meant to Zuni people at that time. What Hughte offers with his cartoons is the perspectives of the society studied which is hardly conveyed in such anthropological monographs. As an insider of Zuni culture, Hughte depicts the ethos of Zunis of the ninteenth century and provides "the other side" of the story which were told by Frank Hamilton Cushing. In other words, the reader is able to see how "other people" explain themselves.Hughte's drawings are done by a pencil, presenting a beautiful monochrome tone. It is interesting to observe that Hughte always illustrates Cushing in traditional Zuni outfit, implying Cushing's obsession with the culture, and constantly depicts Cushing with almost no facial expressions. On contrary, Zunis are rich in expressions as well as in clothing, representing the emotions of the people. Hughte's juxtaposition of the images of Cushing and Zunis clearly shows their divergence in perspectives. Generally speaking, cartoons are often associated with satire and caricture in which the target is tha larger entities such as political power, or the dominant culture, in this case Cushing who represents the Anglo-American culture. However, Hughte uniquely portrays Cushing in many ways; one way he is disturbing the Zuni clowns, and another way he protects their land from U.S. troops. He is an outsider, a Bow Priest, an ethnographer, and a clown, representing a trickster figure in the Zuni society. This is the very reason why Cushing appears human and does not appear as the target of satire or caricture. Hughte brings such figure on the settings where Zunis are warm and kind, treating them all equally in a drama called "A Zuni society in the ninteenth century." While maintaining a Zuni perspective, Hughte teaches us to see the story as a whole, helping us to balance between the objectivity and the subjectitvity.