Dear Anukite - A Strange Romance

Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation

Citations

Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/sj139297g

Abstract

Dear Anukite is an installation which contains elements of humor, fantasy and the macabre. Conceived with the notion of narrative, it also has the potential for performance. As presented in this particular exhibition, the objects housed within a pseudo-architectural environment imply action - past or potential. The theme is not carpentry although building materials and methods confront the viewer in abundance. The minimal construction serves merely as a framework for conveying the messages filling the gallery, whether it be implied story or explicit moral or lesson.

The word "Anukite" is derived from Oglala Sioux religion. In their cosmology there existed an extremely beautiful supernatural woman named Face or Ite. She was married to the Wind but committed adultery with the Sun. As a punishment she was given a second horrid face and known from then on as Anuk-ite or Double-Face. It was alleged that promiscuous women derived their power to seduce men from the female mule deer and elk. They ultimately received their power from their matron entity, Anukite. These "deer women" were said to invite unsuspecting warriors into the forest only to drive them mad. Men were cautioned to avoid lone women they might encounter in the woods or on the prairie as they might be deer women. After seducing a man they usually turned into a black-tailed deer and ran away. Sexual contact with deer women was supposed to be fatal.

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