CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
ART OF THE AMERICAS AFTER 1300
27
Multiple Choice
1. The Calendar Stone (Fig. 27-2) shows that the Aztecs viewed time
A. cyclically.
B. linearly.
C. statically.
D. vertically.
2. What kind of religion did the Aztecs practice?
A. idolatry
B. transcendentalism
C. monotheism
D. pantheism
3. On The Founding of Tenochtitlan page of the Codex Mendoza (Fig. 27-3), what do the four
diagonal lines that meet in the center represent, in terms of the city’s division?
A. temples
B. gaming areas
C. waterways
D. houses
4. What defines Aztec art?
A. silken textures
B. dynamic compositions
C. dull colors
D. realistic forms
5. What helped unify the Inca Empire?
A. royal estates
B. central plazas
C. waterways
D. roadways
6. What characteristic of Inca masonry identified a structure as a place of honor or worship?
A. smooth
B. irregular
C. continuous
D. rough
7. What did the Incas deem a fitting offering for the gods?
A. lintels
B. rocks
C. cloth
D. wattle
8. What animals did the Incas utilize as pack animals on steep mountain slopes?
A. llamas
B. sheep
C. horses
D. donkeys
9. Which people formed a powerful confederation of five Native American nations and played a
prominent role until after the American Revolution?
A. Plains
B. Apache
C. Navajo
D. Iroquois
10. Which of the following abruptly changed life on the Great Plains in 1869?
A. warriors
B. farms
C. railway
D. gold
11. After the Spanish invasion, what works did Aztec craftspeople begin creating with Christian
subjects?
A. gold and silver sculptures
B. feather paintings
C. woven textiles
D. manuscripts
12. How did the Spaniards influence the art of Navajo weaving?
A. They imposed taxes on Navajo textile production.
B. They preferred ornamental patterns related to Islamic traditions.
C. They introduced sheep to the native culture.
D. They introduced of new weaving techniques.
13. Which of the following methods did the Incas use to communicate tribute, census, history,
poetry, and astronomy?
A. a written language based on pictographs
B. visual images recorded on stele and in manuscripts
C. knotted and colored cords called khipus
D. cylindrical purple and white shell beads called wampum
14. Which of the following was considered “women’s art” until the twentieth century?
A. Pueblo pottery production
B. Chilkat Tlingit blanket weaving
C. Navajo sand painting
D. belts and strings made from wampum
15. How are Hamatsa masks of the Northwest Coast Kwakwaka’wakw culture traditionally
used?
A. They hang in the tribe’s great house.
B. They sit on a “spirit altar” during ceremonies.
C. They are worn in ritual dances.
D. They act as guardians outside of buildings.
16. In the late nineteenth century, how did the Canadian government respond to the
Kwakwaka’wakw’s Winter Ceremony?
A. It outlawed the ceremony as dangerous to the welfare of children.
B. It marketed the ceremony as a tourist attraction to bolster the local economy.
C. It officially recognized the ceremony as part of Canada’s cultural heritage.
D. It aided in reviving the ceremony in efforts to preserve traditional culture.
17. Which statement best describes the interests of Native American Jaune Quick-to-See Smith
as evidenced in her The Red Mean: Self-Portrait (Fig. 27-25)?
A. She wants to revive native traditions and art forms in contemporary art.
B. She emphasizes the functional/craft role of Native American art.
C. She makes art that reflects her ethnic identity, as well as its relationship to Western culture.
D. She argues her Native American ancestry is irrelevant to her role as a contemporary artist.
18. What of the following was characteristic of Aztec manuscripts?
A. Books bound with elaborately decorated gold and silver covers
B. Accordion-pleated books that could be opened to show multiple pages
C. Binders with individual pages that could be organized in multiple ways
D. Pages filled with colorful checkerboard patterns that held symbolic meaning
19. According to the Kwakwaka’wakw culture, which of the following is a cannibal spirit?
A. Kwatee
B. Hamatsa
C. Wendego
D. Sedna
20. What kind of ceramic style did Pueblo artist Maria Montoya Martinez develop?
A. stoneware
B. whiteware
C. roundware
D. blackware
21. What medium do Navajo painters use to create paintings that are not meant to be seen by the
public and are destroyed by nightfall on the day on which they are made?
A. water
B. sand
C. ink
D. acrylic
22. The Whirling Log Ceremony sand painting (Fig. 27-24), woven into tapestry, depicts part of
the creation myth of the
A. Abenaki.
B. Pueblo.
C. Iroquois.
D. Navajo.
23. Which artist created the bronze sculpture The Spirit of Haida Gwaii (Fig. 27-26), which
stands outside the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C.?
A. Bill Reid
B. Hosteen Klah
C. Jaune Quick-to-See Smith
D. Ramona Sakiestewa
24. For the people of the Great Plains, what is the purpose of the hole in the top of a tipi?
A. It assisted the clan in meditation and prayer.
B. It served as a smoke hole for a central hearth.
C. It allowed them to see the moon at night.
D. They did not devise a way to cover this, so they left it open.
25. The beadwork Baby Carrier (Fig. 27-13) from the Eastern Sioux features what symbol of
protection against both human and supernatural adversaries?
A. antelope
B. buffalo
C. thunderbird
D. raven
Short Answer
1. What are some impacts of the arrival of Europeans in Mesoamerica?
2. What do we know about the ceremonial complexes of the Aztecs?
3. What were the building traditions of the Incas?
4. What kinds of Inca art survived the Spanish invasion?
5. What are some qualities of the art of Plains people?
6. What was the symbolism of basketry in Pomo culture?
7. How did the idea of craft influence European and American artists of the twentieth century?
8. Describe the communal houses of Northwest Coast peoples.
9. Why is the Navajo Night Chant important and who sings it?
10. What was the significance of the number 4 in Southwestern cultures?
Essay
1. What features did the Aztecs and Incas share in their art and architecture, and what effect did
the Spanish Conquest have on the art and architecture of those cultures?
2. What are the common traits of the art of different Native American peoples?
3. Discuss the traditional and European approaches of modern Native American artists, like Julia
Jumbo, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, and Bill Reid. How do they incorporate form, media, and
symbolism?
4. Discuss the significance of the Battle Scene, Hide Painting (Fig. 27-17).
5. Compare and contrast the styles, composition, and content of The Founding of Tenochtitlan
(Fig. 27-3) and Whirling Log Ceremony (Fig. 27-24).