Harry Fonseca (Nisenan Maidu)
Artist, 1946-2006
Artist Harry Fonseca (Nisenan Maidu) grew up in California near the American River and Sutter’s Mill, the site where American James Marshall and Nisenan Native Californians found gold deposits in 1848. In 1997, almost 150 years later, Fonseca traveled to the banks of the American River to paint the series The Discovery of Gold in California.
Harry Fonseca (Nisenan Maidu, 1946–2006), The Discovery of Gold in California Series, 1997. Painting, acrylic, earth, mica, paper, and stone, 7.375 x 5.75 in., Series 8.5.97 #10
"The gold rush was an explosion on all levels—beautiful stuff to work with.There were cultures coming together, conflicting; a profusion of greed, of loss; massive change; and I hope this overall drama is expressed by the passion in these pieces. As I painted, the brutality which took place during the gold rush began to surface in a thickening, a dripping, an actual eruption of gold paint in the work. The damage inflicted during that chaotic time was extensive. It injured the land and the living things that were there, Native Americans, and other peoples as well."
—Harry Fonseca1
Fonseca’s paintings are one example of how Native Californians today continue to process the history of the gold rush. Fonseca’s art offers us a visual representation of this difficult history and a reminder that Native Americans of California survived and thrived despite the horrors perpetrated against them during the gold rush.
1. “Art and Activism Gold Rush Lesson.” 2020. Autry Museum of the American West. December 21, 2020.