Indian Peace Medals

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I read an article today that inspired me to look at objects, places, and even buildings in a very different way. In City as Message, Bello and Brandau-Brown, ponder if a place or thing can be persuasive in and of itself. And, most importantly, the article addresses how a visual artifact puts into context a particular time, event or culture, revealing information and communicating a message “in ways that argument alone cannot” (Bello & Brandau-Brown, 2011). Take for instance, the Indian Peace Medals that were given to Native Americans in a time when the birth of new nation was taking place. These medals, given to Native American chiefs by French, British and Colonial leaders, were designed to garner allegiances and allies. Even today, these …show more content…
Beginning with George Washington’s Administration, these medals were presented “to American Indian Leaders at treaty signings and other formal ceremonies” and show George Washington sharing a Peace Pipe with an Indian Chief (Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies, n.d.). This image has a very powerful persuasive message showing “peace and friendship.” Even without the ceremonial protocols including: presenting the medals to “influential persons only,” presenting the largest medals to the most important chieftains, and utilizing formal ceremonies to present the medal, the medal itself is the most powerful tool for persuasion (Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies, n.d.). It seems the Americans were quick to understand just how important this persuasive message would be to their …show more content…
Because of this, the associations found in these little silver trinkets, lends “special” meaning for this exchange between the two parties. This symbolic/aesthetic judgement coupled with real life understanding of the symbols in terms of the important events in real time, otherwise known as indexicality, leads to a greater chance for success in shaping the perceptions of all of those involved (Bello & Brandau-Brown, 2011). The Indian Peace Medals were simple, concise and positively affective in this
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