Native American Graffiti and Aerosol Muralism of the Pandemic: Alternative Messaging of Community Well-Being

This chapter explores the response of artists and community members to the COVID-19 pandemic with a framework of Indigenous community well-being, messaging, and visual sovereignty through muralism. Using murals as public “signage” Native communities struck hard by the pandemic projected messages of thanks to healthcare workers, warnings of community spread, and public health information. These public proclamations have become part of the intergenerational dialectic of community health and safety on Native landscapes. The aim is to showcase how these murals are part of a longstanding public projection of place and persistence of Native identity. The chapter includes a short history of Indigenous/Native American public signage then moves to the use of contemporary utilization of aerosol muralism as markers of community well-being. Combining analysis of Native community dialectics in terms of well-being and visual sovereignty illuminates the dynamic ways in which Native communities were/are educating, encouraging safety, and promoting community building during the COVID-19 pandemic. Concluding discourse includes how Indigenous/Native artists worked for their communities to create a sense of well-being concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.