Joseph L. Erb
Encyclopedia
Joseph Erb is a Native American computer animator, educator, and artist enrolled in the Cherokee Nation
.
. He earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania
. He used his artistic skills to teach Muscogee Creek and Cherokee
students how to animate traditional stories. He currently serves on the board of the Cherokee Arts and Humanities Council.
He combines traditional storytelling with 21st century technology as a means of teaching the Cherokee language
to young people. His work has frequently been screened by the National Museum of the American Indian
. "We're competing with mass culture," Erb says. "The kids have a choice; they can watch our animation or they can watch Elmo. You have to compete with all of that so the children will want to know their traditional stories and their language."
Besides collaborating with students to produce animation in their tribal languages, Erb also produce educational material, such as animated shorts of animals singing numbers and colors in Cherokee. The animated format provides a solution for the challenge of relaying what is traditional oral history to the next generation.
Erb trained and mentors his colleagues, Roy Boney, Jr. (Cherokee Nation), Matt Mason (Cherokee) and Nathan Young (Pawnee-Delaware
-Kiowa
), and together their work has established Tahlequah, Oklahoma
as the "Indian Animation Capital".
His work is shown at Native film festival throughout the United States and currently his work is supported in part by the Cherokee Nation. Mason, Boney, and Erb formed a production company called Cherokee Robot.
Erb's collaboration with students has led to some surprising new developments in the retelling of oral histories. Muscogee Creek middle school students and Erb created a video that combined animation, claymation and diorama sets to tell the story of Indian Removal
. Their account has the Muscogee Creeks, freezing on the Trail of Tears
, traveling through space to Paris, France, where beret-wearing Frenchmen teach the Creeks to stomp dance
. Rabbit, the Muscogee Trickster, steals a coal of fire from the French and takes it back to the Creeks on their way to Indian Territory
.
in Park Hill, Oklahoma
frequently exhibits his work. Several of his paintings are a part of the permanent collection at the Sequoyah National Research Center in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Cherokee Nation
The Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century, and includes people descended from members of the old Cherokee Nation who relocated voluntarily from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who...
.
Background
Joseph Erb was born on January 7, 1974 and currently lives in Gore, OklahomaGore, Oklahoma
Gore is a town in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, United States. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 850 at the 2000 census...
. He earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. He used his artistic skills to teach Muscogee Creek and Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
students how to animate traditional stories. He currently serves on the board of the Cherokee Arts and Humanities Council.
Animation for language preservation
Erb created the first Cherokee animation in the Cherokee language, The Beginning They Told. The 11-minute animated piece relays parts of the Cherokee's creation story, featuring Buzzard, Beaver, and the Water Beetle, who brings fire to humanity.He combines traditional storytelling with 21st century technology as a means of teaching the Cherokee language
Cherokee language
Cherokee is an Iroquoian language spoken by the Cherokee people which uses a unique syllabary writing system. It is the only Southern Iroquoian language that remains spoken. Cherokee is a polysynthetic language.-North American etymology:...
to young people. His work has frequently been screened by the National Museum of the American Indian
National Museum of the American Indian
The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum operated under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution that is dedicated to the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of the native Americans of the Western Hemisphere...
. "We're competing with mass culture," Erb says. "The kids have a choice; they can watch our animation or they can watch Elmo. You have to compete with all of that so the children will want to know their traditional stories and their language."
Besides collaborating with students to produce animation in their tribal languages, Erb also produce educational material, such as animated shorts of animals singing numbers and colors in Cherokee. The animated format provides a solution for the challenge of relaying what is traditional oral history to the next generation.
Erb trained and mentors his colleagues, Roy Boney, Jr. (Cherokee Nation), Matt Mason (Cherokee) and Nathan Young (Pawnee-Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
-Kiowa
Kiowa
The Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
), and together their work has established Tahlequah, Oklahoma
Tahlequah, Oklahoma
Tahlequah is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma, United States located at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It was founded as a capital of the original Cherokee Nation in 1838 to welcome those Cherokee forced west on the Trail of Tears. The city's population was 15,753 at the 2010 census. It...
as the "Indian Animation Capital".
His work is shown at Native film festival throughout the United States and currently his work is supported in part by the Cherokee Nation. Mason, Boney, and Erb formed a production company called Cherokee Robot.
Erb's collaboration with students has led to some surprising new developments in the retelling of oral histories. Muscogee Creek middle school students and Erb created a video that combined animation, claymation and diorama sets to tell the story of Indian Removal
Indian Removal
Indian removal was a nineteenth century policy of the government of the United States to relocate Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river...
. Their account has the Muscogee Creeks, freezing on the Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears is a name given to the forced relocation and movement of Native American nations from southeastern parts of the United States following the Indian Removal Act of 1830...
, traveling through space to Paris, France, where beret-wearing Frenchmen teach the Creeks to stomp dance
Stomp dance
The Stomp Dance is performed by various Eastern Woodland tribes and Native American communities, including the Muscogee, Yuchi, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Delaware, Miami, Caddo, Ottawa, Peoria, Shawnee, Seminole, Natchez, and Seneca-Cayuga tribes...
. Rabbit, the Muscogee Trickster, steals a coal of fire from the French and takes it back to the Creeks on their way to Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
.
Visual art
Erb is also a fine artist. He addresses contemporary realities facing Indian people through his sculpture and paintings. The Cherokee Heritage CenterCherokee Heritage Center
The Cherokee Heritage Center is a non-profit historical society and museum campus that seeks to preserve the historical and cultural artifacts, language, and traditional crafts of the Cherokee. The Heritage center also hosts the central genealogy database and genealogy research center for the...
in Park Hill, Oklahoma
Park Hill, Oklahoma
Park Hill is a census-designated place in southwestern Cherokee County, Oklahoma in the United States. The population was 3,936 at the 2000 census. It lies near Tahlequah, east of the junction of U.S. Route 62 and State Highway 82.-History:...
frequently exhibits his work. Several of his paintings are a part of the permanent collection at the Sequoyah National Research Center in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Videography
- "Trail of Tears" (2009) producer
- Hero (2007)
- Day and Night (2005) director
- Messenger (2004) director
- How the Rabbit Lost His Tail (2003) producer
- How the Redbird Got His Color (2003) producer
- Mapohiceto/Not Listening (2003) producer
- The Beginning They Told (2003) producer, director