Edgar Heap of Birds. Reclaim, 1997

Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds. Reclaim, 1997.
Steel highway sign, 48 x 72 in. (121.92 x 182.88 cm) (sign); 9 ft x 72 in. (274.32 x 182.88 cm) (installed, approx.). Collection Friends of the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, SUNY. Museum purchase with funds provided anonymously. EL 02.2022.01

With bold white letters on a green highway‑style sign, Reclaim poses a pointed and provocative question: New York – Purchased?  Stolen?  Reclaimed?  Installed along the entryway to SUNY Purchase as part of the Neuberger Museum of Art’s 1997 Biennial Exhibition of Public Art, the work invites reflection on land ownership, historical memory, and Indigenous sovereignty. By mimicking the form and familiarity of state road signage, Heap of Birds challenges viewers to reconsider the hidden narratives behind seemingly neutral public infrastructure.

Reclaim resonates with the artist’s larger body of work, including Native Hosts, a series of signs that spotlight the enduring presence of Native Tribes across the United States. In these works, language, location, and power are in constant tension, amplifying Heap of Birds’s decades‑long practice of confronting settler‑colonial histories while affirming Native identity in contemporary society.

Born in 1954, Heap of Birds studied at the University of Kansas, Tyler School of Art, and the Royal College of Art in London. His work has been exhibited internationally, with public projects in cities ranging from Venice to Cape Town to New York. Across these venues, he continues to advocate for Indigenous rights, creative expression, and cultural sovereignty.