Sheridan Macknight's 'Looking Between The Lines'

Captivity narratives are the stories recorded by individuals who are captured by people and considered to be uncivilized or have opposite beliefs or customs. These narratives provide a more detailed perception of the captive by their captivators. Native Americans used ledger art to express their views of the colonies. This art included various types of drawings or paintings done on a piece of paper, skin, or cloth. Various scholars already conducted studies of the ledger art and pointed the categories of ledger art which were drawn (University of California, San Diego).
Sheridan MacKnight is one of the prominent contributors to the topic of ledger art. In her works, she devoted much attention to the women and the children (Gussie Fauntleroy). She explained the position of this weak groups within the society in her work titled “Looking Between the Lines”. Her work also focused on the conflict between the government of the
Augustine Florida (Gussie Fauntleroy). She writes that prison guards forced the prisoners to draw paintings that could be used to attract and entertain tourists visiting the region regularly. In her findings, she revealed that her directs ancestors did not belong to the prisoners. In her art, she managed to depict that the prisoners express their thoughts wonderfully. She even emphasized the huge sense of humor of the prisoners.
When living in Santa Fe, she heard stories of hardships and isolation that her relatives were facing in Oklahoma. This includes the imprisonment they were facing, forced reservations, and even kids being sent to boarding schools. To show all atrocities that were done to Caddo and other tribes, the artist included humor in the drawings and paintings. Thus, she wanted to reveal her feelings. Purdy Corcoran's works can be found in the online journals, Smithsonian Museum shops, and in Tribes 131 in Washington