Joseph Erb (born January 7, 1974) is a Native American computer animator, educator, and artist and a member of the

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three list of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907), Old Cheroke ...

Background

Joseph Erb was born on January 7, 1974, and currently lives in Gore, Oklahoma. He earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. He used his artistic skills to teach

Muscogee Creek The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsCherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

students how to animate traditional stories.Native Networks: Joseph Erb.
''National Museum of the American Indian''. March 2004 (retrieved 13 July 2009) 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.Murg, Wilhelm
May I Suggest... 'The Beginning They Told' by Joseph Erb.
''Indian Country Today.'' 18 March 2004 (retrieved 13 July 2009) He combines traditional storytelling with 21st-century technology as a means of teaching the

Cherokee language file:Cherokee Speakers by County, 2000.png, 350px, Number of speakers file:Lang Status 20-CR.svg, Cherokee is classified as Critically Endangered by UNESCO's ''Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger'' Cherokee or Tsalagi (, ) is an endangere ...

to young people. His work has frequently been screened by the

National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

. "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 Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska * ...

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

Kiowa Kiowa ( ) or Cáuigú () people are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe and an Indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colora ...

), and together their work has established

Tahlequah, Oklahoma Tahlequah ( ; , ) is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma located at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It is part of the Green Country region of Oklahoma and was established as a capital of the 19th-century Cherokee Nation in 1839, as p ...

as the "Indian Animation Capital".Twist, Kade
Brave New Worlds: Indian Animation Movement.
''Native Peoples Magazine''. 1 Nov 2007 (retrieved 13 July 2009) 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 The Trail of Tears was the forced displacement of about 60,000 people of the " Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850, and the additional thousands of Native Americans and their black slaves within that were ethnically cleansed by the U ...

, 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 Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

. In 2023, Erb debuted ''Rabbit Stories'', an animated short film in the Cherokee language. The film stars

Wes Studi Wesley Studi (; born December 17, 1947) is a Native American (Cherokee Nation) actor and film producer. He has garnered critical acclaim and awards throughout his career, particularly for his portrayal of Native Americans in film. In 2019, he ...

Visual art

Erb is also a fine artist. He addresses contemporary realities facing Indian people through his sculpture, paintings, and jewelry. The Cherokee Heritage Center in

Park Hill, Oklahoma Park Hill is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in southwestern Cherokee County, Oklahoma, Cherokee County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,909 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 ...

frequently exhibits his work.Yantz, Mickel
2009 Trail of Tears Art Show.
''Cherokee Heritage Center.'' 2009 (retrieved 13 July 2009) Several of his paintings are a part of the permanent collection at the Sequoyah National Research Center in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Videography

* ''Rabbit Stories'' (2023) director * "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

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erb, Joseph American animated film directors American animated film producers Cherokee Nation artists Native American filmmakers Living people 1974 births Sculptors from Oklahoma People from Gore, Oklahoma Native American painters Native American sculptors 21st-century American painters 21st-century Native American artists 21st-century American sculptors