In the Name of Progress

​“Progress” has long been invoked to justify the displacement, devastation, and assimilation of Indigenous people. In the United States, Native people were confined to reservations and subjected to policies that broke apart communal lands, separating families into private parcels. Government-run boarding schools took Native children from their homes in the pursuit of assimilation. Forced adoption programs, bans on language and ceremony, and later termination policies sought to dissolve tribal nations altogether.

At the center of this exhibition are two national symbols: the American flag and the first motto of the United States, E Pluribus Unum, or “Out of many, one.” Both are meant to unify, yet for many Native people they instead represent promises never fully kept. The flag can be a threat or a form of protection, while the motto suggests belonging, even as laws and policies continue to enforce exclusion.

Through beadwork, family images, archival documents, and Americana objects, Couch examines these symbols in relation to her own family history, spanning from the Allotment and Assimilation Era to the present. Her family’s stories serve as an entry point, revealing how national ideals of unity and progress intersected with personal experiences of survival, adaptation, and resilience. The work does not seek to offer resolution; instead, it probes, asking: What has progress cost? Who has it served? And what does it mean to belong in a nation built on contradictions? It reminds us that truth exists across a spectrum and that progress, far from neutral, has always been contested.

Exhibitions:
​In the Name of Progress
Souvenir Gallery: 1233 NE Alberta Street, Portland, Oregon 97211
October 4th - November 16, 2025
Opening reception: October 4th, 5:00 - 8:00 pm
Closing artist talk on November 16th, 12 noon

​Studio photography: Mario Gallucci
​Documentation photography: Doug Burns Souvenir Gallery