Jeneese Hilton (Blackfeet) MFA Painting, U of Colorado Boulder, 1990. Solo exhibits: Museum of the Plains Indian (Browning, MT, Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art (Great Falls, MT), Plains Art Museum (Fargo, ND), Montana Museum of Art & Culture. Numerous group exhibits throughout the West and at the Westphalian State Museum of Natural History (Münster, Germany).

Jeneese Hilton's paintings draw upon the deep appreciation that Lewis and Clark had for the natural beauty of the West, begging the question, “What would Lewis and Clark think if they could see this devastation? Would they want a celebration or would they be compelled to do something about the destruction?”  Her work Broken Circle makes it clear that even Thomas Jefferson, who sent out the Lewis and Clark Expedition, understood the dangers of too much corporate power. Her choice to quote his critique of corporations shows her understanding that the primary intention of the expedition was not the corporate exploitation of land and destruction of environment that followed it. She allows viewers to reflect that it is not only indigenous traditional values that have been ignored but also the values of an intellectual, propertied plantation owner who held the presidency at the time. Thus she gives us a second level of critique from which to understand her text about the contemporary effects of corporate culture on the environment. Hilton's central image in this painting relates directly to the traditional indigenous metaphor. It is a circle divided in halves by the text, "for the purpose of commerce,"one of the reasons for Lewis and Clark's exploration of the west. The bottom half of the cirlce contains and image of a red tree of life on a green field. In it hang toxic materials. Around this cirlce, is the text that has been crossed out by large "X's".Above the circle, the text refers to the destruction of clean air and water; below the circle, the text contains the initials of the government agencies that oversee the environment. These agencies' work is clearly being undercut by the corporations whose names surround the quote by Jefferson that is anchored in the ground at the bottom of the painting.

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