Cherokee Heritage Center

photo from visitcherokeenation.com

Name: Cherokee Heritage Center
Tribe: Cherokee Nation, United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians
Location: 21192 S. Keeler Drive, Park Hill, OK 74457
Type: Cultural Heritage Complex
Visiting Info: Open year round, Summer (Memorial Day through Labor Day) Mon-Sat, 9am - 5pm, Winter (except Jan 1-14: closed) Tues-Sat, 9am - 5pm; Admission: $5-$8.50.
Contact: Website, telephone 888-999-6007

 

The Cherokee Heritage Center is a complex of attractions that includes the Cherokee National Museum, the Trail of Tears exhibit, Diligwa -  The 1710 Cherokee Village, Adams Corner Rural Village, Nofire Farms, the Cherokee Family Research Center, and the Cherokee National Archives.

The Center also offers special exhibits, cultural workshops, and events, including the Cherokee National Holiday celebration, the Trail of Tears Art Show and Sale, and the Homecoming Art Show.

Trail of Tears Exhibit
photo from cherokeeheritage.org

Artifacts, cultural objects, and art pieces from the span of Cherokee history are on display in the Museum and the Trail of Tears exhibit.

The Diligwa village depicts a traditional Cherokee settlement in the 18th century prior to assimilation. Docents guide visitors through the encampment, explaining traditional culture, crafts, hunting techniques, and games. The self-guided Adams Corner Rural Village and Nofire Farms show what tribal towns looked like after assimilation and the horrors of the Trail of Tears. Set in the 1890's, the seemingly bucolic Rural Village presents the turmoil faced by the Cherokee as Indian Territory began its transition to Oklahoma statehood.

The Swimmer School at the Adams Corner Rural Village
photo from cherokeeheritage.org

The Heritage Center is also home to the Cherokee National Archives, and admission to the complex provides visitors with access to the Cherokee Family Research Center and their genealogical resources. Staff are available to help researchers access Dawes Commission records and the Final Rolls, Seminary records, Cherokee cemetery documentation, and citizenship resources.

The Center is located just to the south of Tahlequah, the Cherokee Nation's capitol, on the grounds of the original Cherokee Female Seminary in an old settlement called Park Hill. The spot is of great historic significance as Park Hill was the home of many important tribal leaders, such as John Ross, in the period after the Removal, and the Seminary was the first educational institution for women west of the Mississippi River.

Park Hill is also home to the John Ross Museum, Ross Cemetery, and the Murrell Home.
 

Resources:

Cherokee Nation
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians
Visit Cherokee Nation tourism homepage
Cherokee Heritage Center on TravelOK.com

Cherokee Heritage Center on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail (National Parks)

Travel Journal: Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Museum

Even though as a white person I always feel a little bit like I'm intruding at pow wows, as someone who grew up in tribal towns and now lives in an area with comparatively few Native people, I also get a warm feeling of familiarity and nostalgia for my childhood. Finding myself in a room full of Native people again last week at the Pequot Museum choked me up a little bit, I have to be honest. The adorable little kids in regalia who were already great dancers only doubled down on my emotional state. Beautiful!

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Museum and Research Center holds an annual Educational Pow Wow that introduces pow wow culture, etiquette, and meaning, and explains the different styles of dances and accompanying regalia. My girls and I drove down to Connecticut to attend the most recent one on July 9th.



The museum is on the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation near Ledyard, CT, between Norwich and New London in the far southeastern corner of the state. It's a couple hour's drive for us, so we didn't get there until late morning. The pow wow had already started, and the museum was crowded with school or summer camp groups.

The program is run through twice, in the morning and again in the afternoon, with a lunch break in between. That meant we were able to catch the tail end of the morning presentation, grab some lunch in the Pequot Café, do a quick trip through the exhibits as the field trips cleared out for the day, and still catch the afternoon presentation. There is plenty to do and see at the Pequot Museum even without an event like the pow wow, so we crowded a ton of activity into one afternoon.

View of the Green Roof

First things first, the museum is gorgeous. It's won a bunch of architectural awards since it opened in 1998, and the modern building is surrounded by a lush green forest that visitors can enjoy on the hiking/walking trails that surround the grounds or from the 185 ft. tall Observation Tower. The 65,000 sq. ft. "green roof" is an eco-friendly garden of soft grass - growing on the roof of the exhibit halls! A round, glass atrium just inside the front entrance, called the Gathering Space, is two stories of sunlight with that backdrop of thick, green trees.


The Gathering Space

Up in the balcony looking down over the Gathering Space floor, the Pequot Café serves local, native, seasonal foods cafeteria style. I jumped at the chance to get an Indian taco - something I grew up with in Oklahoma, but rarely see now that I live in New England. Frybread is just perfect for sopping up buffalo chili and salsa and melted cheese. Yum! My daughters had a grilled cheese and a peanutberry (peanut butter and whole summer berries) on thick, homemade whole wheat bread and a side of sweet potato fries. A small market area also sells White Earth Nation and Red Lake Nation products.

Back down a long ramp under the Gathering Space atrium, there are two floors of exhibit space that trace the Pequot Nation from the last Ice Age to the present day. The impressive, recreated pre-colonial Pequot Village would probably be the most memorable part for most people, my kids included, but I was struck most by an audio/visual presentation in a mock farmhouse about the tribulations of the people during the 20th century. I think most Native American history, when you can get it at all, focuses on the devastations of Native communities during the colonial or westward expansion periods. Rarely are we encouraged to ask what was happening with Native people in 1920 or 1940 or 1960, and yet the legal and cultural blows were still being delivered.

My girls also loved the outdoor 1780s Farmstead exhibit.

The "Mission Mishoon" dugout canoe in progress

Another striking exhibit was the Portrait Gallery which consists of large black and white photos of current Pequot tribal members, young and old. The Pequots are a particularly racially diverse tribe, and seeing a presentation of cohesive tribal identity amongst such a diverse-looking group of people was inspiring. The same was true of the dancers in the Gathering Space above when we followed the sound of drums back up the ramp to take our seats around edge of the atrium.

My daughters (ages 6 and 8) were enthralled with the dancing. The younger one was totally Team Jingle Dance and the older was Fancy Shawl all the way. We skipped out before the group round dance at the end because the girl were begging to see the Observation Tower before it closed at 4:30, but I couldn't keep them from dancing down the hallway, across the parking lot, and at the rest stop McDonalds on the way home.

Dancing

The Educational Pow Wow (and the Museum as a whole) provided a great opportunity to have several good talks with my girls about appreciating without taking, about Halloween costumes, and about Native Americans being "a people with a past, not of the past." We enjoyed ourselves, but we also definitely learned a lot.

For more photos, click here to see The Norwich Bulletin's photo gallery of the Pow Wow.

Birchbark Books & Native Arts

photo from Facebook

Name: Birchbark Books & Native Arts
Tribe: All, but primarily Ojibwe and Lakota/Dakota/Nakota
Location: 2115 West 21st Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55405
Type: Bookstore
Visiting Info: Open daily 10am-6pm, Thursdays until 8pm
Contact: Website, telephone 612-374-4023

Birchbark Books & Native Arts in Minneapolis is an independent bookseller than specializes in Native literature, languages, authors, and publishers. They also provide Native arts, herbs, gifts, jewelry, and community events.

Their website begins with this mission statement: "Birchbark Books is operated by a spirited collection of people who believe in the power of good writing, the beauty of handmade art, the strength of Native culture, and the importance of small and intimate bookstores. Our books are lovingly chosen. Our store is tended with care."

With cozy chairs and interesting artwork, a handmade wooden canoe hanging from the ceiling, and perhaps a collection of dogs onsite, the store looks like a reader's dream come true. There is also a loft with a "hobbit hole reading nook" just for children.

Birchbark is owned by author Louise Erdrich, who is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. She writes novels, short stories, poetry, young adult and children's books. According to Wikipedia, in addition to many other awards, she received the National Book Award for Fiction for her novel The Round House, and her novel The Plague of Doves was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. She posts her thoughts on the books she's reading and recommends titles on the store's blog.

Ms. Erdrich and her sister also run Wiigwaas Press, which sells it's Ojibwe-language books through the Birchbark store and online shop. Online sales and shipping are available to Canada and the US.

Resources:

Indian Country Today article from Dec. 14, 2011, "Shelf-Promotion: Famed Novelist Louise Erdrich's Bookstore Stocks Great Native Books."

Birchbark Books on Facebook
Birchbark Books on Twitter
Louise Erdrich on Goodreads

Sealaska Heritage Institute's Walter Soboleff Center

Opening Day Ceremonies, May 15, 2015
photo from Facebook

Name: Walter Soboleff Center of the Sealaska Heritage Institute
Tribe: Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian
Location: 105 S. Seward Street, Juneau, AK 99801
Type: Cultural Heritage and Research Center
Visiting Info: Summer hours: 9am-8pm, daily. Admission: $5, Seniors $4, children under 7 free.
Contact: Website, telephone 907-463-4844

Newly opened on May 15, 2015, the Walter Soboleff Center is Sealaska Heritage Institute's brand new 29,000 square foot cultural arts center in downtown Juneau, Alaska. The Center will serve artists, educators, students, community members, and visitors by providing space for exhibits, art demonstrations, ceremonial events, cultural presentations, and a retail shop. There is also a research facility with archival work and storage space and a Native languages program.

photo from Facebook

The place is so new their website isn't even complete, and I found most of the visiting information listed here on their Facebook page. The beautiful new building in downtown Juneau is named in honor of Tlingit civil rights activist and community leader Walter Soboleff and stands as "a physical manifestation upholding the traditional Native values he held dear."

Artist demonstration in the Center on Free First Friday, June 5.
photo from Facebook

Sealaska Heritage Institute is the non-profit arm of the Sealaska Corporation, a for-profit, Native-owned economic development and resource management corporation. SHI administers Sealaska's cultural and educational programs. Language restoration is the primary focus of the Institute, but they also support Native artists, sponsor historical and archival projects, and host the biennial Celebration. The next Celebration will take place in Juneau June 8-11, 2016.

Resources:

Walter Soboleff Building on Twitter
Juneau Empire article from May 17, 2015, "A 'great day for Alaska': Hundreds gather to celebrate dedication of Walter Soboleff Building."

KTOO Public Media slideshow from May 15, 2015, "Slideshow: Soboleff Building Grand Opening."
SHI's website on Alaskan Native Artists

Travel Journal: Peabody Essex Museum

If everything is bigger in Texas, then everything is just a little bit smaller in New England. This is especially true of the pockets of Native culture quietly persevering across the region. 

Small tribal museums are tucked away in towns all around the Northeast if you go looking: The Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Museum in Mashpee, MA, the Tomaquag Museum in Exeter, RI, the Tantaquidgeon Museum in Uncasville, CT, the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum in Warner, NH, and the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, ME. [Please let me know if I'm missing anyone! I'd be grateful for the info.] 

On the other hand, the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center in Ledyard, CT, is a substantial, anchoring institution for the region. And a few other prominent organizations have important presentations on Native culture within their programs. The Wampanoag Homesite at the Plimoth Plantation comes to mind.

One little gem within a larger institution is the current Native American art exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA. It's quite small - only one room of the museum - and only a portion of their whole Native American art collection, the rest of which is not on display. Even their Oceanic Art collection, into which they categorize their South Pacific Native art, is not currently on display. However, the pieces I was able to enjoy there were definitely worth the morning I spent driving up to Salem to see them.

East India Marine Hall, the original exhibit hall

As I wrote in a previous post, The Peabody Essex is one of the oldest continuously operating museums in the United States and has one of the oldest collections of Native American art. The PEM got its start in 1799 when the East India Marine Company was chartered from Salem's community of shipping captains with the provision to create a museum from the interesting things they brought home from their world travels.

Richard Orr's model of Cleopatra's Barge, the first private ocean-going yacht built in America. Constructed in Salem in 1816, it was eventually sold to King Kamehameha II, who renamed it Ha'aheo o Hawai'i ("Pride of Hawaii"). A life-size recreation of the Barge's stateroom, including some original furnishings, can also be seen at the PEM.

As a result of this shipping and trading history, the collection is not representative of local tribes, but is made up primarily of art and cultural artifacts from the Pacific region (in addition to their larger collections of maritime and Asian export art). Much of their work focuses on pieces that were created by indigenous people specifically for trade, and then relating that historical art to contemporary pieces from the same tribes.

Heiltsuk dancer's mask from coastal British Columbia about 1845.

photo from pem.org

The current exhibit is Raven's Many Gifts: Native Art of the Northwest Coast. It showcases traditional and contemporary art from Pacific Northwest tribes, focusing on themes of "Living Stories, Family Connections and Market Innovations." The exhibit explains central concepts of Northwest tribal art, such as formlines, the dark bands of color that outline the image, and the prevalence of family crests and insignia, most of which include specific animals such as Raven.

Richard Hunt and John Livingston's piece Door (1984) illustrates some of these concepts. Killer Whale and Raven are commonly featured in traditional stories and family crests. Killer Whale, carved by Livingston on the outside of the door, sometimes embodies the souls of deceased chiefs, and Hunt painted Raven on the inside of the door. Raven appears on his Kwakwaka'wakw father's family crest. The art on the door is a continuance of the storytelling about these animal characters and their connections to the artists' families.

It was once common for PNW tribes to tattoo their family crest motifs on their faces and bodies, but when missionaries and other colonists in the 19th Century started pressuring them to stop, Native people created jewelry like these bracelets to display their family crests without attracting the negative attention of their colonizers.

In the 1800s, Haida artisans started making fancier forms of their traditional pipes to sell to sailors and travelers as curios or souvenirs. The boar on this pipe may have been influenced by the figureheads of the ships and the houses are Euro-American style to appeal to their customers.

One of the most beloved pieces from their previous and highly successful Shapeshifting exhibit is now on display as part of Raven's Many Gifts. Nicholas Galanin's (Tlingit/Aleut) "Tsu Heidei Shugaxtutaan part 1 and part 2," which translates to "We Will Again Open This Container of Wisdom That Has Been Left in Our Care" (2006), is comprised of two videos, one of a breakdancer over traditional Tlingit music and the other of a traditional dancer in regalia dancing to EDM. The piece is also online, and can be viewed here.

Galanin's Bear Mask Vol. 9 (2006) is also in the exhibit. The piece is a modern twist on traditional Tlingit woodcarving by using laser cut pieces of paper to form the mask.

This exhibit, like PEM's other recent Native Art exhibits, pushes itself to turn a very old collection of curios from white traders and explorers into a modern conversation with living Native artists that discusses the meaning and self-representations within the classic forms and contemporary twists in tribal art. As former Deputy Director and Curator of Native American Art John R. Grimes said in his essay, "Curiosity, Cabinets, and Knowledge: A perspective on the Native American Collection of the Peabody Essex Museum,":

The new paradigm opens the locked doors of the cabinet, allowing us to move beyond possessive knowledge of objects and admitting new relational knowledge and aesthetic experience.

My only disappointment might be that my tuna wrap and can of soda in the Atrium Café were underwhelming. There is a fancier Garden Restaurant with beautiful outdoor seating in the Asian Garden and Terrace, but I had to pick my kids up from school and didn't have time for the linen-napkin treatment so I can't comment on the quality. Considering the rising popularity of Native cuisine and the fact that no place in Boston is doing it yet (the Pequot Museum has the Pequot Café), the PEM might consider treating patrons to some truly local fare. Don't mind me suggesting that Sherry Pocknett has a catering company in Mashpee that specializes in traditional Wampanoag cuisine! I might drive up just for lunch if I could get smoked mussels and johnnycakes with cranberry chutney.

Beautiful spot for lunch, though.

Raven's Many Gifts: Native Art of the Northwest Coast is on display at the Peabody Essex until December 27, 2015.