Food and Drink War and Peace
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NATIONAL MUSEUM Of ThE AMERICAN INDIANSUMMER 2018 FooD AND DrINk Healthy Eating ANd SOvEREIgNTy ThE Persistence Of ChIChA + WAr AND PeAce hUMbLE Hero Of d-Day NAvAjO Treaty Of 1868 JOIN TODAY FOR ONLY $25 – DON’T MISS ANOTHER ISSUE! NATIONAL MUSEUM of the AMERICAN INDIANFALL 2010 DARK WATERS THE FORMIDABLE ART OF MICHAEL BELMORE EXPLAINING ANDEAN DESIGN THE REMARKABLE LARANCE SPECIAL ISSUE ............................... FAMILY DECEMBER INDIANS ON THE POST ART OFFICE MARKETS WALLS + A NEW VANTAGE POINT ON CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS JOIN TODAY AND LET THE MUSEUM COME TO YOU! BECOME A MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL • 20% discount on all books purchased MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN from the NMAI web site FOR JUST $25 AND YOU’LL RECEIVE: • 10% discount on all purchases from • FREE 1 year subscription to our exclusive, the Mitsitam Café and all NMAI and full-color quarterly publication, American Smithsonian Museum Stores Indian magazine • Permanent Listing on NMAI’s electronic • Preferred Entry to the NMAI Mall Member and Donor Scroll Museum at peak visitor times Join online at www.AmericanIndian.si.edu or call toll free at 800-242-NMAI (6624) or simply mail your check for $25 to NMAI, Member Services PO Box 23473, Washington DC 20026-3473 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 17 NMAI_FALL15.indd 16 2015-07-17 1:00 PM Contents SUMMER 2018 VOL. 19 NO. 2 18 10 ON THE COVER NATIONAL MUSEUM O F THE AMERICAN Traditional food and drink continue to sustain Indigenous identity and cultural (and political) survival. This richly carved Inka qero (wooden drinking cup) shows a mule team hauling house SUMMER 2018 beams to the highlands as a Native woman offers a INDIAN drink of chicha to the mule drivers. Colonial Inka ceremonial drinking cup. AD 1550- FOOD 1800. Near Cusco (Cuzco); Peru. Wood, paint, tree AND DRINK pitch/gum. Carved, painted, aboriginally repaired. HEALTHY EATING AND Collection history unknown; purchased by MAI or SOVEREIGNTY THE PERSISTENCE its agent from an unknown source in Hamburg, OF CHICHA Germany, in 1929 using funds donated by Mrs. George (Thea) Heye. 9.1" x 22.4". 16/6132. + This item is currently on view at NMAI – N.Y. WAR AND PEACE HUMBLE HERO OF D-DAY NAVAJO TREATY OF 1868 2 AMERICAN INDIAN SUMMER 2018 10 THE PERSISTENCE OF CHICHA From dank chicherias in small towns to gourmet big-city restaurants catering to tourists, the traditional fermented-corn beverage chicha is still being drunk throughout the Andes. It is no longer the medium of reciprocity that oiled pre-colonial social bonds, but it is still a standard for Indigenous identity. 18 FOOD SOVEREIGNTY Traditional agriculture and cuisine are integral to tribal culture. Recovery of these roots is also preserving the well-being and identity of many Indian peoples. 24 THE OLD PAPER: THE NAVAJO TREATY OF 1868 Naal Tsoos Saní, the “Old Paper” in the language of the Diné, is the Treaty of 1868 that ended the Navajo peoples’ forced relocation to the Bosque Redondo. Although it is the legal foundation of the modern Navajo Nation, its limits on traditional Diné sovereignty are still intensely debated. The 20-page document, recently displayed in the exhibit Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations at the Museum on the National Mall, is moving to the Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock, Ariz., for the 150th anniversary of its signing. 32 MEDIC AT D-DAY: THE HUMBLE HEROISM OF CHARLES SHAY For more than 60 years, Charles Shay (Penobscot) couldn’t talk about his horrific experiences on Omaha Beach during the largest seaborne invasion in history. 24 Now he performs a smudging ceremony at the annual D-Day observances in Normandy, France, in honor of the 175 American Indians who landed that day. The French have dedicated a park overlooking the beach, in his, and their, honor. 40 INSDE NMAI: EVENING AT THE MUSEUM An after-hours party at the Museum on the National Mall drew a lively crowd to view The Americans exhibit behind the scenes, to enjoy food and drink and generally to enjoy themselves. 42 EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS 32 CALENDAR SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 3 .............................DIRECTOR’S LETTER LIVING OUR TREATIES mong the many visitors we wel- come at the Museum – and we hope to see a great many of you this summer, from families and Astudents to tribal delegations – some bring us profound reflections on our current situa- tion. One such group came recently from the Navajo Nation. To support the ongoing conversation sur- rounding the exhibition Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and Ameri- can Indian Nations, we have made a practice of opening our collections facilities and ex- hibition cases to assist Native communities in explaining how treaties remain central to daily life today. We rely on many supporters to present original treaty documents at the Museum, including tribal leaders, exhibition project donors and our steadfast partner here in Washington, D.C., the National Archives and Records Administration. It was my privilege to host leaders of the Navajo Nation and many others at the Mu- seum this February for an event honoring AMERICAN INDIAN THE MUSEUM OF THE NATIONAL FOR AP IMAGES MORIGI, PAUL BY PHOTO the 150th anniversary of the Navajo Treaty of LEFT TO RIGHT: Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye, Director Kevin Gover, Navajo Nation Vice President 1868. By placing the treaty on display in the Jonathan Nez, and Darren Pete, director, Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs–Indian Affairs, Depart- gallery, along with a weaving and loom made ment of the Interior, in the Nation to Nation gallery. More than 100 citizens of the Navajo Nation convened at the Museum to take part in the installation of the Naal Tsoos Saní, or Navajo Treaty of 1868 on Feb. 20, 2018. by Juanita, the wife of Navajo leader Manu- elito in the late 1800s – an equally significant approved by the U.S. Senate) from 1777 to The fundamental tenets of early treaty mak- symbol of diplomacy – we engage visitors 1868 enshrine promises our government made ing – the recognition of tribal governments and with the living history of these objects. By the to Indian Nations. But they also recognize Indian consent – are alive and well…at least time you read this, the treaty will be on its tribes as nations – a fact that distinguishes trib- for the moment. The future is untold, and ul- way to, or housed within, the Navajo Nation al citizens from other Americans, and supports timately the gains of Native Nations in modern Museum in Arizona, the first time it has been contemporary Native assertions of sovereignty times are set in fragile beads rather than carved on display there. and self-determination. in stone. Yet there is optimism in Indian Country We realize our mission to the fullest Far from being dusty documents of dubious that Americans will come to better understand through such exchanges with tribal com- relevance, treaties are legally binding and still their shared history with Indian Nations and munities and the public. I have written much in effect. Repeatedly recognized by the courts that, as a result, they will join Native people in about the topic of treaties and treaty making, as sources of rights for Indian people and their celebrating and upholding the rights enshrined and I would like to share the following excerpt Indian Nations, treaties carry the weight of the in treaties. from my foreword to the Nation to Nation past and test the strength of our nation’s com- To learn more about the 2018-19 schedule catalogue that asks (and answers) the ques- mitment to honesty, good faith and the rule of for treaty installations within the Nation to tion, “Why treaties?” law. Promises between the leaders of nations, Nation gallery or the exhibition-related cata- Treaties rest at the heart of Native American treaties inscribe solemn vows that cannot lightly logue, blog posts or symposia webcasts, visit history as well as contemporary tribal life and be broken or ignored – a verity that Supreme AmericanIndian.si.edu. X identity. The approximately 368 treaties that Court Justice Hugo Black recognized in 1960 Kevin Gover (Pawnee) is the director of the National Museum were negotiated and signed by U.S. commis- when he declared, “Great nations, like great of the American Indian – Smithsonian. sioners and tribal leaders (and subsequently men, should keep their word.” 4 AMERICAN INDIAN SUMMER 2018 Be Part of a Historic Moment Native Americans have participated in every major U.S. military encounter from the Revolutionary War through today’s conflicts in the Middle East, yet they remain unrecognized by any prominent landmark in our nation’s capital. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian will create that landmark: the National Native American Veterans Memorial. The anticipated dedication of this tribute to Native heroes will be on Veterans Day 2020. “We invite you to participate in this historic moment— for our country, for veterans, and for the Native American communities whose loyalty and passion have helped make America what it is today.” —Kevin Gover, Director National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is depending on your support to CREDITS honor and recognize these Native American veterans for future generations. Left | Native American Women Warriors lead the grand entry during a powwow in Pueblo, Colorado, June 14, 2014. From left: Sergeant First Class Mitchelene BigMan (Apsáalooke [Crow]/Hidatsa), Sergeant Lisa Marshall Learn more (Cheyenne River Sioux), Specialist Krissy Quinones (Apsáalooke [Crow]), and Captain Calley Cloud AmericanIndian.si.edu/NNAVM (Apsáalooke [Crow]), with Tia Cyrus (Apsáalooke [Crow]) behind them. Photo by Nicole Tung.