American Folklife
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1992 Festival of American Folklife SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION FOR CARMEN Smithsonian Undersecretary Carmen lamer greets Vice President Dan Quayle at the 1991 Festival ofAmerican Folklife. At home in official and unofficial roles. Carmen enjoyed and supported theFestival. She liked to visit with her family, and last year, as in previous years, she brought her granddaughters. Carmen's support continues to sustain us. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 1992 Festival of American Folklife June 25-June 29 July 2-July 5 Complimentary Copy Co-sponsored by the National Park Service Contents INTRODUCTORY STATEMENTS Cultural Diversity and Dialogue: The Role of Museums 4 Robert McC. Adams, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution The Quincentenary: Understanding America's Cultural Heritage 6 Manuel Lujan, Jr., Secretary oj the Interior Festival <>l American Folklife: Not Just a Festival Unkind Kurin 7 Thinking Back a Bit IIiws Lomax Halves 12 NEW MEXICO The Great Loom: Weaving the Cultural Landscape of New Mexico Andrew Wiget 15 The Virgin <>l Guadalupe Andrew Wiget 17 The Klobase Festival ofDeming, New Mexico: A Time to Celebrate and Remember Stephan Moore 20 Blackdom Philippa Jackson 21 Seeking Life Tito Naranjo 23 The Sephardic Legac) in New Mexico: The Story of the Cryptojews Stanley M. Hordes 25 El gran telar: Tejiendo el paisaje ( ultural de Nuevo Mexico Translated by Jose Griego 29 The Indo-Hispano Legacy oi New Mexico Enrique />. Lamadrid 30 La Music a de los Viejitc >s: I he Hispano Folk Music ol the Rio Grande del Norte //nl; Loeffler 33 Religion in Communit) Celebration Jose Griego 37 La Vida Buena ) Sana: Curanderas y Curanderos Tomds Atencio 39 Adobe Alberto 1). Parra 4(1 Acequias Patricia D'Andrea 42 Mining Folklore Patricia Musi( 43 The Folklore <>l the Oil Industry Jim Harris 44 UFOs and Nuclear Folklore Pete) White 45 Preserving Traditional Culture in New Mexico Claude Stephenson 46 Pueblo Pottery: Continuing a Tradition Tessie Naranjo 48 Ganados: Revitalization ol Rural Life in Northern New Mexico Maria Varela 49 The Santa Fe Railway and Tourism in New Mexico Peter White 50 Cultural Tourism and Self-Representation Tedjojola 51 Language and Storytelling Jose Griego 53 MAROON CULTURE IN THE AMERICAS Creativity and Resistance: Maroon Culture in the Americas Kenneth Bill>\ and Diana Band N'Diaye 54 Maroons: Rebel Slaves in the Americas Richard Price 62 The Political Organization of Maroon Communities in Suriname H.R.M. Libretto 65 Arts of the Suriname Maroons Sally Price 67 Maroon Societies and Creole Languages Ian Hancock 70 The Maroons and Moore Town Colonel C.L.G. Harris 73 The Accompong Town Maroons: Past and Present Colonel M.L. Wright 74 Statement by Gaanman Joachim-Joseph Adochini, Paramount Chief of the Aluku (Boni) People 75 Statement by Gaanman Gazon Matodja, Paramount Chief of the Ndjuka (Aukaner) People 76 Statement by Gaama Songo, Paramount Chief of the Saramaka People 77 Maroon Struggle in Colombia Gabino Hernandez Palomino 78 Texas Seminole Scouts Charles Emily Wilson 80 NATIVE AMERICAN MUSIC The Changing Soundscape in Indian Country Thomas Vennum, Jr. 81 A Hopi in Two Musical Worlds Jacob Coin 93 Cherokee Hymn Singing in Oklahoma Charlotte Heth 95 WHITE HOUSE WORKERS Making the White House Work Marjorie A. Hunt 98 Workers at the White House ,4 Photo Essay by Roland Freeman 104 Festival of American Folklife Front cover photo: Each December in many New Mexico com- © 1992 by the Smithsonian Institution munities, worshipers celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Editor: Peter Seitel Guadalupe. In Tortugas, participants gather at the tiny cap/7- la where the Virgin's image is kept. Photo by Russell Bamert Style Editor: Arlene Reiniger Coordinator: Franceses McLean Back cover photo: Friends and kin of a Ndjuka Maroon Designer: |oan Wolbiei woman help prepare her garden for planting rice near Assnltiiii Designers: Rebecca Lepkowski, Aim I lansen Diitabiki, Suriname. The garden is in a section of Amazonian Typesetter: Harl< twe rainforest that has been cleared by burning. Printer: Schneidereith & S. ins Photo by Diana Baird N'Diaye Typeface: New Baskerville Paper.LOE Dull Insert: ( Irossepointe Genesis Husk Cultural Diversity and Dialogue: The Role of Museums Robert McC. Adams Secretary, Smithsonian Institution An important challenge before museums life in the Americas. The programs on New Mexi- today is to find ways to address themselves to the c c i. Marc ic >ns in the Americas and the ( Changing increasing diversity, and at the same time the Soundseape in Indian Country illustrate impor- growing interdependence and vulnerability, <>I tant historical and ongoing processes through soi ial life everywhere. Museums need to be pub- whie h c nullities establish cultural identities in licly in ognized as important institutional means complex and dynamic social circumstances. by which groups in our very pluralistic so< iety < an Ihe Spanish Conquest established [he West- define themselves and find plans within the ern Hemisphere's European presence and us i hanging dynamics oi contemporary life. most widely spoken language. While' the original All museum visitors benefit from carefully conquerors' c iilture did not value- the Native cul- resean lied and innovatively presented exhibi- tures it encountered, ovei the < enturies segments ts his m which individual social groups define a\\i\ ol I lispanic and Native American and later Eng- represent themselves through dialogue with lish-speaking and othei populations have, ol si e holars, urators and the public . Broad educa- nee essitv . engaged one another in ways that have tional goals are served by dire( ting public atten- given rise- to today's lie h arrav of c ultural identi- tion to constituent groups of this culturally ties. New Mexico's distinctive ( ultural landsi ape- divei se Mil iety a\\<\ to die complex variet) ol ways has taken shape in this way, and today is c om- they combine to < reate so< ial life. Sua esslnl exhi- posed ol some peoples who sustain cultural iden- bitions ol this sort should enable us to review, tities through centuries-old combinations ol Indi- revise .aid broaden public discourse. an and European forms of thought and a< lion, The festival ol American Folklife has always and ol others whose basis ol identity lies in reaf- been guided by this set of concerns and, indeed, firming the wisdom and relevance ol ancestral lias pioneered the type ol dialogue now i e< og- ways, lint in all New Mexicans, as in people every- nized as basic not only to the health ol out muse- where, e ultural ide-ntitv rellec ts the- c hanges dial ums bin also lo the health ol our soe ictv as a continue to be wrought from the- varieties of their whole. And ii is in this perspei tive thai I find die SO< ial ene i ninlei s. constellation ol groups assembled ai this Festival Nowhere is the connection between i nativity quite remarkable. and self-definition more clear than in ihe- c ultural The Columbus Quincentenary we mark ihis identities ol contemporary Maroon peoples, year gives us pause to reflect on the forces thai whose ane esiors esc aped plantation slavery in the ovei die past 500 years have shaped today's social Americas and founded independent societies. Faced with the task of constructing and defend- symbol, executive office and conference center, ing their positions. Maroons creatively defined < eremonial setting, museum, tourist attraction themselves from a variety of sources. While their and family residence. At the Festival we recognize political institutions, expressive arts, religions and the culture of White House workers, who have other social forms were predominantly African in supported this broad array of functions over a origin, they drew from a broad range of African span of history shaped bv remarkable events, peo- cultures, and from European and Native Ameri- ple and social change. White House workers have can cultures as well. Much of the aesthetic com- been part of this history, and with their labor and ponent of Maroon cultures — their vibrant tradi- dedication have made the White House work. We tions of verbal and visual arts — encourages the honor White House workers and their venerable cohesiveness of their society and voices themes workplace with a living exhibition that presents that embody common experience and interest. some of the skills, experiences and values "The Changing SoundScape in Indian Coun- through which they give shape to their occupa- try," produced jointly with the National Museum tional identities and call our attention to an of the American Indian, explores ways that Indi- important human component ol the 200 year an musicians and their communities have cre- institutional history atively adapted elements from the musical tradi- Pausing to mark these anniversaries, muse- tions brought to this continent from Europe, ums should consider self-representations of cul- Africa and elsewhere. Although many of the ture such as these for what they tell their audi- forms of this Indian music are non-Indian in ori- ences about our changing social life, for what gin, the themes and performance styles clearly they can leach us about creative adaptation and address Indian experience and aesthetic expecta- self-definition, and especially for what they con- tions. In their creative hands, external musical tribute to the role of museums as forums for cul- influences become part of the self-definition of tural dialogues. If museums, like the Festival, can Indian identity and trenchant commentary of provide models for public discourse, raise cultur- what has been happening in "Indian Country" al issues to national and international conscious- over the past 500 years. ness, and enable cross-cultural communication This year also marks the 200th anniversary of and understanding, if not respect, they will then the White House, it too a legacy of our complex have helped in guiding all of us forward to the past.