American Indian Spring 2001 Celebrating Native Traditions & Communities On the Powwow Keeping Traditions Alive ê 3 Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian I he Spirit St ries rh<* Crow buffalo legacy blanket is the second in live Æ Spirit Series lour double saddle blankets created bv prominent Native American artists to honor the spirit ol Iile tlval runs through a tribe and its people. gR" 1 he Crow buffalo blanket Mi* measures ob x 30 • Iq learn m tm>re about this blanket and other Spirit Series blankets, please visit our Web site at wvvw.college(unil.fug or call 1 Hoo-880 -;887. î ? y '■* This blanket has a story to tell. On a day one hundred and fifty years Inspired by this legacy, Crow master ago, the Crow people came to be surrounded by artist Kevin Red Star has designed this signed a fearsome, seemingly insurmountable enemy. and numbered, limited-edition blanket made Plenty Coups, our leader, found all exclusively by Pendleton Woolen Mills for the his tactics and wisdom of no use against these American Indian College Fund. i . S s ■. imposing warriors. Our people’s destruction 70% of the proceeds from the sale of seemed certain, when from the south we heard this blanket go to fund our colleges and schol­ a rumbling and saw an approaching dust cloud arship programs, crucial in helping our people on the horizon. learn the skills they need to be self-sufficient. The enemy watched in awe as a huge The Crow buffalo legacy is not myth herd of buffalo stampeded towards the battle or legend. It is reality as experienced by our scene and, without slowing, encircled our ancestors. We are part of a living, evolving culture, beleaguered warriors. and today we again look to the buffalo to help Seeing this fearsome alliance between sustain us. the Crow and the buffalo, the enemy took flight. Then Plenty Coups knew the truth of the pro­ phecy he had received as a child: 'Trust in the buffalo as an ally.” Cfthert /b ts<y a-riM ’ © CONTENTS Volume 2, Number 2, Spring 2001 DEPARTMENTS PERSPECTIVES............................................ 5 MUSEUM NEWS........................................6 COLLECTIONS.......................................... 20 COYOTE’S PLACE....................................22 CALENDAR OF EVENTS......................... 25 DID YOU KNOW?....................................29 GUEST ESSAY............................................ 30 Cover photograph: JJ Foxx/NYC FEATURES POWWOW -As the powwow season starts, Richard Peterson (Assiniboine/Sioux) takes us on the powwow trail from California to Maine. Peterson speaks with Rena Comes Last (Sioux), 86, who remembers the “good ol’ days” of packing up a horse-drawn wagon and heading for a powwow in the 1920s. Powwows today draw thousands of spectators, dancers, and vendors to city arenas or to rural reservation grounds. Anyone can go to a powwow today to watch the dances, eat a buffalo burger, or try on beautiful jewelry. Photos by Jeffrey Jay Foxx. 1 l""7 Defying the Myth of Extinction - Forty-two researchers traveled to Cuba to consult with traditional healers and Cuban medical doctors. At the same time, Taino descendants of the group met Taino villagers and made the connection that Taino people are alive and well despite myths that say they are gone. Valerie Taliman reveals that there are thousands of Taino descendants living in the Caribbean and the U.S. Panchito Ramirez (Taino) shares indigenous knowledge of plant medicines in Caridad de los Indios. Other Cuban researchers tell the group about plant and animal toxins to treat illnesses. Local traditional healers use scorpion venom as an anti-inflammatory agent to treat arthritis. Photos by Valerie Taliman (Navajo). Note: On page 14 of the last issue (Volume 2, Number 1 ), Bernard Lewis, tribal interpreter for the Pueblo of Acoma, was incorrectly identified as Everett Garcia, caretaker. We sincerely regret the error. Volume 2, Number 2, Spring 2001 Celebrating Native Traditions & Communities Airief ican Indian Editorial Board Editorial Committee I'll*» »l ld/rgHtsa» ?■«*»■■» Jl.TV.» Tim Johnson (Mohawk) James May Thomas W. Sweeney Ramiro Matos (Quechua) Karen Lincoln Michel (Keetoowah Band of (Citizen Potawatomi) Gabrielle Tayac (Piscataway) (Ho-Chunk) Cherokee) Millie Knapp Marty Kreipe de Montano José Barreiro (Taino) Luci Tapahonso (Navajo) (Kitigan Zibi Anishnabe) (Prairie Band Potawatomi) Charlotte Heth (Cherokee) Mark Trahant Terence Winch Russ Tall Chief (Osage) Leslie Logan (Seneca) (Shoshone-Bannock) Bruce Bernstein Edison R. Wato, Jr. (Zuni) Liz Hill (Red Lake Ojibwe) Board of Trustees Phyllis Young, Chair Vine Deloria, Jr., George Gund Mari Carmen Serra Puche (Standing Rock Sioux) (Standing Rock Sioux) Lawrence M. Small Hon. Ted Stevens James A. Block Charles M. Diker Hon. Daniel K. Inouye Luci Tapahonso (Navajo) Ellsworth Brown Jorge A. Flores Ochoa Peter J. Johnson Rosita Worl (Tlingit) Sheila P. Burke (Quechua) Loretta E. Kaufman Ofelia Zepeda Director: Duane Champagne Catherine S. Fowler Hartman Lomawaima (Hopi) (Tohono O’odham) W Richard West (Turtle Mountain Chippewa) Doug George-Kanentiio Henrietta Mann (Southern Cheyenne) Elouise Cobell (Blackfeet) (Mohawk) (Southern Cheyenne) Publisher: Elizabeth Duggal Editor in Chief: International Founders Council Thomas W. Sweeney Gene A. Keluche (Wintun) Charles M. Diker Peter J. Johnson Lewis S. Ranieri (Citizen Potawatomi) Co-Chair Valerie T. Diker Loretta E. Kaufman David Rockefeller I. Michael Heyman Joan C. Donner Victor A. Kaufman Ellen Napiura Taubman Managing Editor: Co-Chair John L. Ernst Mrs. Seymour H. Knox III William S. Taubman Millie Knapp (Kitigan Zibi Robert McC. Adams Margot P. Ernst Gerald M. Levin R. E. Turner Anishnabe) Ann Simmons Alspaugh Jane Fonda Ivan Makil (Pima) Thomas W. Weisel Coyote’s Place Editors: Barbara H. Block George Gund Nancy Fields O'Connor Peterson Zah (Navajo) Shawn Terrain (Lakota) and James A. Block Brian C. McK. Henderson ( Shawnee/Crow) Rosalind Begay Zah (Navajo) Barber B. Conable, Jr. Eugene Mercy Johanna Gorelick Calendar Edi tor: George Gustav Heye Cent er Board of Directors Russ Tall Chief (Osage) Barbara H. Block John L. Ernst Janet C. Krissel Ann R. Roberts Art Director: James A. Block Margot P. Ernst Barbara Riley Levin Jane F. Safer David Beyer (Cree) Wahleah Faulkner Davis Brian C. McK. Henderson Ellen Liman Ellen Napiura Taubman X2idea Inc., Toronto (Cherokee) Alan J. Hirschfield Nancy Fields O'Connor Ann G. Tenenbaum david@x2idea. com Charles M. Diker Loretta E. Kaufman (Shawnee/Crow) Valerie T. Diker Francesca Kress William A. Potter Membership/Circulation Manager: Edison R. Wato, Jr. (Zuni) National Campaign Honorary Committee Advertising Manager: The Rt. Rev. Ralph T. Coe Wilma Mankiller (Cherokee) Rabbi A. James Rudin Carol Grace Hicks Robert M. Anderson Kevin Costner José Matos Mar Douglas W. Schwartz (202) 357-3164 ext. 179 Mr. and Mrs. President Gerald R. Ford Paul Newman Sargent Shriver Robert O. Anderson and Mrs. Ford Arnold Palmer Martin Sullivan Production Management: Willard L. Boyd R. C. Gorman (Navajo) Janine Pease-Windy Boy Maria Tallchief (Osage) Richard Kirk (Tuscarora/Onondaga) President George Bush LaDonna Harris (Comanche) ( Crow) Stewart L. Udall Kirk/Marsland Advertising, Inc. Ben Nighthorse Campbell James A. Joseph President and Mrs. James D. Wolfensohn (Northern Cheyenne), Chair Doris Leader Charge Ronald Reagan Administrative Coordinator: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter (Rosebud Lakota) Robert Redford Leonda Levchuk (Navajo) President Bill Clinton George F. MacDonald W. Ann Reynolds American Indian (ISSN 1528-0640, USPS 019-246) is published quarterly by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), 470 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Suite 7103, Washington, D.C. 20560-0934. Periodical Postage paid at Washington, D.C.. American Indian is a benefit of NMAI membership and constitutes $8 of an individual’s annual membership. Basic membership is $20. Articles may be reprinted at no charge provided that by-lines are retained and the name “Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian” is fully credited. Letters to the Editor are welcome. Write to us at: NMAI, Office of Public Affairs, P.O. Box 23473, Washington, D.C., 20026-3473, telephone: (202) 357-3164 or e-mail letters to the editor to [email protected]. To become a NMAI Charter Member, call 1-800-242-NMAI (6624) or write NMAI, Member Services Department, P.O. Box 23473, Washington, D.C., 20026-3473, or visit NMAI’s Web site at www.si.edu/nmai. For change of address requests for Charter Members, please call 1-800-242-NMAI (6624) or e-mail us at [email protected]. Postmaster send change of addresses to American Indian, P.O. Box 23473, Washington, D.C. 20026-3473. 4 American Indian ® PERSPECTIVES Of One Blood and One Heart by Emil Her Many Horses TT ■ ~T hen Machi Yolanda Curinao JH j was asked, “What was your M / ■ j most memorable moment m/ ^ here in Washington?” she responded, “When Emil dressed in his Native dress.” Machi Gerardo Queupucura added, “It showed that we are all of one blood and of one heart; we are brothers.” As lead curator for the Our Universes exhibi­ tion, I have had the distinct pleasure to meet and work with spiritual leaders and elderly community members from eight Native groups from throughout the Western Hemisphere. The eight groups are Mapuche, Q’eqchi’ Maya, Quechua, Hupa, Santa Clara Pueblo, Anishinabe, Lakota and Yup’ik. The machis are spiritual leaders for the Mapuche people from Chile. I am grateful that Machi Yolanda and Machi Gerardo agreed to curate the Mapuche portion of Our Universes, one of three major exhibitions being developed for the new National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) currently under construction on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. On March 20, Machi Gerardo and Machi Yolanda, accompanied by Maria Catrileo, a Mapuche linguist from the University Austral of Chile who served as our translator, and Rene Machi Gerardo Queupucura and Machi Yolanda Curinao agreed to curate the Mapuche San Martin, an anthropologist and dose friend portion of the Our Universes exhibition, one of three major Mall exhibitions.