Sarah Fry’s Blog

Watching that YouTube video about Native American art displayed in a museum made me want to find a Native American museum. Low and behold, I came across the Frisco Native American Museum & Natural History Center. The museum, located in Frisco, California, “is a non-profit educational foundation created for the purpose of preserving Native American artifacts, art, and culture.” The site has pictures of the museum and what is housed inside of it. Pictures reveal original Native American jewelry, blankets, pottery, dolls, paintings, and other interesting artifacts.

Not only does the museum have visuals for its visitors, but a walking trail as well!

And Native American workshops, Scout badge work, school science projects, Native American studies, programs for the visually impaired, and special events such as powwows.

I have been saying this ever since I started this blog, but it’s great to see an organization that is trying to build awareness of the Native Americans. I would love to visit a Native American museum. Being able to witness Native American artifacts and presentations would be interesting!

Sources:

Frisco Native American Museum and Natural History Center. (2004). Retrieved October 27,2008,

from http://nativeamericanmuseum.org/index/htm

I found this interesting video on YouTube. It honors contemporary Native American art and showcases their work that has been put in the Eiteljorg Museum. The video builds an awareness of the art Native Americans make, and their art does not just include “beads and feathers”, as the video says. The artists create sophisticated works of art as would any other artist.

Check it out! — Eiteljorg Museum celebrates Native American contemporary art

Sources:

YouTube. (2008). Retrieved October 13, 2008, from http://www.youtue.com/

I stumbled across an organization known as the Massachusetts Center of Native American Awareness. It is an interesting site that was set up as a way to support Native Americans who strive to keep pride in their culture as well as a way to educate other people about the Native American culture. Anyone can become a member of the organization, all they ask is that you support Native Americans and the organization!

The organization provides programs, like a newsletter, cultural arts program, a youth empowerment and enrichment program, and a public awareness program. I thought the cultural arts program sounded neat, but I would since I like art. This program provides:

“An opportunity for “cultural expression” by Native Americans. It is also an opportunity to bring awareness to the general public about Native American tradition and culture. The Cultural Arts program includes a number of initiatives such as Native American pow-wows, festivals, concerts, and art exhibits. These activities serve as forums for Native American artists, dancers, craftmakers, etc. to come together and exhibit their skill and share their culture. They also provide opportunities for the general public to share in the rich cultural heritage of the Native American.”

The site also provides information about events that are scheduled, a link to make donations, and a link to view previous newsletters. It is so cool to find an organization out there that wants to support Native Americans and raise awareness about their culture! After all, that is what I am trying to do here with this blog. You should go check out the site, and possibly help out by supporting Native Americans and their culture!!

Sources:

Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness. (n.d.). Retrieved October 24, 2008, from

http://www.mcnaa.org/index.html

I stumbled across Native American Nations, which is a site that is like a portal to web pages either created by the tribes or web pages devoted to that specific nation. I was browsing all of the sites that were created by the people of the nations themselves and stumbled across the Accohannock Native Americans and their very own website. It was really cool to see that there are tribes out their that maintain their own website as a way of showing their existence. The Accohannock actually have their own mission statement…

“The Accohannock Indian Tribe shall preserve and promote its history, language, traditions, and culture; foster sound education, health, social, and economic well-being of individuals and the tribal community, and with trust and integrity, aspire to achieve self-sufficiency and self-determination.”

I thought it was awesome to see how dedicated they are to their tribe and to building an awareness. The Accohannock are a Native American tribe located in Marion, Maryland and survived basing their lives off of the Chesapeake Bay waters. The site gives an interesting history of the tribe; read about it by following this link.

This tribe puts pride into what it does by hosting an annual festival and powwow. Members of the tribe actually go to schools and other civic groups to make appearances and give presentations. But what I found most fascinating was their plan to build a “living village” for the tribe in Maryland, near the Pokomoke River. This is their way of wanting to educate the American people about the Accohannock people. Here are some of their plans–

“The village will be very much like an early Algonquin speaking-Eastern Woodlands Indian village, with longhouses, wickiups and gardens surrounded by a palisade fence. This will be an authentic working village with demonstrations of daily life like basket weaving, cooking, dancing, gardening, hunting & fishing.

A main building will house a museum for artifacts collected and owned by the Tribe and classrooms where Native arts and crafts will be taught. A snack bar will serve Native foods such as corn, squash, wild rice, wild game, fish, oysters, and crab. Powwows and special events will be presented in the dance circle.”

It is unfortunate that the plan for the living village has not yet been put into action. Being that Maryland is close to New Jersey, I really want to visit the land and be able to witness what it has to offer! It really sounds like it will be very interesting and educational!! But it really makes me happy to see that the Accohannock tribe is so motivated and willing to show their daily lives. To me, this is definitely something to take pride in.

Here is a picture of the future site of the Accohannock Tribe…

Sources:

Accohannock: Native American Future Living Village. (n.d.). SkipJack. Retrieved October 23, 2008, from

http://skipjack.net/le_shore/accohannock/

Native American Nations. (2008, September 16). Native Culture Links. Retrieved October 23, 2008, from

http://www.nativeculturelinks.com/nations.html

I found this interesting article from an Arizona newspaper, The Arizona Republic. It has to do with more people claiming themselves as Native American and how there has been an increase, as of 2007, of 7.7% (.4 million) since 2000. According to demographers, more people are claiming being of Native American descent because the fear of discrimination has dwindled.

More and more people want to define who they are, but some are claiming that people may be doing it for the money. Besides the fact that casinos ran by Native Americans are making an annual $20 billion, creating a concern that people just want part of the profit, there is another speculation…

“Cindy Yahola, also of Tennessee and a member of the Muscogee Nation, says she thinks some believe “if they identify themselves as Indian, they are entitled to something” like government money or preference for scholarships.”

I guess only time will tell the truth…

Sources:

Ross, J., & Carey, C. (2008, September 12). More claim Native American heritage. The Arizona 
          Republic. Retrieved October 22, 2008, from
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2008/09/12/20080912NativeAmerican0912.html 

Native American Indians. (2008). USA Tourist. Retrieved October 22, 2008,
         from http://www.usatourist.com/english/inside/indians.html

Native Americans are known for their beautiful jewelry. Jewelry inspired by the Native Americans has been around for years and years, and I doubt the fashion trend will die down any time soon. Their use of the turquoise stone is just exquisite, and has been quite popular ever since it was used as an accessory. I did some research on how turquoise started being used as a piece of jewelry. I found some excellent information on Native American Market that was quite interesting.

Turquoise started as a popular item with the Southwest Indians of Arizona, who used the stone to embellish their headdresses and hand-made necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. Archaeological digs have actually proven that turquoise was used for religious purposes as well. Turquoise stones are still used to this day and jewelry is created by the Native Americans containing the stone as the main focal point.  The tribes of the Navajo and Pueblo actually use the stone as a sign of wealth; it is to be worn to all significant ceremonies.

I found this very interesting…

“Modern Pueblo Indians consider turquoise to be sacred and scatter chips or the powdered stone during special prayers and about their shrines. Its blue color is one of their sacred colors and one of the most sticking features of the regalia (costumes) at a dance is their turquoise jewelry.”

It is fascinating to think of all the Native American contributions. Turquoise is definitely one of those contributions and something that has been adapted by the Americans. The article actually mentions how the Spanish settlers reported the Native Americans using the stone as a form of embellishment. Most likely, the settlers took the idea and created their own jewelry off of that. One can find turquoise jewelry anywhere–as it has become a universal accessory, but always remember that it started with the prehistorical Southwest Native Americans.

Sources:

The History of Turquoise Jewelry. (2003-2008). Native American Market.
     Retrieved October 21, 2008, from 
     http://www.native-american-market.com/turquoise.html

Turquoise Stones. (2005-2008). Marshu. Retrieved October 21, 2008,

from http://www.marshu.com/articles/turquoise-jewelry-natural-stone.php

Have you ever wondered the history of the dream catcher and what the tradition really is? Well lucky for you, I found that out! I came across this cool site called Dream-Catchers that tells you all about the dream catcher–even how to make one. Here is a little description from the site that explains the meaning of the fascinating decoration:

“The traditional dream catcher was intended to protect the sleeping individual from negative dreams, while letting positive dreams through. The positive dreams would slip through the hole in the center of the dream catcher, and glide down the feathers to the sleeping person below. The negative dreams would get caught up in the web, and expire when the first rays of the sun struck them.”

For generations, the dream catcher has been a part of the Native American culture. The symbol of the hoop, meaning unity and strength, is very meaningful to Native Americans, which began the foundation of the dream catcher. The original dream catcher was created from willow, feathers, arrow heads, beads, animal fur and what ever else the Native Americans could find to decorate it.

“Long ago when the word was sound, an old Lakota spiritual leader was on a high mountain and had a vision. In his vision, Iktomi, the great trickster and searcher of wisdom, appeared in the form of a spider. Iktomi spoke to him in a sacred language. As he spoke, Iktomi the spider picked up the elder’s willow hoop which had feathers, horsehair, beads and offerings on it, and began to spin a web…When Iktomi finished speaking, he gave the elder the web and said, The web is a perfect circle with a hole in the center. Use the web to help your people reach their goals, making good use of their ideas, dreams and visions. If you believe in the great spirit, the web will filter your good ideas and the bad ones will be trapped and will not pass.”

This belief was passed on from generation to generation. Many Native Americans have dream catchers hanging above their beds to protect them from evil dream. I think I have five of them scattered all over the place, with one hanging from the ceiling above my bed. I think they are so pretty and have such a neat story behind them. It’s cool how the dream catcher has become so universal in society.

The site gives directions on how to make an authentic dream catcher. It seems like it would turn out well! I have made one before, but it was from a kit. They are fun to make and you’ll be happy with the end results!

Sources:

Dream-Catchers. (2003-2008). Retrieved October 17, 2008, from
 http://www.dream-catchers.org/

Tepees of the White Mountain Apache

I wanted to get a little more “personal” for this post and focus on an Apache Tribe. I stumbled across the White Mountain Apache Tribe of Arizona. They actually have their own site explaining their history and culture, their reservation, and their current tribe. Their reservation is actually open to people to come visit if they are interested. It provides a museum, outdoor recreation, a casino/resort, and a resort in the mountains (which is a well known area for skiing). It is awesome to see that tribes are still in existence.

Reading about the tribe (scroll down to bottom) today was interesting. It consists of about 15,000 members, with many still living on the Tribal Lands and others living and working all over the world. Public school services are provided to the children at the Whiteriver Unified School District and the Cibecue Community School. There are also other educational services provided and run by the Indian Education Division of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

“Our reservation consists of 1.67 million acres (over 2,600 square miles) in east-central Arizona . It ranges in elevation from 2,600 feet in the Salt River Canyon on the southwest corner of the reservation to over 11,400 feet at the top of Mount Baldy , one of our sacred peaks. It includes some of the richest wildlife habitats in the state, and more than 400 miles of streams.”

Being aware that there are still tribes in existence really makes me want to visit them. The land seems beautiful and the White Mountain reservation seems so inviting and welcoming.

Image of White Mountain

Sources:

White Mountain Apache History. (n.d.). White Mountain Apache Tribe. Retrieved October 16, 2008, from
http://www.wmat.nsn.us/wmahistory.shtml

I wanted to focus this post on the music of the Native American culture. I found a neat clip on YouTube of New Age music the came from a CD. The clip provides music accompanied by clips of Native Americans dancing and engaging in rituals.

While researching contemporary Native American music, I stumbled upon Keith Secola. He is a successful musician and seven-time Native American Music Awards winner:

“Award-winning musician, master guitarist and native flute player; singer, songwriter, composer and producer. His music is familiar to thousands of fans across North America and Europe, where he’s been playing his brand of progressive music in concerts to a cult following for many years. Keith’s famous song, “NDN Kars”, is considered the contemporary Native American anthem and is the most requested song on Native radio in the US and Canada.”

The site is pretty cool. You can listen to clips of his music, look up his tour dates, and even purchase his CDs. It is amazing how successful he has been with his career!

Keith Secola

When ever I think of Native American music, I think of the many times I have heard Native American musicians playing the flute. I have been lucky to listen to this beautiful music at flea markets and fairs. When I hear them play it is so calming and relaxing–it could almost put me in a daze! I highly recommend listening to Native American music containing flutes if you are ever stressed because it is very meditating.

Sources:

YouTube. (2008). Retrieved October 13, 2008, from http://www.youtue.com/

Keith Secola: Contemporary Native American Music. (1998-2007). Retrieved October 13, 2008, from http://www.secola.com/home.cfm

Good Morning! I wanted to start off by providing information about the “federally recognized tribes” as of 1998. This website, Native Americans, provides TONS of past and present information about Native Americans. If you click on the provided link, you will see a list of, as of 1998, recognized tribes. I would list all of the tribes, but quite surprisingly the list is very long! The site also provides education about Native American culture, language, art, places, events, and documents. So, go get educated!

Below is a map of North America and where certain tribes were/are located. You can view the map in a bigger size here.

North American Tribe Map

Sources:

Native American Nations. (2007). Native Americans. Retrieved October 10, 2008, from http://www.nativeamericans.com/Nations.htm

Native American Images. (2007). Native Americans. Retrieved October 10, 2008, from http://www.nativeamericans.com/NativeAmericanImages6.htm