American Indian Shell Gorget

ARTIFACTS AND OBJECTS OF THE WORLD

Name: American Indian shell Gorget

Origin: Northern California, (United States)

Museum: California State Indian Museum, Sacramento, California (United States)

Material: abalone shell

Dimensions: 10.795 x 7.62 cm. (4 1/4 x 3 in.)

Reference code:  BWH-18-AT-1-SL

Age: Pre-contact

Collector: Benjamin Welcome Hathaway, 1881-1959

Digital collection: Press here 

Comments:

A shell gorget is a carved pendant typically worn around the neck and frequently engraved, sometimes highlighted with pigments, and usually pierced. Many gorgets from Northern California tribes were made from the Haliotis or abalone shell, a material used to make many types of beads for jewelry and decoration for women's ceremonial skirts. Traditionally, both men and women wore these types of gorgets for personal adornment. Current regalia makers still use abalone shell as a decorative element.

Shell gorgets were most common in Eastern Woodlands of the United States, during in the Hopewell tradition (200 BCE–500 CE) and Mississippian cultural period (ca. 800–1500 CE); however, tribes from other regions and time periods, also carved shell gorgets. The earliest shell gorgets date back to 3000 years BP. They are believed to have been insignia of status or rank, either civic, military, or religious, or amulets of protective medicine. Due to the placement of the holes in the gorgets, they are also thought to be spinners that could produce whistling sounds.

Lightning whelk (Busycon contrarium) is the most common shell used for gorgets. Other shells, such as the true conch or Strombus, as well as freshwater mussels, are also carved into gorgets. Today, due to environmental causes, harvested lightning whelks are significantly smaller than in pre-contact times. These earlier shells typically ranged from 6 to 12 inches in length.

Harvested off the coasts of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, the shells were traded through the Eastern Woodlands. This native trade continued into the 16th century.

Gorgets are carved from the penultimate whorl of the shell. A blank is cut or broken out, then ground smooth. Holes for suspension and decoration are drilled, sometimes with a bow drills or chert drills. The gorget forms a concave shape and, when engraved, the interior is polished and decorated.

While most gorgets are circular, some are shaped as rectangles with rounded corners, maskettes, or other novel shapes. An extremely elaborate pendant from Spiro Mounds is shaped as two hands connected by a common beaded bracelet.

Iconography on the shell gorgets comes from the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (SECC). Extremely common designs include the triskele, coiled rattlesnake, water spider, chunkey player, and birdman, sometimes called a Falcon Impersonator.

There are over 30 pre-contact examples of the Cox Mound gorget style, found in Tennessee and northern Alabama and dating from 1250-1450 CE. The Cox Mound gorget style features four woodpecker heads facing counter-clockwise, a four-lopped square motif, and a cross within a rayed circle. The four-looped square, or guilloche, is considered by some to be a "whirling sun" motif, or a priestly or chiefly litter; by some, the earth held up by cords to the Sky Vault at the four cardinal points; and by others, the path of life with four stages of maturity. Woodpeckers are considered warrior birds among Cherokee and medicine birds that can extract illnesses among Muscogee Creeks. The birds are also sometimes interpreted as the four winds. The rayed circle or sun is interpreted literally, a deity or ancestors, council, and/or sacred fire. The entire design could also illustrate the Yuchi myth of the winds.

A gorget from the Castalian Springs Mound Site in Tennessee features a man holding a mace and severed head. This has been interpreted by some anthropologists as a "flying shaman."

Some agreement can be found in interpreting the cross-in-circle design, which references the sun and the ceremonial fire, fed by four logs aligned to cardinal directions. Another design widely agreed upon is the water spider with a cross-in-circle design on its cephalothorax. The spider gorgets illustrate a traditional story, common to many southeastern tribes from the Atlantic Coast to Missouri, about the water spider bringing fire to humanity.

About the California State Indian Museum:

The California State Indian Museum displays exhibits illustrating the cultures of the state's first inhabitants. California's prehistoric population, one of the largest and most diverse in the Western hemisphere, was made up of over 150 distinct tribal groups who spoke at least sixty-four different languages. California Indian population estimates, before the arrival of the first Europeans, were at least 500,000 people.

California Indian cultural items in the museum include basketry, beadwork, clothing and exhibits about the ongoing traditions of various California Indian tribes.  Descendents of the first Californians, tens of thousands of them, still live in California and still cherish and carry on their unique cultural heritage. Indigenous people have donated many photographs of family, friends and memorable times for use in the museum. A section of the museum features a hands-on area, where visitors can try their hand at using Indian tools, such as the pump drill, used for making holes in shell beads and other materials; the mortar and pestle and soap root brush, made from the soap root plant, all used for grinding acorns.

The California State Indian Museum is located in the downtown area of Sacramento at 26th and K Streets.

© Text and image: California State Indian Museum and Wikipedia

Cajun crawfish boil

RECIPES – Cajun crawfish boil

Cajuns (in French: les Cadiens or les Acadiens) are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles (French-speakers from Acadia in what are now the Canadian Maritimes). Today, the Cajuns make up a significant portion of south Louisiana's population, and have exerted an enormous impact on the state's culture.

While Lower Louisiana had been settled by French colonists since the late 18th century, the Cajuns trace their roots to the influx of Acadian settlers after the Great Expulsion from their homeland during the French and Indian War (1754 to 1763). The Acadia region to which modern Cajuns trace their origin consisted largely of what are now Nova Scotia and the other Maritime provinces, plus parts of eastern Quebec and northern Maine. Since their establishment in Louisiana the Cajuns have developed their own dialect, Cajun French, and developed a vibrant culture including folk ways, music, and cuisine.

The crawfish boil is a celebratory event where Cajuns boil crawfish, potatoes, onions and corn over large propane cookers. Lemons and small muslin bags containing a mixture of bay leaves, mustard seeds, cayenne pepper and other spices, commonly known as "crab boil" or "crawfish boil" are added to the water for seasoning. The results are then dumped onto large, newspaper-draped tables and in some areas covered in spice blends. Also, Cocktail sauce, mayonnaise and hot sauce sometimes used. The seafood is scooped onto large trays or plates and eaten by hand.

Attendees are encouraged to "suck the head" of a crawfish by separating the abdomen of the crustacean and sucking out the abdominal fat/juices.

Ingredients:

• 2 heads garlic, unpeeled
• 5 bay leaves
• 2 (3 ounce) packages dry crab boil
• 1 tablespoon liquid shrimp and crab boil seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 large oranges, halved
• 3 large lemons, halved
• 2 large whole artichokes
• 15 red potatoes, washed
• 30 pieces baby corn
• 2 large onions, sliced
• 2 (16 ounce) packages mushrooms, cleaned
• 1/2 pound fresh green beans, trimmed
• 2 (16 ounce) packages smoked sausage, cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 4 pounds live crawfish, rinsed

How to prepare it:

Fit a large (5 gallon) pot with a strainer insert, and fill half full with water.

Add the garlic, bay leaves, dry and liquid crab boil seasonings, salt, pepper, oranges, lemons, artichokes, and potatoes.

Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer, and cook for 20 minutes.

Stir in the corn, onions, mushrooms, and green beans; cook 15 minutes more.

Stir in the sausage; cook 5 minutes more.

Add the crawfish, return mixture to boil, then simmer until the crawfish shells turn bright red and the tails pull out easily, about 5 minutes.

Test for doneness by peeling a crawfish.

Be sure not to overcook, or crawfish will become tough.

Remove strainer basket from the pot and drain.

Serve crawfish hot, Louisiana-style, spread over a picnic table covered with newspapers.

© Text and image: Allrecipes.com, wikipedia

Ki‘i Hulu Manu

Name: Ki‘i Hulu Manu

Origin: Hawaii

Museum: The Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii (USA)

Materials: wood and bird feathers

Comments:

Feathered image of Kūkā‘ilimoku (Kū the land grabber), war god of Hawai‘i island.

The early Polynesians who came to the islands of Hawai‘i eventually created full, and often distinct, communities on each island. While there was contact, interaction and exchange between the islands, as a general rule, political control was at the moku (large land division within an island), or sometimes island, level. During the eighteenth century however, one of the most renowned kāula (prophet, seer) from Māui predicted the coming of one who would bring all of the islands under his rule; who would bring peace through unification. During this era, in the court of Kalani‘ōpu‘u was a young boy named Kamehameha. He was a strong and brave youth and was soon assigned to the renowned warrior Kekūhaupi‘o to train in the arts of battle. He was also assigned kāhuna to teach him the ways of the gods.

The powerful god Kūkā‘ilimoku (Kū-snatcher of islands) was one important path to power of the ali‘i nui at this time. Prior to his death, Kalani‘ōpu‘u bequeathed care of his lands to his son Kīwala‘ō, but significantly, left this god of war and politics to Kamehameha. Kamehameha and his kāhuna cared for this god with the utmost austerity and were rewarded with great success in battle. After a series of battles, Kīwala‘ō was killed at Ke‘ei and eventually control of Hawai‘i Island came to Kamehameha. Kamehameha carried his efforts at unification on to Māui and defeated the warriors under Kalanikūpule at the famous battle of ‘Iao. He was not able to take Māui at the time however, as he was called to return home to put down an uprising there.

After several unsuccessful battles with his brother Keoua Kuahu‘ula, Kamehameha took a reprieve from warfare and sought the advice of his kahuna Kapoukahi. This kahuna advised Kamehameha to build a great house for his god Kūkā‘ilimoku. This act would ensure his ultimate victory over all the islands. The entire district was called forth and labored to build the massive Pu‘ukoholā heiau at Kohalā. Upon completion this intense structure stood approx. 200 feet by 100 feet and commanded awe from all who saw it. The structure however, and the god it housed, lacked one thing, an appropriate sacrifice. Kamehameha called his brother Keoua to the heiau and indeed Keoua complied. He was killed on arrival, laid upon the alter, and the dedication was complete. Kamehameha had earned the support of Kūkā‘ilimoku.

With the full power of his war god behind him, Kamehameha launched his massive Peleleu fleet of warships. Upon landing on Māui the ships were said to cover the beaches from Launiupoko to Mala. Kamehameha continued on to Moloka‘i and then launched his decisive battle against Kalanikūpule at O‘ahu. After defeat at Nu‘uanu, Kalanikūpule was later taken and offered in sacrifice to Kūkā‘ilimoku. With only Kaua‘i remaining not under his rule, Kamehameha again launched his fleet. This attempt would be unsuccessful, as a great storm would sink much of the fleet. Later, after a meeting of the two great ali‘i nui, an agreement was made to allow Kaumuali‘i to rule over Kaua‘i until his death at which time Kaua‘i too would be given over to Kamehameha. With this Kamehameha had fulfilled the prophecy and created the Kingdom of Hawai‘i, over which peace would rule for most of the next century.

© Photos and text: www.hawaiialive.org

Weaving heritage

Exhibition: Weaving Heritage: Textile Masterpieces from the Burke Collection
Dates: Saturday October 2, 2010 to Sunday February 27, 2011

Place: The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture,

Admission:  $9.50 general admission, open daily 10 am to 5 pm

Webpage: http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum

About the exhibition:

The first major exhibition of the museum's international textile collection, will display textile masterpieces from the peoples of the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific Islands.

The Burke Museum, this year celebrating its 125th anniversary, has been collecting international textiles for over a century and holds a permanent collection of over 2,000 hand-woven pieces. The Burke textile collection has been widely used for research, but most of these works have never before been on public display. In Weaving Heritage, for the first time, 130 of the most beautifully designed and culturally significant textile masterpieces from the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific Islands will be displayed at the museum.

Weaving Heritage provides museum visitors with a rare opportunity to see outstanding examples of traditional textile arts from Indonesia, Micronesia, Japan, Mexico, Guatemala, China, Tibet, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and Native American tribal groups including the Salish, Tlingit, Haida, Navajo, and Hopi.

Textiles are complemented with examples of traditional looms, weaving tools, and touchable materials. A hands-on area allows visitors to try simple weaving activities, handle fiber samples, and learn about weaving techniques through video and other resources.

For many thousands of years, people all over the world have woven animal and plant fibers into cloth. Hand-woven textiles are closely identified with cultural identity, ethnic pride, technical artistic mastery, and community history. However, in the past 150 years, factors such as the introduction of cheap, machine-made textiles, changes in the availability of traditional materials, the influence of foreign fashions, and economic and political strife in many nations have threatened the survival of hand-woven textile traditions.

In recent decades, some communities have witnessed a resurgence of their weaving heritage, as national governments provide support for training programs, microcredit and financing programs encourage small business development, and community weaving associations use the Internet to market their textiles and reach an international clientele.

© Text and image: The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture

Raven's Tail Bag

Name: Raven’s Tail Bag

Origin: South-East Alaska

Date: contemporary

Museum: Sheldon Jackson Museum, Sitka (Alaska)

Materials: wool of mountain goat

Comments:

A Raven’s Tail bag made by Teri Rofkar is the Sheldon Jackson Museum’s Artifact of the Month for November. The bag, part of the museums Hands-on collection, is made with deer skin, white sheep’s wool, brown buffalo wool, yellow-green dyed wool, and trimmed with sea otter fur. The weaving in the center is “Shadow in Trees” pattern. Rofkar, a Tlingit weaver from Sitka has been weaving Raven’s Tail robes, and spruce root and cedar bark baskets for many years.

Although contemporary art is not, as a rule, collected for the museum’s permanent collection, a Raven’s tail bag has been on the wish list for many years. It will be of great value for the museum’s education collection, for use with school groups, and an example of modern regalia based on ancient techniques and materials. Each November the museum exhibits of one its Native American objects to highlight the diversity of Native cultures of North America in recognition of National American Indian Heritage and Alaska Native Heritage Month.

Raven’s Tail, also identified as “Northern Geometric weaving” is one of the oldest forms of weaving by the Tlingit. Thigh spun warps and weft strands of wool from mountain goat make up the textile. These bags were used as medicine bags, ceremonial clan regalia, and dance bags worn over the shoulder and resting at the hip. The Friends of Sheldon Jackson Museum donated the Raven’s Tail bag to the museum’s Hands-on Collection after facilitating an exchange with Rofkar of Tlingit basketry materials which they had purchased.

The Raven’s Tail Bag can be seen at the Sheldon Jackson Museum November 2 through November 30. Winter hours are Tuesday through

© Photo and text: Sheldon Jackson Museum

Native North American Footwear

Exhibition: Beauty, Identity, Pride: Native North American Footwear
Dates: Permanent exhibition

Place: The Bata shoe Museum, 327 Bloor St. W, Toronto (Canada)

Admission:  $14

Webpage: www.batashoemuseum.ca

About the exhibition:

Created by Indigenous peoples from diverse regions of North America, ninety pairs of shoes, boots and moccasins will showcase exquisite craftsmanship, regional patterns, and beautiful decoration. The exhibition features rarely seen artifacts chosen entirely from the Bata Shoe Museum's foremost and comprehensive collection of Native footwear.

A unique feature of the exhibition, Discovery Drawers allow visitors of all ages to learn, discover, and in some cases touch materials that amplify the content of the gallery. Your exhibition visit will be enhanced by a direct experience with the materials and artifacts:

Learn the origin of natural dyes and pigments in the American Southwest

Discover which fur trade items ended up on moccasins in the Northeast

Touch moosehair, caribou fur and a child's moccasin from the Subarctic.

You'd be surprised at the amount of variation in Native North American footwear. Our collection is one of the world's most extensive, and we've chosen some beautifully crafted examples which will change the way you think about moccasins! Here's a sampling of what's on view.

About the Museum:

The Museum's collections have grown over the years and now number over 12,500 artifacts: far too many to be all on display at once! In order to highlight different aspects of the collections, we offer three time-limited changing exhibitions as well as one semi-permanent exhibition.

© Text and image: The Bata Shoe Museum

Indian or Native American?

Lecture: Indian or Native American?  Deconstructing Stereotypes about American Indians

Speakers: Raney Bench and James Eric Francis

Date: September 28th

Place: The Abbe Museum Community Gallery, 26 Mount Desert Street, Bar Harbor, Maine, US

Webpage: www.abbemuseum.org

Admission: Free

Comments: 

Join the Abbe Museum for a special program presented by Raney Bench and James Eric Francis, Sr. , Penobscot, that aims to deconstruct stereotypes about American Indians. This FREE event, intended for adults and teens, will take place from 6:30-8:00 pm on Tuesday, Sept. 28th in the Abbe Museum Community Gallery on 26 Mount Desert Street, Bar Harbor.

In Indian or Native American? Deconstructing Stereotypes about American Indians, Abbe Museum Curator of Education Raney Bench and Tribal Historian for the Penobscot Nation James Eric Francis, Sr. will present a skit and lead a discussion highlighting all those questions people are afraid to ask about Indians.  The introductory skit aims to address some common stereotypes while creating a comfortable and open atmosphere that encourages the questions and discussion that form the second half of the program.

Stereotyping is a learned form of classifying and labeling others based on inaccurate information or assumption rather than on factual knowledge. Stereotypes, both good and bad, are damaging because they ignore individual differences and assume that all people in a given category are alike.  Stereotyping can lead to prejudice, followed by discrimination in the forms of racism, sexism, or discrimination against foreigners, for example. Part of the program's conversation includes an explanation of the difference between the human tendency to categorize and the potentially harmful effects of generalization.  By directly addressing these stereotypes, this program aims to encourage a better understanding of American Indians.

The partnership of Raney Bench and James Eric Francis Sr. allows for a highly educational evening, as Bench's expertise enables her to address questions guests might have about sensitive issues regarding Native Americans in the United States; while James Eric Francis Sr. provides an important perspective and wealth of knowledge about Penobscot history and culture. 

About Abbe Museum:

The mission of the Abbe Museum is to inspire new learning about the Wabanaki Nations with every visit. The Abbe has a collection of over 50,000 archeological, historic, and contemporary objects including stone and bone tools, pottery, beadwork, carved root clubs, birch bark canoes, and supporting collections of photographs, maps, and archival documents. It holds the largest and best-documented collection of Maine Native American basketry in any museum. Its collections conservation program is recognized nationally as a model for museums. 

© Text and image: Abbe Museum

Lei Niho Palaoa

Name: Lei Niho Palaoa

Origin: Hawaii, Polynesia

Date: 200 BC - AD 800

Museum: Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii (US) Material: Ivory (spermwhale), hair, textile, plant (olona) 

Dimensions: 26 x 14.2 cm Comments:
Hawaiian society under the ‘Aikapu system was stratified according to rank. An individual’s rank was not determined by wealth or gender, but by genealogy. Those of the highest rank could trace their genealogy all the way back to the beginning of time, to the very first organism to inhabit the earth, even to the primordial darkness preceding all life. These genealogies were recorded in chants called ko‘ihonua that glorified Ali‘i bloodlines, ancestors, and their decedents.

Ali‘i, like other strata of Hawaiian society, were not all of similar rank. The highest Ali‘i were the Mō‘ī, or supreme rulers. They were often nī‘aupi‘o chiefs, having being conceived through the union of high ranking siblings. These nī‘aupi‘o chiefs were considered to be Akua (Gods) on earth, and as such, they had to keep strict kapu, or taboos, least the welfare of their people and lands be compromised. Also, because ruling was a kuleana (responsibility, right), many chiefs would go to great lengths to ensure their kapu were kept. For example, for those whose kapu forbade their shadow falling on another human, they would often leave their kauhale (housing complex) only after the sun had gone down so that their shadow could not be cast. Ruling in Hawai‘i was not just about luxury, as the Mō‘ī had an inter-dependent relationship with the maka‘āinana (common people). The commoners provided the resources that the Mō‘ī would use to mālama their people and the Gods.

There might be one Ali‘i Nui ruling over an entire island, or several each with their own moku (large land division within an island). Lesser Ali‘i, known as kaukau ali‘i might rule over an ahupua‘a, smaller land division, or an ‘ili, an even smaller land division within an ahupua‘a. Unlike the Ali‘i Nui, the Kaukau Ali‘i often did not have strict kapu. In fact, many Kaukau Ali‘i were not of much higher rank than the konohiki, or resource managers, who dealt directly with the maka‘āinana.

One important symbol of rank for the highest Ali‘i was the lei niho palaoa, a whale tooth pendant. The carved hook pendant is strung on thousands of finely braided strands of human hair. These significant lei were worn by Ali‘i of both genders. These whale teeth were collected from carcass that would wash ashore at specific places in the islands. These wahi pana (sacred places) were considered important areas to control in order to have access to the mana that these items brought. Control over these spots, like Kualoa on O‘ahu, might mean control over the entire island.

The strands of hair of this particular necklace are braided in varying thicknesses. A knot of olona (Touchardia latifolia) used to bind the strands of hair together with the pendent can be seen at this junction. The olona tying cords are wrapped with black ribbon. Through Queen Emma's will, this and many other cultural objects, were passed to Princess Pauahi, with the provision that it go to a museum in Hawaii's future.

© Text and image: www.bishopmuseum.org and www.hawaiialive.org