Visit To A Cultual Institution

On Sunday February 24th 2008, three of my friends and I visited the George Gustav Heye Center of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian. This institution is located on the first and second floors of the historic Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House at One Bowling Green, next to the Battery Park in lower Manhattan. This is the second museum of its kind that is located in New York City. The first was opened in 1923 and was located on 155th avenue between Broadway and Amsterdam. According to a long time security guard and New York native Mr. Ron Doman, the original museum was much bigger and presented information on all the indigenous tribes that occupied our continent. However, the new and current museum that was opened in 1994 lacks most of the original artifacts and is mostly based on beauty and art. It celebrates the creativity of Native Americans and explains how the different objects on display connected the many communities, lands, customs and ancestors.

There are eleven tribes that were represented in this exhibition and they lived along the north pacific coast and extended all the way to parts of Washington State, up into Canada, through British Columbia and into Alaska. The tribes include the Haida, Tlingit, Nisga'a, Gitxsan, Tsimshian, Nuxalk, Heiltsuk, Kwakwaka'wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth, Makah and Coast Salish. The different sections focused on several categories. They include, The Elegance of Presentation, Design of Identity, Recreation and Past Times, Containing Culture, Nurturing Identity, The Power of Transformation, The Tools of Existence, Communication through Sound, Expression of Movement and Honor and Respect. Although the communities of the North Pacific have much in common, each has its own unique language, identity, history and beliefs.

The elegance of Presentation deals mostly with adornment which is an expression of community and self identity. Items such as headbands, hats, jewelry and other accessories were used by women to express who they were and where they were from during their daily lives, social gatherings and while traveling abroad. These acts reflect cultural ideas and beliefs and can make one's status known throughout the community. It also expresses a woman's individual creativity. Although those items are amazingly beautiful, it doesn't all matter on what she wears but how she wears it.

Design as Identity deals with the way the Native Americans integrated new materials and designs into their creations and at the same time make them culturally unique. Native artists used materials from Europe and Asia and included glass, beads, dyes, silk ribbons and Chinese coins. A lot of original pieces were modified by using those items.

Native people also played a lot of games for recreation. The winners of these games whether they were one on one or in the form of teams, were decided by the special skills or powers they exercised. Games were also played to resolve clan rivalries, and to develop skills that would then be used for hunting and basic survival skills. Many games that are played today are of native origin. Two of which include lacrosse and basketball. Even today, native people play games at social gatherings and festivals. There are certain games for children and grown ups and even break down further into male and female categories.

In many pictures of Native Americans we would notice some sort of bag or carrying case. These were used to carry items such as tools, knifes, food, medicines, herbs, household items, clothing etc. Great skill and care was taken to produce bags and containers of many different shapes and sizes. They were not only beautiful but also represented where a person came from. Because of the originality of each tribe, native people were able to identify each other by looking at the decorations of their bags and clothing, or the materials used to make it.