Claudia Arevalo-Lowe

English 101,

S. Martinez

Having traveled and studied throughout all of Central America, parts of South America, England, New Orleans and California, gives me a different perspective on peoples and cultures. Through these experiences my affinity for the Native Americans is higher than for any other culture. Of all the stories circulated through history and word of mouth, I have found that depending on the area they lived in their occupation varied. They had several things in common such as their love and respect for nature, their spirituality, how proud they were, their own costumes and their own legends. Some of them were friendly, some of them were not, and they had certain areas which they preferred compared to others as those areas suited their needs.

To further knowledge on the matter, and through the school, a visit to the Southwest Museum was arranged. Learning that the museum itself was a repository for archeologists who would bring their findings into the place not only to reposit but to study the items as well was the first thing we were to learn. As we walked into the museum I learned that the people who inhabited the southwest were very versatile in the knowledge and use of their natural surroundings, especially where trees, plants and berries were concerned. Seeing myself going through the woods looking for materials which would provide me with health, food, shelter, and clothing as well as spending hours on end not only collecting the materials, preparing them, working them, cooking, rearing the children and traveling as I did all of the above seemed not possible to me. Not being able to actually understand this process can be attributed to the wonderful 20th century and its commodities.

The next fascinating fact I came across was when we were shown a piece of Nopal in which this particular little insect makes its home. This insect’s "house" is a tiny white dot that makes the Nopal look like it has a very bad case of acne. Nevertheless, once the "house" is scrapped off of the Nopal and rubbed against the skin, paper, etc. it becomes one of the most beautiful burgundy hue’s ever seen. This color was used by the natives not only to decorate their faces, their mouth or what have you, but when discovered by the Europeans, became a very sought after substance and color. As we were told, the frenzy with this discovery was so great that England had its military coats made out of that color.

I was transfixed with the basket weaving and the knowledge that the makers used both sides of the brain producing some of the most incredibly wonderful creations which do not get as much attention as other forms of art. Each basket is different from the other, and those who are knowledgeable on the subject, can tell you exactly who made the basket as the design was somewhat a signature. As I walked through the exhibit, it became obvious how the basket design and colors changed the more these people traded with others. As one walks through the exhibit, one sees the European influenceinfluence as dyes, very symmetrical shells, feathers and beads are used in some of the later works. At one point in time, some of these people stopped creating and started imitating as evidenced on the display where a weaved bottle is displayed.

I believe that there is still a lot more to see and investigate on the subject which is not currently on display, has gone to different museums, and private collectors. It is my understanding that these baskets are incredibly expensive now days. These baskets were used for trading purposes even though some of them were used for their own survival. While collecting acorns, these people would carry exactly the same weight in acorns as their own weight. However, how could they tell the weight of a person in proportion to the acorns I do not know.

California was not only rich in culture but in plants as well. Two-thirds of the plants are in this State and natives had a use for most of them (if not all). A woman would generally know about 320 plants, how to use them, what their uses were for construction and weaving, including their medicinal properties, how to prepare them, how to work them, how to conserve them, and how to eat them. However, we were told thatthey were not Horticulturists.

We moved to the main floor wherein I found some of the most fascinating articles on display giving me a broader view of how the work of these people changed as time passed by and newcomers kept arriving, influencing and conquering these people. Another thing that struck me as peculiar is that there was no pottery worked, and very little jewelry. There was no articles of clothing displayed and the few items displayed for cooking were amazingly rudimentary, the changes that came later are very subtle and yet noticeable. They developed a very efficient way to work rabbits’ skin to make it durable so they could keep themselves warm, among other uses.

Continuing with the trading, one of the items that the natives traded was Abalone which they pried from the sea by using whale bones. These were (and still are), very tradable and expensive articles. There were other uses for the Abalone as well, you could use it as a present or to dish something out. There was a problem with Abalone though, the holes on the shell. To resolve the problem, tar was used not only to close the holes on the shell but to seal whatever object they decided to put in the shell. In some instances if the Abalone was broken, the pieces were collected and used in different ways. One way was to put the borken pieces inside another Abalone shell and seal it with tar. The rest of the pieces were used as jewelry by the women or made into fishing hooks.

While in the basket room, I saw a "purse" type object which was used as a dance purse. So, of course, I asked what it was used for. This little "purse" was used as a drum during the sacred White Raindeer dance even though I could not find out how exactly it was used. This gave way to a new series of articles which were used at the time for dance rituals. As an example, we were shown three different objects; the first one was a series of shells through a string that was to be worn on the ankle and would make a great sound while dancing. The second one were the 2 shells tarred together with something inside, possibly little stones, that went through a stick and when moved made a very distinctive sound, and last but not least, there were the deer hooves attached to a pole which would rattle as it moved. Incredibly ingenious, I thought, as I pictured myself participating on the selection, gathering, preparation and making of these articles.

The most unique product of the area was the Plank Canoe which was made only by the Shumash and the Gabrielinos. The difference between the canoes is very minimal and can be told only by the bow. These canoes were well built and durable. The men would cut the trees, carve them and then tarred them one on top of the other and when completed they would decorate the boat as appropriate. Because tar has always been readily available in the area, several of the articles made contained tar. Men did not wear any cloth while fishing as they believed that if they were in danger to drown, they did not want anything pulling them down. On this same line, we were shown also some of the fishing nets used at the time.

After we dispersed as a group, I continued going through the museum and paid attention to a different room. This room was filled with history of later years. In one of the displays the many tools women had to work with were very abundant and many in number giving me a glimpse of how diverse they were and helped me to understand how the tools contributed to the gathering of plants and roots. During the 1830s the work in general was somewhat rudimentary even though beautiful. After 1850, embroided decoration using smaller beads became very popular. The displays of handiwork produced by some of these tribes is breath taking. Incredible as it may be at this point in time, I have continuously been surprised by the sites and the works, even though several years had passed between each one of the displays, the sense of beauty and travesty is undeniable. The most magnificent dresses displayed were made between 1870 and 1880 and belonged to the Lakota tribe. One of the dresses made me wonder, for the millionth time, how much time, work, patience and skill these women had, making the work itself more admirable. I learned from one of the displays that the Northwest Coast is completely different.

In this same room I found obvious evidence that the Thingit, Tsimshian, Northwest Coast, Haida, and the West Coast inhabitants had a completely different styles, colors, textures and production from each other on their basket weaving. Why aren’t these articles in the basket room is not known. As I continued through the exhibit, more and more wonders kept on grabbing my attention and I realized that my desire to know more about Native Americans had intensified.

Upon departure, I left with the distinct impression that during the time I was at the museum I had not absorbed nearly as much as there was to be absorbed, observed and learned. I decided I would come back at a later date and, at my leisure, would go through it one more time. As of now, what I have seen and learned seems of small quantity compared to the overall content of the museum.

The people of the Southwest plains were very peaceful and knowledgeable, who made a living out of trading and were the best artisans in the world. The tradition of basket weaving and knowledge of the plants and trees used for the building of the basics is still being kept alive by a small group of people who devotes their time, knowledge and efforts in preserving this particular aspect of a culture which has taken severe beatings throughout history. As history is written from the point of view of the conqueror, I want to learn what is the point of view of the conquered, and only then, I can have knowledge. Until that point, I have only an incomplete opinion.