Native Education Resources for the Southwest Region
Art, Culture, Heritage, and History Resources
This section includes resources on the history of indigenous groups and organizations that promote contemporary art and culture. Since the traditions and experiences of the past are the roots of contemporary life, the past and present are intertwined. Most of the organizations here are museums or similar organizations.
Arkansas Archeological Survey
Tom Green, Ph.D., Director
Arkansas Archeological Survey
P.O. Box 1249
Fayetteville, AR 72702-1249
http://www.uark.edu/campus-resources/archinfo/
hadavis@comp.uark.edu
(501) 575-3556 / Fax: (501) 575-5453
The Arkansas Archeological Survey oversees the work of nine archeological research stations around the state. The state archeologist's office has information about specific research stations. Many staff members from these stations may be available to work with local schools. Teachers can request a packet that includes fact sheets on Indian mounds, archeology, a timeline of Arkansas archeological history, and other topics. Archeologists may also be able to gather specific information for teachers and can connect them with experts in many analytic sciences.
Arkansas Territorial Restoration Museum
Bill
Worthen, Director
Arkansas Territorial Restoration Museum
200 E. 3rd Street
Little Rock, AR 72201
http://www.artcom.com/Museums/nv/af/72201-a.htm
billw@dah.state.ar.us
(501) 324-9351 / Fax: (501) 324-9345
The Arkansas Territorial Restoration Museum is a state institution interpreting the frontier period of Arkansas history and telling the story of the artist and artisan traditions in the state through research, collecting, and education programs. The museum's research files and education programs emphasize the state's creative legacy, the people who lived in early Little Rock, and materials on the Native American experience in Arkansas.
Cannes BržlŽe Native American Center of the Gulf South
Annette
GrayHawk, Interpretive Consultant/Project Director
Cannes BržlŽe Native American Center of the Gulf South
Cannes BržlŽe Museum
303 Williams Blvd.
Kenner, LA 70062
(504) 468-7232 / Fax: (504) 471-2159
The Cannes BržlŽe Native American Center is a 16,000 square foot living exhibition. Local Native Americans dressed in period attire circa 1750-1815 demonstrate their cultural heritage through folk traditions, domestic and occupational crafts, and foodways. Visitors to the museum are able to see and talk with Native Americans as they construct traditional structures like the palmetto hut, a chickee, and a mud and moss house. Other activities include pirogue making, cypress dugouts and other woodcarvings, dancing, beading, tanning of hides, and basket making. The Center also offers group presentations, hosts a guest artist program on the weekends, and provides a resource center for teachers, students, and the general public.
Cherokee Heritage Center
Tom
Mooney, Archivist
Cherokee National Historical Society
P. O. Box 515
Tahlequah, OK 74465-0515
http://www.powersource.com/heritage/center.html
(918) 456-6007 / Fax: (918) 456-6165
The Cherokee Heritage Center features the Cherokee National Museum, tours through an ancient village and a rural village, and "Trail of Tears," an outdoor theater production about the forced removal in 1838 and 1839 of Cherokees and other tribal people from their homeland in the southeast to present-day Oklahoma. The ancient village is a re-creation of a Cherokee settlement in the 16th century, while the rural village depicts a small Cherokee community during the period 1875-1890. The museum presents the story of Cherokee people from man's arrival on the North American continent to the present day through displays of art and artifacts, audiovisual presentations, and multimedia exhibits.
Cherokee National Historical Society
Tom
Mooney, Archivist
Cherokee National Historical Society
Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 515
Tahlequah, OK 74465
Physical Address:
Wills Road
Tahlequah, OK 74464
http://www.powersource.com/heritage/default.html
tsalagi@netsites.net
(888) 999-6007 / (918) 456-6007 / Fax: (918) 456-6165
In 1963, a group of Cherokees founded the Cherokee National Historical Society, a private non-profit corporation designed to preserve the history and culture of the Cherokee people. Acting as a base for the perpetuation of the educational and cultural activities of the society, the Cherokee Heritage Center has welcomed visitors from all over the world. The society is committed to educating not only the Cherokee people, but also the general public through a visiting schools program, visual and performing arts, the written word, and the development of unique Cherokee resources. In an effort to collect and preserve historic and cultural documents, the society strives to assemble everything ever written by or about the Cherokees into one central facility. For its members, the Cherokee National Historical Society publishes the quarterly newsletter Columns.
Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History
Corpus
Christi Museum of Science and History
1900 North Chaparral
Corpus Christi, TX 78401
72703.3723@compuserve.com
(512) 883-2863 / Fax: (512) 884-7392
The Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History focuses on post-Columbian history and the natural history of Corpus Christi and the Coastal Bend of Texas. The museum offers K-12 programs and tours that can be customized for visiting classes. After training in their use, teachers can borrow two kits that include artifacts, visual materials, and suggested activities on the topics of dinosaurs and Native Americans. The museum also generates Fact Hunts to focus young visitors' attention on the exhibits. Teachers are admitted free to preview the museum's offerings.
Deming Luna Mimbres Museum
Deming
Luna Mimbres Museum
301 South Silver
Deming, NM 88030
(505) 546-2382
The Deming Luna Mimbres Museum has a significant collection of Indian artifacts from the Mimbres and other pre-Columbian New Mexico cultures. Visitors to the museum also find a gem and mineral room with a rock from each state and a large collection of semi-precious stones. Guided tours are available upon request in advance.
Institute of Texan Cultures
Shannon Huntington, Public Relations: shunting@utsa.edu (210) 458-2232
Ramon Reyes, Ordering Department: rreyes@utsa.edu (800) 776-7651
Institute of Texan Cultures
University of Texas at San Antonio
801 S. Bowie
San Antonio TX 78205-3296
http://www.texancultures.utsa.edu
(210) 458-2300 / Fax: (210) 458-2205
(orders by fax)
The Institute of Texan Cultures, which is located in HemisFair Park in downtown San Antonio, offers more than 26 exhibits on ethnic and cultural groups, including one on Native American art, culture, and history. The Institute also hosts the Texas Folklife Festival, an annual celebration of the different cultures in Texas through the enjoyment of art, crafts, food, music, and dancing. The Folklife Festival occurs the second weekend in June.
Louisiana State Exhibit Museum
George
Ward Shannon, Jr., Ph.D.
Chief Administrative Officer and Executive Director
Louisiana State Exhibit Museum
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 38356
Shreveport, LA 71133
Physical Address:
3015 Greenwood Road
Shreveport, LA 71109
(318) 632-2020 / Fax: (318) 632-2056
The Louisiana State Exhibit Museum has anthropological and archeological collections from prehistoric to historic periods of occupation in northwestern Louisiana. Dioramas display agriculture, technology, and industry in Louisiana. A publication on Caddo Indians is available for teachers.
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture
Patricia House, Director
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture
710 Camino Lejo
Santa Fe, NM 87501
(505) 827-6344 / Fax: (505) 827-6497
The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture hosts school visits and supplies curriculum units about Native arts and culture for Native American and non-Native American classrooms and communities. School visits teach students about weaving and other arts. For Native American students at the high school, undergraduate, and graduate level, the museum offers apprenticeships under a Master Native artist and internships in museology.
National Atomic Museum
National Atomic Museum
1905 Mountain Road NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
http://www.atomicmuseum.com/
info@atomicmuseum.com
(505) 245-2137 / Fax: (505) 242-4537
The National Atomic Museum focuses on the history of atomic technology and development. The museum houses several displays, including special displays that highlight the contributions of Native Americans as well as African Americans, Hispanics, women, and other populations to the development of nuclear technology and other sciences. Outreach programs are offered to schools, and materials are available for all grade levels to use before and after museum visits. The museum offers guided tours if given advance notice.
Pueblo Grande Museum
Roger Lidman, Director
Pueblo Grande Museum and Cultural Park
4619 E. Washington St.
Phoenix, AZ 85034-1909
http://www.ci.phoenix.az.us/PARKS/pueblo.html
rlidman@ci.phoenix.az.us
(602) 495-0901 / TDD: (602) 262-6713 / Fax: (602) 495-5645
The Pueblo Grande Museum and Cultural Park is the repository for all materials discovered during archeological projects of the City of Phoenix. It is dedicated to increasing knowledge and understanding about the peoples of the Southwest, past and present. The Pueblo Grande Museum Auxiliary, the Museum's support group, sponsors workshops throughout the year that feature hands-on educational activities such as pottery-making, crafting bows and arrows, and Archeology for Kids. The museum also sponsors a series of publications on archeology, anthropology, local history, and related subjects. The publications vary from technical anthropological papers to more general articles for the public.
Southwestern
Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA)
Home of the Santa Fe Indian Market
Southwestern Association for Indian Arts, Inc. (SWAIA)
Jai Lakshman, Executive Director
PO Box 969
Santa Fe, NM 87504-0969
http://www.swaia.org/
info@swaia.org
For questions about volunteering, E-mail: volunteer@swaia.org
(505) 983-5220 / Fax: (505) 983-7647
Each August for the past eighty years, Santa Fe Indian Market has brought together the most gifted Native American artists from the U.S. with millions of visitors and collectors from around the world. The extended weekend of beauty and celebration ranks as the world's largest and most highly acclaimed Native American arts show and as New Mexico's largest attended annual weekend event. Santa Fe Indian Market is widely known as the place where Native American art and culture meets the world. As a primary vehicle for showcasing Native American arts, Indian Market also serves as a principal means for advancing the careers of many of today's noted American Indian artists.
SWAIA's mission of "cultural preservation, intercultural understanding and providing economic opportunities for American Indians through excellence in the arts" is not only evident throughout Santa Fe Indian Market but in all of its programs, as well. These include SWAIA's Lifetime Achievement Awards, Fellowship Awards, Business Training Seminars, Youth Markets, Council of Artists and committees which establish and uphold the highest known standards for traditional and contemporary Native American art.
Texas Folklife Resources
Cathy Brigham, Folklife Specialist
Texas Folklife Resources
1317 S. Congress
Austin, TX 78704
http://www.main.org/tfr/
tfr@io.com
(512) 441-9255 / Fax: (512) 441-9222
Texas Folklife Resources is a private, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to celebrating and perpetuating the traditional arts and diverse cultures of the Lone Star State. The organization works with folk artists and communities to research, document, and preserve living traditions in music, dance, religious rituals, artifacts, and crafts.
Texas Folklife Resources has worked with Native Americans from Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas to create field-based educational programs. These programs provide students in grades 3-12 with exposure to contemporary American Indian cultures and lifestyles as well as the history and meaning behind traditional art forms. The programs include both staff-led presentations as well as small-group interactions with Native Americans from the four states. Both the presentations and small-group interactions cover the diversity within Native American cultures and use the artists from various tribes to exemplify the different lifestyles American Indians experience.
Texas Memorial Museum
Texas Memorial Museum
The University of Texas at Austin
2400 Trinity
Austin, TX 78705
(512) 471-1604 / Fax: (512) 471-4794
Dioramas and other displays on the third floor of the Texas Memorial Museum focus on the tribes that live or once lived in Texas and elsewhere in the Southwest: Caddo, Comanche, Karankawa, Navajo, Pueblo, and Tonkawa. Native American traditions are integrated with contemporary environmental science, exemplifying land-use practices that sustain environmental resources.
Next Page: Youth Fellowship Resources