Many Paths: By the People, for the People
Friday, 04 September 2009 18:48
An unassuming Tudor-style building flanks the north curb of University Boulevard near Park Avenue. On the outside, it appears like any other University of Arizona building with its dated brick facade.
Once through its portals however, a well of history, culture and heritage are at your fingertips.
The Arizona State Museum’s Paths of Life exhibit boasts an impressive collection of North American Indian tribes’ cultural art and tools. What’s the reason for offering this diverse sample of different tribes’ cultures? To classify what is widely known of Native American tradition: a lot of pottery and primitive symbolism.
“We wanted to incorporate native perspectives into the exhibit, and involve Native professors, students, and non-UA Native peoples as well as our staff in the development of the exhibit,” said Diane Dittemore, Ethnological Collections Curator for the museum for 30 years.
The exhibit caters to both native and non-native people who show an interest in Native American heritage.
One of the museum's top priorities is making a point of identifying the tribes as individual cultures rather than part of the conglomeration of American Indians. Also showing both differences from each and from non-natives is key to discovering where they have been and where they are going.
“The goal has been to educate visitors about the different native communities in Arizona and Northern Mexico," Dittemore said, "But also to serve as a resource for native communities in the area, particularly Tohono O'odham and Yoemem, to teach their children.”
A large anteroom preceding the exhibit lends itself to Dittemore’s point. A 15-minute film flashes images of tribes in different states of play, work and ceremony. Words on a plexiglas screen highlight the aims of the Paths of Life: Origins, History, and Lives they are living today. All three come together to paint very unique pictures of each tribe.
But even if there are borders between tribes, cultural or geographical, they share similarities with each other and with non-natives. Many Native American tribes’ share simlar means in their names. For example, The Yoemem, also known as the Yaqui, and the Comcáac (Seri) both mean "People."
Also, the legends of the tribes’ origins tend to root themselves in the agricultural and geographical settings they live in. The Tohono O’odham for example are separated within the tribe itself into two clans due to one clan’s separation from water, and each views themselves culturally independent. All separations are not necessarily of necessity. The Hopi are separated into many clans by spiritual differences of opinion: which is the proper way to the path of Hopi.
One tribe even believes in Jesus Christ as the son of their God and has constructed legends around his unfriendly encounters with their version of the devil.
The exhibit is as much a collection of art as it is an educational outing and people are encouraged to come out to view the collections in the Paths of Life and Pottery exhibit for their beauty as well as their historical value.
"It allows people the aesthetic experience of seeing Native arts and crafts; to inspire Native and non-Native artists," Dittemore said.
The museum operates from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and donations are appreciated upon entering or leaving the exhibits. Guided tours can be scheduled for large groups.
Written by Charles Golestani You are reading Many Paths: By the People, for the People articles
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