The reminder came in recent conversation: To be a storyteller you need a story to tell. To be a blogger, not so much. So, I start.
Since vacationing, I have been sitting with a story that ignited my curiosity and ire and left me bemused. It is layered: outrage, heritage and this idea "what we value enough to copy."
It is not new, this tale. In fact it's mangled roots began at the
turn of the 20th century. It is every day, and the future, transformed by tourists, the global economy and the value
of authenticity. It is the how
and why culture is preserved by Native Americans —and purveyors
of our nation’s history in this century. And in the world of the Internet, this
story can be informed by comments of others.
I enter the story
with stops at roadside booths in Arizona and Nevada. I stop to appreciate authentic Native American jewelry. My
purchase power is nearly non existent. While cruising the tables, I was thinking “How authentic.” That puzzling idea
seeped in as the experience as my vacation progresses and my joy of craft and art and
flea-markets was transformed into “damn this America” again. There is no end to
the disappointment.
For me, the West was an open book. The only pages written thus far were not from reliable sources. Tonto was the only Indian known to me. The embodiment of 'Indian' from childhood games modeled upon Wild West movies. I had so many pages of understanding to fill.
The first real Native Americans I would see were entrepreneurs.
Booths, gathered flea market style, abundant. The crafted-work, seen among the
booths, is similar, yet distinctly different.
With questions I learned from ample answers. The stones are named after the area it was mined. Some are stones are rare as some areas are now barren. In Bisbee, the seasonal rain wash turquoise into the roadside basins Bisbee, We must go there. I learn the bevel side is up. I learn advances in technology are embraced by the current generation because of economics. I am shown how strung, cut and polished gem stones crafted into jewelry can be done making clasps no longer essential. Most importantly, I sensed that the business of making and marketing jewelry is a family affair. And I cannot distinguish 'antique' from 'made yesterday' Indian Jewelry. I find an Antique Indian Jeweler at the Boulder City Jamboree.
My vaca get-a-way unearths a visceral delighted in the handiwork of others. But an undercurrent pulls me out of tourist mode. Ample answers come with prideful stories connecting
generations by traditions. The economics and livelihood of Native Americans artisan
jewelry makers is intrinsically tied to the next generation attending college. Heritage was being stamped upon them by a flat world. The tribes needed
doctors and lawyers more than Indian Chiefs.
One proud native
mother expressed her outrage about fakes in a manner that I failed to yet understand,
"Jewelry with .925 is not Indian". I decided to buy from her to join
in the resistance that lurked now in a distant part of my brain. Her outrage inclined
me to purchase from her son for mine, and from her, for me. It was not until vacation
destination: the Grand Canyon, a place of mimic and replication that I came to more fully understand her exclamation.
At
the Grand Canyon National Park Desert View Watchtower Gift Shop, a sign
above strings of silver feathered turquoise necklaces read: Authentic
non-Indian jewelry. If I was thinking journalistically rather than
touristy, a picture of this sign would be gold for this story. It was a picture
I failed to take. I had no idea how it spoke volumes about the latest economic
based invasion of Native Americans by replica jewelry Made in China and machine stamped
.925. [2]
The
watchtower, a mimic of Anasazi Indian watchtowers, is infused with storytelling
both figuratively and literally. The design of this national park building
completed in 1933 was commissioned and awarded to Mary Colter. This five-story site to see is on a promontory
overlooking the Grand Canyon at the eastern end of the south rim.
The
architecture informed by archeology, ethno-history and the work of Indian mural
artists, including Hopi Fred Kabotie embodies the value
of copying, storytelling, and preservation of Native American Culture.
Authenticity is reportedly at the core of the architect’s work. The replica design
was said to be informed by turn of the century southwestern archeology. On its
walls the tradition of storytelling in rock art are copies of rock art rendered
by artist Fred Greer. These copies may be the only existing record of the
original story painting found at an Abo, New Mexico Archaeological site.
Ms.
Colter’s designs were commissioned by Santa Fe Railway
and the Fred Harvey Company which launched the Native
American souvenir business. This company’s transformation includes becoming
the concessionaires of National Parks.
The souvenir and concession business began by leveraging the traditions and
skills of local artisans. This leveraging spawned tradition based Navajo, Zuni,
Hopi and Pueblo family businesses that have now supported several
generations of displaced Native Americans. So the ability of this
outraged Indian mother to market to tourists, culturally based jewelry and
crafts, is directly tied to the business that is now the target of her rage.
In civilizing the southwest, trinkets
were mass produced by artisans supplied sheet silver and pre-cut turquoise by
the Harvey Company.
This blog,
in all its hyper-parts, evolved because of I
sensed a disturbing undercurrent of injustice for which I had no context. The
outrage of the Indian mother could not be shaken so I needed to understand it.
Give it a place to quiet in better knowing. I googled to learn more than the
culture center disclosed. I determined that the act of selling imports as
Souvenir is not out of character for
the legacy company that ran the concessions. And that the new company continues to have unfettered access to
5 million visitors a year to profit from tourism.
I come away with
a strong belief that Indian Crafted souvenirs from our National Parks should be authentic not imported
reproductions. I share this story to amplify how economically based transformations without connection to values and
tradition fail all of us.
1) The Grand Canyon is the most visited natural wonder on the planet. 5 million visitors a year with up to 30,000 visitors per day in peak season.
2) Sterling Silver objects are stamped with either the word
"Sterling" or ".925" which refers to 92.5% pure silver and
7.5% other metals, usually copper.
Postscript: Within this vacation
there was another connection with Native American culture at the AMERIND MUSEUM, the ‘Traditions in Clay’
Exhibit. It depicted a history of pottery making. It also displayed outcomes of
‘a competition’ involving copying traditional works as a means of connecting to
ones heritage
This story does not end here if you make a different purchase decision or support any legislation that may come in to play to make our collective treatment of Native Americans less egregious.
