Native American collection

I mentioned in an earlier post about my collection of Native American art-baskets, rugs, pots, etc. (See above.) So thought I'd show you some of my decorative shelves around the house. I've been collecting for years-a piece here and there. I've even written a poem about kivas and mesas top ruins. I must be part Native American but can't find any evidence in my genealogy only in my husband's.

A Kachini doll bought from a young Hopi girl in Santa Fe, NM-used to represent deceased ancestors in cermonial dances. The Native American flute I made in a class. The rock art image is from the Lost City Museum in Overton, Nevada-from Anasazis probably. The pot was a retirement gift from Ute Indians when my husband retired after working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Ft. Duschesne, Utah.

A Kumeyaay (from Baja California) basket made of willow branches with their leaves still on. They held acorns and were stored high in trees or behind rocks for safe keeping. Later the acorns were ground for flour. The willows contained aspirin in the leaves which was quite pungent and keep boring insects out. A large stone was placed on the lid to secure their food storage.

This small Navaho wall hanging is based on sand paintings used by medicine men for ceremonies to restore health, purchased at Cameron Trading Post in Arizona many years ago-one of my first authentic pieces.

Indian Life

Now that we've discovered two grandmothers from the Cherokee and Choctaw tribes in my husband's ancestry, it makes the Native American culture part of our family. Wondering about how they survived living in primitive shelters and met the constant demands for food, shelter, clothing and security is intriguing to consider. (Click on photos to make them larger and read the signs below.)

On the way home from Texas, we stopped 30 miles north of Flagstaff, Arizona at the Wapatki National Monument's ruins that have been preserved. Walking through their adobe dwellings, we talked about how they stayed warm in the cold winters at that elevation. What did they sleep on, just the cold rocks or did they make mats of weeds and use animal skins to cover themselves? Lots of unanswered questions, but they did survive...barely. Water was very scarce..

Was there a stigma for their later descendants to marrying a non-Native American? Did they ever see their Native families again after marrying and moving away? Many unanswered questions as their genealogy was oral and not written down. It is lost to us for now.

Found an ancestor!

My husband has a great grandmother who we were told was part Indian. She lived in Texas and was able to get allotment checks during her later years from the tribe she belonged to in Oklahoma. Searching for her records for years we weren't all that sure what her name was or which tribe she belonged to. We had looked for her under the wrong name but we discovered her real name after talking to my husband's uncle Bill at Thanksgiving dinner.

This uncle Bill remembered hearing about his great grandmother and told us her name. Born in Missouri, her name was Catherine Bryant. She married John Knox Polk Weaver and they moved to Texas from Oklahoma. We still don't know if she was adopted or which of her parents or grandparents were Indian-usually the mother. We did discover her name in the Dawes Commission Index which was a registry of Indian people trying to reclaim their citizenship in their tribe to receive allotments from the government for their tribal land and mineral resources. She belonged to the Cherokee tribe according to this list. Now we will try to get more records and try to put her life story together. (Photo above is of Catherine's grand daughter Gladys Floyd-my husband's grandmother. With her is an Indian uncle named Walter Winfield who is definitely Indian and probably from the Cochtow tribe. So now we'll look for his parents.)

Genealogy is fascinating and habit forming. I've always loved jigsaw puzzles as a child and perhaps that explains my interest in tracing my ancestors.

On the road again

My husband took a photo of me below by a hogan that traditional Navahos lived in, made of mud and pine lumber, the door always faces the rising sun in the east and there is an stove pipe opening on the roof for the smoke to escape from the wood stove inside for cooking and heating. What a life our early native Americans lived.

We drove to Canyon de Chelly near Chinle Arizona to see the cliff dwellings but they were far below us in a deep canyon built on ledges. (The last photo below shows some of their dwellings on a dark ledge, look on the middle right side of the photo.) We only saw them from up above, to walk through to them you either have to hike down then hike back up or hire a guide to drive you in the river bottom where it's closer to hike to them.

Navaho Reservation

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