The Commercialization of Heritage

One of my hopes on this journey was to learn more about our Native American brethren and their culture.  With that intent, we planned routes through tribal lands in Wisconsin and Minnesota.  We were surprised and disappointed that there were few signs or encouragements to come to the reservation townships or cultural centers.  We just drove through with little notice of where we were.  We were unsure of where we were welcome, if at all.

Vancouver is very multi-ethnic and appears to the causal visitor to be fairly integrated in cultures.  Folks of every language, culture and ethnity are everywhere working and socializing together--at least where we went. 

In Arizona, the Navaho are very visible and market their arts and crafts quite visibly.  (I love my tiger eye pendant.). The heritage and culture of the Navaho, however, is not apparent.

I was thrilled to find the Puebla peoples in New Mexico (Hopi are in Arizona) where they try to retain some of there heritage.  There is a struggle, we think, between preserving the heritage and producing income for the tribe.

We visited the Acoma Puebla where the 5.000 members still retain some ownership or connection to owners of homes on the Mesa where the orginal peoples settled where looking for freedom and independence.  About 10-20 families live on the Mesa without electricity or running water.  But signs of conveniences are evident.  We saw porta-potties and generators, for example.  And one home was built with cinder blocks instead of the traditional sandstone and adobe bricks.  Most members of the tribe come back to the Mesa for traditional elebrations.  The Acoma celebrations are private, but Catholic celebrations, still with some dancing and costumes, are open to the public on St. Estaban's feast Day and at Christmas.  The Acoma language is taught in the school but even friends and relations do not always know their relatives' Keresan names.

The commercializations of their heritage is most evident in their sale of pottery.  The Acoma pottery is beautiful.  The fine clay is found in nearby mountains.  The clay is mixed with ground pottery of ancestors and spiritual significance is given to the process.  The pots and seed pods are made by coiling and then tediously painted in designs that signify peace, bravery, harvest, etc.  Unfortunately, the selling of the pottery has become so beneficial economonimically, that the Acoma people have streamlined the process and the buyer may not be getting what he or she thinks.

The fine, thin coiled pots are being replaced by ceramic pots and figurines that may or may not be painted by the Acoma residents. But they are marketed on the Mesa.  Instead of coiling, the potters may pours their clay into forms that are then painted or maybe even pre-marked so that they can be painted with perfection.  The high cost of an original Acoma piece is often requested for a "streamlined" article and the consumer may be getting something that was not "done in the old style" as proffered or believed.  

I do not know how the Acoma or other Puebla peoples reconcile these issues.

The Mesa, however, is intriguing and the tour educations.  Some of the structures are centuries old.

The Cathedral del Esteban is beautiful.  The 48 beams holding up the roof were harvested by the 4'8" Acoma men by hand and carried about 40 miles under the supervision of the Spanish who abused and beat the men if a huge log was dropped.

The most interesting feature of the Mesa was the rock steps to enter and exit the Mesa.  (Alan and I scrambled down.). The hand-holds were clearly from long ago and the way disguised. 

I made Alan go first.

Here is a sample of the Acoma pottery.  I, of course, had to buy a piece.  Who knows if mine is authentic.