First auction a success! - Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum

V
ices
From
Mt Kearsarge
Indian Museum
November 2011
In This Issue:
Page 1:
Auction & social
Auctioneer Peter Smith leads
the live auction. Photo by
Mark Greenly.
Heather and Derk Mitchell survey
a silent auction table. Photo by
Mark Greenly.
First auction a success!
“Who will give me $50 for William
Howard Taft?”
If you weren’t at MKIM on the
evening of Saturday, October 22, you
probably don’t know that William
Howard Taft was a goat kid and one
of the more unusual items offered at
our First Annual Auction and Social.
Over $11,000 was raised from the
items donated by local businesses
and other friends of MKIM.
The luminaries were lit as bidders
gathered for an evening of good
food, drink, excellent music and fun,
all to support a great cause.
Accompanied by the fanciful fiddling
of the Cabbageheads, guests
meandered through the galleries to
place bids on the over 100 items
displayed in the silent auction. After
a social hour, the bidders were called
to the auditorium for a spirited live
auction with professional auctioneer
Peter Smith urging the bids to go
even higher. Kayaks, snowshoes,
jewelry, lodging, ski passes, boat
rides, theater tickets, sports
memorabilia, workshop tours,
baskets and art work are just a small
sample of the items that went to the
highest bidders. A wonderful
evening of fundraising was had by
all.
Thanks to all who made this First
Auction and Social such a success.
Keep your eyes open for notices
about the Second Annual Auction,
you won’t want to miss it!
Page 2:
NAMA Award
Grants
Page 3:
Winter
celebration
Ahsnh award
Page 4:
Harvest moon
Page 5:
Auction donors
Page 6:
Volunteer
spotlight
New members
Page 7:
Curator’s corner
Black thunder singers
win nammy
Those of you who attend our annual
Powwow have seen and heard Black
Thunder Singers with lead singer Ernie
Proper. MKIM trustee Scott Devoid is
an active member of the group. This
October the group was awarded Best
Powwow Recording for its album Black
Thunder by the Native American Music
Association (the awards are popularly
known as Nammys). Congratulations to
Scott and all the members of Black
Thunder Singers. We can’t wait to see
you again at the 2012 MKIM Powwow.
Ernie Proper and Black Thunder Singers at the 12th Annual MKIM
Powwow, July 2011. Photo by Natalie Holt Breen.
grants
The New Hampshire State Council on the Arts awarded
MKIM four grants in 2011:
 $2,250 for the 2011 Powwow
 $5,000 to replace our exterior doors to
improve access and safety for all our visitors
 $3,460 for bead and quillwork classes, demonstrations
and hands-on activities for the galleries in 2012
 $9,264 for operating expenses for 2012 and 2013
Please ask your state legislators to continue supporting the
State Council on the Arts; its funding is vital to many artists
and organizations.
2
Beaded rosette by Andy Bullock..
Beadwork classes and demonstrations will be offered in 2012 thanks
to a grant from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts.
Photo by Carolyn Bullock.
The director of the Norcross Wildlife Foundation in New
York City made an unannounced visit to MKIM in
September and was impressed by our work. Her
foundation granted us $250 to support our programs!
Winter celebration
Native Americans consider winter to be
the proper time for telling stories. Join
us Saturday, December 10 to hear four
storytellers during Winter Celebration.
The day’s events will also include
powwow-style drumming, crafts, games
and a sale at the Dream Catcher gift
shop.
The festivities begin at 10 am with crafts
and games that will continue throughout
the day.
At 11 am Abenaki storyteller Willow
Greene will share stories passed down
by her family and generations of Abenaki
storytellers.
The stories continue at noon with Hears
Crow, a Narragansett storyteller and
poet who keeps alive the ceremonies,
songs and stories of the “old ones.”
Mountain Spirit Drum will perform at
1 pm led by New Hampshire Intertribal
Native American Council Chief and Mt.
Kearsarge Indian Museum Trustee,
Peter Newell.
Abenaki storytellers Ken Quiet Hawk
and Deb New Moon Rising will share
their stories at 2 pm. Ken and Deb
believe that “Storytelling should be a
means of teaching, teaching us all how
to be better people.” Recordings of
their stories have won two Native
American Music Awards for Best
Spoken Word Recording, and they have
also been nominated Best Male Artist
and Best Female Artist.
Members free, Non-members $5.
Fun for the whole family!
“Storytelling
should be a means
of teaching,
teaching us all how
Ahsnh honors joint project
The Association of Historical Societies
of New Hampshire (AHSNH) honored
the collaborative project “Along the
Basket Trail” at its annual meeting on
October 29.
According to the Association: “The
award to the ‘Along the Basket Trail’
initiative recognizes an effective,
high-quality collaborative effort that
explored themes that have been underrepresented in New Hampshire
programs. Organizers drew from their
own collections as well as baskets in
their communities, and the multifaceted program included three
simultaneous exhibits, a 10-session
to be better
people.”
lecture series, hands-on workshops and
a basket documentation day.
Participants learned about the
continued presence of Native and
African Americans in New Hampshire,
the influence of Native Americans on
other basket making traditions and
considered issues of racial identity.”
“Along the Basket Trail” was a joint
project of the Hopkinton Historical
Society, the Mt. Kearsarge Indian
Museum, the Warner Historical Society
and Wijokadoak, Inc.
3
Harvest moon 2011
A sampling of the activities at the Harvest Moon
Festival on October 2. Clockwise from upper left:
1. Making baskets from recycled paper was a
popular craft for families.
2. Mother and sons tend a spark created with flint
and steel which soon became a small fire.
3. Abenaki basketmaker Bill Gould demonstrates
shaving an ash splint.
4. One young man shows his atlatl skill.
5. Rudy Bourget oversees the fire-making contest.
6. What would a Harvest Festival be without a
harvest?
Photos by Lynn Clark.
4
Thank you auction donors and sponsors!
Sponsors:
Betsy & Harold Janeway
Virginia Theo-Steelman & David Steelman
Mascoma Savings Bank
Merrimack County Savings Bank
Providers:
Peter Smith, Auctioneer
School House Café, Caterer
Cabbageheads, Music
Donors:
Don Barnaby
Bead It!
Judy Beauchemin & Val Haule, Under the Rose
Tree Jewelry
Ed Bender, Sundance Solar
Marty Bender
Rhonda Besaw
Bidding for Good
Bona Fide Green Goods
Boston Red Sox
Jean Buck
Andy Bullock
Chris & Carolyn Bullock, The Wandering Bull, LLC
Paula & Colin Cabot
Candlelite Inn Bed and Breakfast
Canterbury Shaker Village
Capitol Center for the Arts
David & Laurette Carroll
Liz Charlebois
Bessie Chicolas
Mike Cohen, Pitchfork Records
Common Man
Concord Beef & Seafood
Concord Camera
Concord Community Music School
Contoocook River Canoes
John Crawford
Dick's Sporting Goods
Dan Dustin
Tim Farmer, S & W Sports
The Foothills of Warner Restaurant
Kim Fortune, Riverfare Farms
Grace Fraser
Richard Gagne
Gibson's Bookstore
Gondwana Divine Clothing Co.
Sherry Gould
Jan & Peter Hale, Covered Bridge Frame
Shop & Gallery
Maureen Hampton
Henniker House Bed and Breakfast
Charles & Annik Hull
Will Hurley, Outspokin' Bicycle & Sport
Betsy & Harold Janeway
Joe King's Shoe Shop
Bob Judge, Box Corner Services
David Lamb
League of NH Craftsmen
William Loran
Lotions -n- Potions
Carol Lummus
McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center
Marianne Menna
Micnaki' Trading Post
MKIM Board of Trustees
MKIM Staff
Mount Sunapee
Mountain Edge Resort & Spa
New London Barn Playhouse
Peter Newell
Lenny Novak
David Ossoff
Gerry Ouellette, Raven Song Flutes
Wayne & Sally Patenaude and the Pats Peak
Family
Plymouth State University Silver Cultural
Arts Center
Polka Dots Gift Boutique
Denise & Paul Pouliot
Charley Pride
Bob Quinn, Merlin Enterprises
Gary Rondeau's Automotive Center - Volvo
service & repair
Rowland Studio, Inc.
Gerald E. Roy
Doireann Sargent, Sargents Marina
Janie Joe Shae
Robert & Jeanne Sulesky
Virginia Theo-Steelman
Bud & Nancy Thompson
John Travolta
George Ulloa
Umpqua Indian Foods
Joan Weinstein, Mornandell Design
Whistle Stop Sweet Shop
Wingdoodle
Photos by Mark Greenly.
5
Volunteer Spotlight
Rudy Bourget began volunteering at
MKIM nine years ago, helping out with
buildings and grounds maintenance. He
was working nearby and wanted a
chance to get outside during his lunch
hours. When his knowledge of some
newly acquired accounting software
was discovered, he found himself
assisting with office finances as well.
Rudy has always been interested in
primitive skills. In 2006 he organized
the White Mountain Primitives, a group
of adults with the same interests that
started out meeting in the MKIM barn.
Rudy soon found himself presenting
workshops for the Boy Scouts and for
adults. Rudy’s involvement with
scouting goes far beyond that. He has
supervised over 12 Eagle Scout
projects, including his son’s, which
Welcome
new members
Jim Cassidy
Herbert and Aleen Chabot
Donna Chick
Eugene Colin
Valerie Cunningham
Rivier College Office of Multicultural Affairs
Jody O’Farrell
Todd Poret and Sidney Mitchell
Mike and Eve Pratt
Mary Sanborn
Nora Tuthill
Robert Whitehead
6
Rudy Bouget shows a young visitor at Harvest Moon Festival how to
start a fire using flint and steel. Photo by Lynn Clark.
culminated in the repainting of our
galleries.
Rudy and other members of the White
Mountain Primitives can be found
every year at MKIM festivals,
demonstrating and teaching survival
skills. The fire starting contest at this
year’s Harvest Moon Festival was a big
hit, as was the atlatl contest.
Rudy particularly enjoys sharing his
knowledge with young people. He
comes every summer to do a
demonstration of survival skills for our
Turtle Island Day Camp, and does
workshops for home schoolers’ groups,
as well.
In Rudy’s words, “It all ties into the
circle, doesn’t it?” Mt. Kearsarge Indian
Museum is certainly fortunate to be
part of Rudy Bourget’s circle!
Curator’s corner
Many of the objects and images at MKIM
evoke emotional responses in our
visitors. One visitor this fall had such an
experience when she saw the life-size
portraits of Red Dawn and his adopted
son Blue Eagle in our auditorium. The
images brought back childhood
memories of seeing Native Americans,
just like Red Dawn and Blue Eagle, every
summer at her parents’ hotel in
Colorado. She wondered if it could have
been Red Dawn and Blue Eagle she saw
all those years ago. Her excitement was
infectious, and it prompted tour guide
Elissa Barr to do some research into who
these people pictured in our auditorium
were.
Elissa found that Stephen “Red Dawn”
Jones (1921-1987) was a Santee Sioux
born in South Dakota. He taught
anthropology at several colleges in
Southern California in the mid 1960s
and established the American Indian
Lore Association. He also taught dance
and Indian lore to a troupe of young
people who he took on tour to the east,
including New England, each summer.
One of those summer stops was at
Funspot in Laconia where Red Dawn
performed at the model Indian Village.
While at Funspot Red Dawn met and
befriended Bud Thompson.
When Bud found out that we were all
interested in Red Dawn’s story he told us
more about his friend. It turns out that
Red Dawn’s message to Bud was . . . you
have to start a museum! Red Dawn gave
Bud a few things for that future museum
including a drum, a beautiful belt buckle
and the set of deer antlers with red
ribbon that now hang in our gallery. Bob
Lawton of Funspot donated the
portraits of Red Dawn and Blue Eagle
Red Dawn teaching at Canterbury
Shaker Village. Note the antlers next
to his right leg.
that hung originally at the Indian
Village.
Red Dawn’s
message to Bud
was . . . you have to
start a museum!
Bud brought us a large photo portrait of
Red Dawn that tied all the pieces of our
story together. Red Dawn sits on a
chair in a field at Canterbury Shaker
Village. He is dressed in regalia and is
in the midst of telling a story. Teaching
objects surround his feet on the ground,
including the set of deer antlers
entwined with red ribbon. As part of
his teaching, Red Dawn recited the
poem to the deer, a copy of which hangs
near the antlers in our gallery.
Because one visitor shared her personal
story with us, we were led to discover
more about MKIM’s story. Next time
you come to the museum, look for the
images of Red Dawn and his deer antler
with the red ribbon. And be sure to tell
us your story.
7
Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum would
like to thank:
Our
Corporate members:
Mt. Kearsarge Level
MicroDAQ.com, Ltd.
Mt. Sunapee Level
HR Clough
Mascoma Savings Bank
Merrimack County Savings Bank
Owl Woman Design
Peter Smith, Auctioneer
Pleasant View Gardens
Schoolhouse Cafe
Sugar River Savings Bank
TDS Telecom
Wire Belt Co. of America
Wok Inn Buffet
Mt. Kearsarge
Indian Museum
PO Box 142
18 Highlawn Road
Warner NH 03278
603-456-2600
indianmuseum.org
[email protected]
Our
season Sponsors:
Gold Level
Weaver Brothers Const. Co.
Silver Level
Warner Power
Public Service of New Hampshire
The Lumber Barn
Peter Wyman and Jake Danaher of Pleasant
Lake Construction insulated the museum in
October. They generously donated a portion
of their time for the project. Thanks guys—
we feel the difference and our checkbook will
too!
When you patronize these businesses, please
thank them for supporting MKIM.
NON-PROFIT
ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
WARNER, NH
03278
PERMIT NO. 8