 18th
Annual Zuni Festival of Arts and Culture
May
24–25,
2008
EXPLORING ZUNI WAYS
OF KNOWING
A broad, scenic valley with red mesas
and an expansive blue sky is home to the A:shiwi, or Zuni people. This
ancient and proud people live at Zuni Pueblo where their ancestors
have lived for thousands of years, about 150 miles west of Albuquerque
at an historic crossroads of travel and trade. On Saturday and
Sunday, May 24 and 25, the 18th Annual Zuni Festival of Arts
and Culture at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff will
explore A:shiwi philosophy, emergence and migration beliefs,
worldviews, values, and current day issues on the Zuni Indian
Reservation.
Humanities Insights programming, fine arts, music, and dances will
serve as windows into the ancient and vibrant Zuni culture. Zuni
Pueblo is the largest of nineteen New Mexican pueblos, with eleven
thousand members spread out over 600 square miles. They are often
considered the most traditional of all of the Southwestern pueblo
people, having managed to preserve their core beliefs and identity
while integrating useful parts of the modern world. The fact that the
A:shiwi language bears no similarity to any other known language is
indicative of their isolation. Eighty percent of Zuni families are
involved in making fine arts, home-based work that makes it possible
for Zunis to remain in their community. Each piece of inlay silver
jewelry, stone fetish carving, and pottery represents generations of
tradition paired with the artist’s individual unique style.
MNA and the
A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center at Zuni Pueblo are
collaborating to bring back the annual Zuni Festival last held in
2003. After a four-year hiatus, this festival returns with new
vitality and excitement. Since then, MNA has worked to develop a
deeper relationship with the Zuni Tribe. This festival is, in the
words of A:shiwi A:wan Director Jim Enote, “…more than an event about
Zuni, it is a very public gesture, acknowledging Zuni presence and
influence on the Colorado Plateau.”
MNA Director Robert Breunig added, “The Zuni culture is an integral
part of the Colorado Plateau, with close cultural connections to the
land and ancestral villages in southeastern Arizona and western New
Mexico. The spiritual and ancestral landscape of the Zuni or A:shiwi
includes the San Francisco Peaks or Sunha:kwin K'yaba:chu Yalanne
in the west, Steamboat Wash in the north, Mount Taylor in the east,
the Salt and Gila River Basins to the south, and of course, the Grand
Canyon, the Zuni place of origin. By creating a collaborative
relationship with the Zuni Tribe, MNA is able to ensure that the
dialogue and cultural exchange about the Zuni people and their
lifeways comes directly from the source.”
The Zuni People
Zunis believe they emerged from Mother
Earth within the Grand Canyon and migrated across the Colorado Plateau
to Halona Idiwana’a or the Middle Place of the World, home of the Zuni
for at least the last 1300 years. A:shiwi A:wan Museum Technician
Curtis Quam will present “Zuni Emergence and Migration History,”
beginning in the Grand Canyon, then European contact at the ancestral
A:shiwi village of Hawikku, post contact history, arrival of the
Americans, and finally the influence of ethnographers,
anthropologists, and archaeologists on the A:shiwi way of life.
Accompanying images for Quam’s talk are from the A:shiwi A:wan exhibit
Hawikku: Echoes from Our Past.
Heritage Insights
Programming
A:shiwi A:wan Director Jim
Enote will give two presentations. His talk
“The A:shiwi Map Art Project” will describe how art is used to evoke
reactions and memories about cultural places. Enote says, “Indigenous
people have always had maps. We’ve had maps created as songs, prayers,
migration stories, shell arrangements, drawings on hides, drawings on
wood and stone.” The map art project uses Indigenous artistic
sensibilities and Indigenous names of places to connect with cultural
values and ways of seeing the world. His second presentation will be a
panel discussion and open conversation with the audience that focuses
on “The Challenges of Bilingual Education.” Zuni schools have State
supported bilingual programming which could use retrospective
evaluation, but the most critical issue is how to continue bilingual
learning outside of the school and inside the home.
Dan Simplicio, a Zuni tribal member, educator, and jeweler will
present “Zuni Traditions of Art and Community” and will examine the
Native art industry and how it has influenced Zuni economy and the
shift from the traditional family to the nuclear family.
The Nawetsa Family Dancers bring the pageantry of traditional
Zuni social dancing. Colorful headdresses, beaded and fringed arm
bands, and traditional woven outfits add to their magical performance
of dances symbolizing the dreams, visions, and beliefs of the A:shiwi.
Olla Pottery Maidens, decorated with turquoise jewelry and
traditional woven outfits, dance while carefully balancing water pots
on their heads. The pots are indented on the bottom for this purpose
and in the past, these same pots were used for carrying food and
water.
The Zuni Pueblo Band, scheduled to play both festival days, is
one of the few remaining American Indian community bands in the U.S.
today. They proudly wear the traditional Pueblo style of dress, with a
red woven sash belt around the waist along with a handmade concho belt
and exquisite Zuni jewelry. The men wear bowguards and a traditional
white headscarf across their foreheads and the women tie their hair in
the back with a small red sash. All band members wear red leather
moccasins. Membership in the band is open to all Zunis, regardless of
age or experience. In recent years, the band has had members from
eight to 80 years old and it is no surprise to see three or four
generations of families participating in the band at any given time.
Since their formation, the Zuni Pueblo Band has played marches by John
Phillip Sousa, K. L. King, Roland Seitz, and other well-known
composers for parades and concerts.
Zuni Artists and
Demonstrators
Zuni artists are known for some of the
most sought after Native works of art. Through their distinctive sense
of color and patterns, intricately crafted designs, and traditional
symbols, they represent an ancient people. The following award-winning
and emerging artists will present their work at this year’s festival:
Colin Coonsis―inlay
jewelry, Kenneth Epaloose―pottery, Rolanda Haloo―jewelry,
Silvester Hustitio―painting, Otto Lucio―jewelry,
Claudia Peina―fetish carving,
Lynn Quam―fetish carving, Octavius and Irma Seowtewa―needlepoint
jewelry
Margia Simplicio―beadwork, and Noreen Simplicio―pottery.
In addition, demonstrators will create artwork and talk with visitors
about materials and designs they use. Raylan and Patty Edaakie
make silver jewelry with multiple stone inlays of lapis, sugilite,
coral, and turquoise. Lorandina Sheche creates traditional
animal fetish carvings from stone and Todd Westika makes
contemporary fetish carvings which are naturalistic and lifelike.
About the A:shiwi A:wan
Museum and Heritage Center
Established by a small group of Zuni
tribal members in 1992, the A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center
is a private, not-for-profit 501c(3) organization dedicated to serving
the Zuni community with programs and exhibits that reflect on their
past and are relevant to their present and future. The A:shiwi A:wan
emphasizes A:shiwi ways of knowing, while also exploring modern and
mainstream concepts of knowledge. The Pathways to Zuni Wisdom program
is gaining national attention as an example of how youth can learn
traditional life skills and apply them to modern circumstances. The
old films, photo archives, and collection of digitized oral history
interviews are popular with many Zunis. Art is a fundamental part of
the culture. Whether through collections of contemporary Zuni art, its
Zuni prehistoric art collection, or Zuni school art exhibitions, the
A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center provides a venue and forum
for local artists to study and reflect on the possibilities of art in
their community. Visit
www.ashiwi-museum.org for more information.
Zuni Festival’s Heritage Insights programming was made possible
through a grant from the Arizona Humanities Council. Additional
sponsors of this year’s Zuni Festival include the Arizona Commission
on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, Arizona ArtShare,
Flagstaff Cultural Partners, and the City of Flagstaff.
Upcoming Festivals
The 18th Annual Zuni Festival of Art and Culture is part of MNA's
Heritage Program. Make
plans now to attend these upcoming festivals!
75th Annual Hopi Festival of Arts and Culture, July 5–6, 2008
59th Annual Navajo Festival of Arts and Culture, August 2–3, 2008
5th Annual Celebraciónes de la Gente, October 25-26, 2008
Photo: Nawetsa Dancers © Museum of
Northern Arizona
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