Events

Museum exhibits • Tours • Festivals

Meetings • Education • Conferences

Events

■ NEW EXHIBITS Exhibit Museum of Natural History Ann Arbor, Mich.—The new exhibit “Got Salt?” explores how native people of the Nexquipayac region of Central Mexico produce salt from the soils of ancient lakebeds as they have done for centuries, employing local materials and simple technology. (734) 763-4191 (Through January 31, 2002)

Frank McClung Museum University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn.—The rich heritage of coverlet weaving is showcased in the traveling exhibit “Textile Art from Southern Appalachia: The Quiet Work of Women.” The intricate weavings illustrate an unbroken artistic tradition that began prior to the 19th century in southern Appalachia. A portion of the exhibit, the most extensive collection of woven art from the region ever assembled, is also on display at the East Tennessee Historical Society Museum in downtown Knoxville. (865) 974-2144 (Through February 3, 2002)

Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository Kodiak, Alaska—“Looking Both Ways: Heritage and Identity of the Alutiiq People” combines art, archaeology, history, and oral tradition to follow the Alutiiq people of Alaska's south-central coast from ancient to present times. This traveling exhibition was created by the Smithsonian, which worked closely with the Alaska native communities depicted in the exhibition. Following its debut in Kodiak, it will continue its national tour, traveling to the Anchorage Museum in October 2002. (907) 486-7004 (Through April 6, 2002)

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Los Angeles, Calif.—The new exhibit “Of Myth and Memory: Paiute and Shoshone Baskets of Owens Valley, California” includes 72 baskets that serve as a lens for focusing on the dramatic social, economic, and ecological changes in this part of the Great Basin since the mid-1800s. The Paiute and Shoshone Indians populated the rugged Owens Valley for thousands of years, taking advantage of the rich resources and practicing a semi-nomadic lifestyle which is preserved in the baskets they produced. (213) 763-3515 (Through April 14, 2002)

Canadian Museum of Civilization

Hull,Quebec,Canada—“Kichi Sibi: Tracing Our Region’s Ancient History”explores the history of the Ottawa River Valley through numerous artifacts recovered from the region that date from 10,000 to several hundred years ago.The artifacts provide evidence that aboriginal people lived along the Kichi Sibi (“Great River”in Algonquian) for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. (819) 776-7000 (Through May 26,2002)

Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology

Harvard University, Cambridge,Mass.—“Distinguished Casts: Curating Lost Monuments at the Peabody Museum”features some of the most important and valuable Mesoamerican casts from the museum's unique collection.Dating from the 19th century, the collection is among the world's largest and preserves a wealth of hieroglyphic and iconographic information now lost forever on the original Aztec and Maya monuments and sculptures from sites ranging from Honduras to Mexico City. (617) 495-2269 (New long-term exhibit)

Events

Dickson Mounds Museum

Lewistown,Ill.—The new exhibit “Images for Eternity: West Mexican Tomb Figures”features more than 60 extraordinary sculpted ceramic figures created by a West Mexican culture dating from 200 B.C. to A.D. 300.The pieces represent animals, musicians, warriors,ball players,and ceremonial scenes that reveal the culture of these mysterious people.The collection is on loan from the Hudson Museum of the University of Maine. (309) 547-3721 (January 13–March 31,2002) El Museo del Barrio New York, N.Y.—The new exhibit “Taíno: Ancient Voyagers of the Caribbean” presents some 125 rare Taíno works from major institutions, private collections, and the museum's holdings. The Taíno were the dominant culture in the Caribbean region after about A.D. 1200, and were the first people Columbus encountered in the New World. The exhibit includes the extraordinary Deminán Caracaracol effigy vessel, a masterpiece of Taíno art on loan for a year from the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution. (212) 831-7272 (New permanent exhibit)

■ CONFERENCES, LECTURES & FESTIVALS Society for Historical Archaeology's Annual Conference January 8–12, 2002, Adam's Mark Hotel, Mobile, Ala. This year's theme is “Colonial Origins,” in recognition of the 300th anniversary of Mobile's founding by French colonists. For information contact Bonnie Gums at the University of South Alabama: bgums@jaguar1.usouthal.edu or call (251) 460-6562.

Eighth Biennial Southwest Symposium 2002 January 10–12, 2002. Hosted by the University of Arizona and held at the Rich Theatre, Tucson Convention Center, Ariz. A Friday evening reception will be held at the Arizona State Museum, followed by four half-day sessions on the 11th and 12th. Sunday field trips will be led to sites in the Tucson area. Contact Barbara Mills at bmills@u.arizona.edu or (520) 621-2585.

12th Annual World Championship Hoop Dance Contest February 2–3, 2002, Heard Museum, Phoenix, Ariz. The world's top hoop dancers showcase their skills in a brilliant presentation of the intertribal hoop dance as they compete for the prestigious World Champion Hoop Dancer title. (602) 252-8848

The Past as Present: Archaeology and Descendant Communities in Northern New Mexico Lecture Series continuing through spring 2002 at Santa Fe and Albuquerque, N.M. locations, sponsored by The Archaeological Conservancy and free to Conservancy members. On February 22, 7 P.M.at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, Nan Rothschild and Ann Whitney Olin of Barnard College and Columbia University will present “San José de Las Huertas: A Late 18th-Century Buffer Community.” (505) 266-1540

Kennewick Man and the Peopling of the Americas Symposium February 22, 2002, 7–10 P.M., Marin County Civic Center, Exhibit Hall Theatre, San Rafael, Calif. Held in association with the 18th Annual Marin Indian Art Show, the symposium features speakers Bradley Lepper, Ohio Historical Society archaeologist, Rob Bonnichsen, first American specialist and lead plaintiff in the Kennewick Man lawsuit, and Alan Schneider, the lead attorney in the law suit. The speakers will discuss the case from a scientific perspective and review the latest technological advances in the study of the first Americans. Contact David Bobb at (877) 587-2455 or trails@mind.net for more information.

Eighth Annual Southwest Indian Art Fair February 23–24 2002, Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz. More than 100 of the region's finest American Indian artists sell their works. The weekend includes storytelling, traditional music, dances, artists' demonstrations, native fashions and cuisine. (520) 621-6302