ORIGIN STORIES Come Alive at the Idaho State Museum
COURTESY IDAHO STATE MUSEUM
BY KAREN DAY
“Long ago, there were spiritual beings. Coyote was walking along the beach on the West Coast. He saw a mermaid and she was beautiful. He wanted to get to know her and when he called out to her, she came…they got married and had children. The children were Indians, and they were the forefathers of the great tribes that were to inhabit north and south.” So begins the creation story of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribe, animated in the Idaho State Museum’s Origin Stories exhibit. “The first thing we did when planning how to interpret the tribal stories was to ask permission of every tribal chairman if we could include their stories,” explains Jan Gallimore, Executive Director of the Idaho State Historical Society. “Everything you see here was co-created with them.” The Origin Stories exhibit is one of several tribal displays created in partnership with tribes during the Idaho State Museum’s recent $17 million restoration project. All displays, including the tribal stories, are woven
into the museum’s concurrent theme of how the land and the people of Idaho shaped each other over time. “The tribes and the land are inextricable, so we envisioned this exhibit as the first display visitors see when they enter, ‘Meet Idaho’s First People,’” says Gallimore. This serene and elegant presentation includes a theater projecting five beautifully animated Creation Stories shared by the Nez Perce, Coeur d’Alene, Kootenai, Shoshone-Bannock, and Shoshone-Paiute Tribes. Gallimore adds, “The stories came from the tribes, the music too. We were just the facilitators. Our intent was to portray the tribes in ways that reflected what they wanted to share with the public.” Many people know of Sacajawea and her role in the Lewis and Clark expedition. Chief Joseph and his passionate, principled resistance to his Nez Perce people’s removal can be seen on posters for sale in the Seattle airport. But far fewer know of Chief Looking Glass, architect of many successful military strategies in the Nez Perce War of 1877, whose tomahawk pipe is on display here in
Boise. And fewer still are aware of the Bear Valley Massacre of 1863, when the U.S. Army killed between 270 to 400 Shoshone men, women and children near Preston, Idaho. The museum is rich with these rare and true narratives, artifacts, photos of Idaho’s unique first people, authentically portraying their cultures, history, and current contributions to the state’s economy and environment. “All the tribes wanted to ensure that people saw their homelands and traditional ways of life,” says Gallimore. “To show how treaties affected them and today’s life on reservations. They also wanted to show that they have been here for thousands of years, and they’re still here, preserving the land, water, and endangered species. Most importantly, they wanted respect and the museum did our absolute best to ensure that they receive that respect.” To see and learn more about Idaho’s five tribes, visit the Idaho State Museum in Julia Davis Park. ( history.idaho.gov )
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