Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Choctaw house

A nifty card just arrived from Oklahoma, featuring a red clay mud & pole house with thatch roof, found in the southeast before Choctaws were relocated to Oklahoma in the 1830s. My friend works with tribes coordinating transportation issues such as road construction and found this card while attending a meeting with the tribe located in Durant. Very nice!!

Alert Bay Memorial Pole

A Canadian friend who is an archaeologist sent a card from British Columbia earlier this summer. She visited Quadra Island's cultural center and saw many lovely masks, rattles and ceremonial items that had been returned to the tribe.
This card shows a carved & painted memorial pole with an interesting history: "This pole in Alert Bay cemetery was commissioned by Mrs Tom Patch for her memorial. Unsatisfied with teht size of the figure's hat she refused to pay for it, and it was abandoned on the beach. Years later some locals raised it at her grave and eventually friends put a tire around the carved hat, enlargening it in accordance with her original wishes."