German Silver Jewelry of the Southern Plains Indians
Water Is Life
Errata
LETTERS TO FAAM
German Silver Jewelry of the Southern Plains Indians
HAPPILY, I RECEIVED a new subscription to your magazine. The German silver article is my particular interest, as I have been working with the material recently.
I thought your readers would appreciate historic information in a book, The Kiowas, by Mildred P. Mayhall from 1962. Her book includes a compilation / composite of what are known as the Sett’ an and calendars( notations of striking events). The entry for summer 1866 follows:
The Flat Metal( or German Silver) Sun Dance was held on Medicine Lodge Creek near its mouth in Oklahoma. A trader brought the Kiowas a large amount of flat sheets of German silver which they hammered into belts and ornaments. The pictograph shows a medicine lodge and a strip of hide covered with silver disks finished with a tuft of horsehair. … They obtained some genuine silver disks in the old days from Mexican silversmiths near present Silver City, New Mexico, and also used silver dollars. Charles W. Whitacre brought the German silver to the Kiowas. He was known as“ Tsoli”( Charley). For years he had a trading store near the present agency at Anadarko, until he died accidentally in 1882.
Robert Blanchett Santa Fe, NM
Thanks for calling our attention to Mildred P. Mayhall’ s book, The Kiowas, and the passage related to the trade of materials and the production of German silver jewelry. We are always happy to receive letters that convey an article not only of interest to readers but also related to their own area of study. German silver is an important Native American art form that deserves additional research and attention.
— Denise Neil-Binion
Water Is Life
IN YOUR MOST RECENT“ Editor’ s Greetings” column( No. 13, Winter 2016 / 17), you described your hope that both a non-Native arts professional and a tribal member who is not a participant in the art world would find value in your lovely journal. I am happy to report that, although I am neither an arts professional nor a tribal member, I truly appreciate your writing and your presentations of tribal artists. I am a wholly nonartistic, East Coast suburbanite, and I eagerly await each issue of FAAM and the worlds your staff shares with me.
The nonviolent protests by the water protectors at Standing Rock( and by their surrogates at events around the country) captured the attention of so many concerned people from all walks of life. It was nice that you made a timely inclusion of works by a few different artists to show a variety of artistic approaches to the situation. I do hope to see more work from Starr Hardridge( Muscogee Creek), whose intense Severed Black Snake is chilling. In the same issue, I also enjoyed Kevin Simpson’ s biographical article about the weavers in Oaxaca. I like that he and the artists were willing to share the details of the artists’ personal and family lives to illustrate the artistic process.
Please keep up the good work. Besides the writing and the selection of artists, the quality of your magazine is top-notch: the paper stock, the layout, the crispness of colors, and graphics. I enjoy every issue! Cindy Bortman Winchester, MA
Thank you so much, Cindy! It’ s wonderful to hear that our content is appreciated by readers who don’ t already have a background in Native American arts. The art and discussion in the Native art world addresses subjects that affect us all. Indigenous perspectives have much to contribute to understanding today’ s world and humanity’ s future course, so it’ s heartening to hear that the material resonates with you. Starr Hardridge lives in Connecticut, so hopefully you will get to encounter his work in person soon. Thank you for your support!— America Meredith
We welcome your letters to the editor! If we print your letter, we will send you a free copy of that issue of the magazine. Please email your letters to us at:
info @ firstamericanartmagazine. com
or mail letters to: First American Art Magazine, Attention: Editor 133 24th Avenue NW # 126 Norman, OK 73069
Errata
IN FAAM ISSUE NO. 14, SPRING 2017, in Teri Rofkar’ s memorial on page 89, we mistakenly listed her date of death as December 12, 2016. The Tlingit textile artist passed on December 2, 2016.
SUMMER 2017 | 9