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The Kansas Historical Society has opened a
new exhibit at the Shawnee Indian Mission State Historic Site, 3403 W
53rd Street, Fairway, KS. The exhibits, featured in the North
Building at the site, tell the story of the emigrant Indians in Kansas
- such as the Iowa, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, and Sac and Fox.
As American Indians were removed to the
area beginning in 1825, they had to adapt to life in a new environment
and came into contact with other cultural groups. Their
traditional skills and their beliefs were impacted by these changes.
Through folklore, folk art and other cultural traditions, these
cultural groups learned to communicate their presence, values and
aesthetics through generations.
The complicated history of American
Indians in Kansas is also the store of how cultural traditions change
through time while maintaining ties to the past. The arrival of
small trade beads in large quantities, for example, made possible the
fine beadwork we know today. Articles of clothing once made with
buffalo skins began to be made from wool or cotton.
Objects in the new exhibit at Shawnee
Indian Mission include woven baskets, beadwork, drums and other folk
art made from techniques passed down through generations of Kansans
with American Indian ancestry.
Visit the Shawnee Indian Mission web site.
Photo Gallery:
Exhibit Opening (Page 1)
(Page 2)
Click on image for larger view
American Indian Traditions Photo Gallery Page 2
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