You are visiting a Virtual Museum that honors all
Native American cultures and traditions

Location: The Internet


The Museum's mission is to advance and share the experience and knowledge of what has happened in the past and what this has meant for Native peoples today; to preserve the memory of those who died or suffered; to offer comfort, support, encouragement and understanding; and to encourage its visitors to reflect upon the need for dignity of, and respect among all peoples.

You are invited to explore this Virtual Museum at your leisure and visit us frequently.


Page Contents:

Canyon de Chelly   Chama River, Northern New Mexico   Sand Creek Apology   El Quartocentenario   A2   The Silent Drum   The Fallen Saguaro   Serenity   Love Made Visible   DJ

 

Canyon de Chelly, Navajo Nation

Canyon de ChellyI could hear the echoes of my running feet ricocheting off the canyon walls. A cold
spring morning chilling my skin and making my nose run. Stillness like no other
calm I've ever experienced. I wanted to live here a thousand years ago. I wanted to live
here before anyone knew what Indian land meant. So I took a piece of the Earth and I
carried it about on my travels. A piece of holy red Earth. A tangible reminder of where
I came from and where I could always go. A sense of calm that no one can ever
take away: a sense of belonging to the people.

Photograph and Poem Copyright by A2

See Notes on Navajo History

 

Chama River, Northern New Mexico

Chama RiverThe first known documentary reference to Navajos (from the Tewa word Navabu, meaning large area of cultivated lands) as such was in 1626. During the Spanish and Mexican Periods, Navajos were referred to as "Apaches," "Apache-Navajos," or "Apaches de Navajo" more frequently than not. This occurred also during the American Period beginning in 1846 to some extent, and indeed, even today among the Chicano population occasionally one hears the Navajos referred to as "Apaches".

Fray Gerônimo de Zárate-Salmerón, who went to Jemez as a missionary in 1622, and established the mission of San José at the pueblo of Giusewa, in his Relación of events in California and New Mexico from 1538 to 1626 wrote that one only had to go out by way of the river Zama [Chama]; and that past the nation of the Apache Indians of Navajü there is a very great river, [the Colorado or Buena-Esperanza].. . And that all was plain with good grasses and fields between the north and northwest; that it was fertile land, good and level, . . .The river sufficed for a guide.   I would like my consciousness to be like this river, flowing undisturbed.

Photograph, Copyright by Yagniza.

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El Cuartocentenario, San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico

newspaperpic.jpg Meeting of New Mexico Indian Pueblo Governors with Vice-President of Spain and other dignitaries; a re-encounter and reconciliation between Spain and the sovereign Pueblo nations; recognition of suffering endured by Pueblo Natives during conquest; promise of a new relationship based on respect, compassion, equality and understanding; reconciliation based on exchange of communication technology, commerce, education and culture.

See El Cuartocentenario.

Photograph, Copyright by The Santa Fe New Mexican.

 

 

 

 

 

The Apology to Descendants of Sand Creek Massacre

Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper Apologizes to Descendants of Sand Creek Massacre, Dec. 3, 2014  (PDF)

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A2

Aaron Bird BearFort Berthold Reservation North Dakota, A2

Photograph, Copyright by A2

 

 

 

 

 

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The Silent Drum

Silent Drum Dancers from all nineteen New Mexico Indian pueblos danced into the Paolo Seri Amphitheater at the Santa Fe Indian High School to the sound of drums and chants. My family sat mesmerized, entranced, beguiled by the wondrous flux of drums, flutes, gourd rattles, bells and whistles; prayer fans, peace pipes; incense, tobacco, pollen, cedar, sage; wool, animal skins and hides, antlers, horns, teeth and claws; vegetation: painted wood for the tablitas of the women, tree bark, grass, plants (yucca), flowers, trees (pinon, juniper, pine); silversmithing with gem stones of turquoise and coral; geometric designs of conchas and Arabic crescent moons; fetishes; textiles woven, quilted, appliqued, embroidered, fringed; abalone and other shells; face paint; hair; feathers; and beads - pony, pipe bone, ivory, silver, chevrons, red hearts, crow beads, glass beads, plastic beads, and seed beads. These dancers represented the hunters/gatherers, warriors, medicine men, leaders, traders, architects, engineers, astronomers, designers, farmers, herders, orators, linguists, philosophers, cosmologists, and now also, doctors, lawyers, businessmen and scientists.

Photograph and Text, Copyright by Yagniza.

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The Fallen Saguaro

Fallen Saquaro CactusBaby saguaro cactuses grow under the shade of a sheltering tree or bush, so they won't be subject to the blistering heat before they are strong enough to take it. They take hundreds of years to grow to their full size.

 

Photograph, Copyright by A. Granstrom.

 

 

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Serenity

Serenity

I choose to focus on what I need today - serenity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Love Made Visible

yagniza_jpg.jpg

Members of The Center for the Healing of Racism in Houston, Texas, at Fiske University Conference on Racism.

Photograph, Copyright by Yagniza

 

 

 

 

 

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DJ

Engelbreksloppet 2004 Engelbrektsloppet 2004

DJ and His Daughter, Hadlie, in Sweden
at Engelbrektsloppet 2004
40 Mile Cross Country Ski Event

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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