The Washington herald., 1922-07-30
By AMY d. PUTNAM.

tngtonB foremost sculptorS, mas
gone to Toronto to see the placing
OF a group he has just made Of
American Indians.
This Is the sixth group Mr.. Dun
bar has made for the Toronto Mu-
scum. or. as 1t Is called officiaily.
the Ontario Provincial Museum.
This institution was founded IN
1851. and, according to its official
report, Is interested In "archae-
oIogy. ethnology. biology. and na-
tural history; prehistoric material
from Europe, Africa, Mexico, South
America. the New Hebrides. and the
United States"
Has Exhibition Yearly.
Each year Toronto holds an an
nual exhibition. At this exhibition
the new acquisitions are on view.
Then they buy them. and the mu-
scum houses them. They make the
cases. provide the costumes, and
pay all the expenses on them un-
I'll the end of the two weeks of the
exhibition, and then these articles
go to the museum as a permanent
exhibit
Previous to this year. just one
group has been exhibited at a time.
They have contracted for six
groups, which are now done, and
this year all six are to be exhibited
together, making big. feature.
Mr.. Dunbar made some Of the fg-
ures for our New National Museum.
One. OF the Hupa Valley Indians,
Is quite similar to one OF his groups
for the Toronto Museum. He made
only part of the figures in our Hupa
Indian group. or three Of the fig-
ures. In this group a young bare
footed girl is bending over her
work. and the woman Is tickling
her toes.
shows Mohawk Family.
One of the Toronto groups Is OF
the Mohawk family, living In the
sugar region. In this one there
are five figures. besides the papoose.
One of them is making a trough
to catch the sap. and another has
just come zin from. the hunt with
some game. and Is making a fire.
The woman Is pousding corn on
n mortar knee-high. and with a
pestle which extends above her
head. The old woman Is making
baskets. and her husband Is lean
ing on the step mending an arrow.
This group Is called "A Mohawk
Family Group Gathered in Front of
Their Elm Bark House.
The Cliff Dwellers are represented
by one of their houses, showing the
cliff out of which It is followed
Two women are grinding corn on
their knees, as the custom Is with
these aborigines. The man and his
small son have just come in from
the field in the valley below, and
. have opened up a blanket of field
produce. They are displaying their
vegetables with great pride. the
boy holding up a very large pepper
which he has brought in his basket
for his mother to admire. The
grandmother Is making pottery.
Hafda Groups Represented.
Next is the Haida group. which
fnhabits some western islands along
the Pacific Coast above Vancouver
The young man OF the family Is
painting and decorating boxes and
food chests with designs like those
of the totem poles. with ugly half
human figures. These Indians also
make totem poles. The mother Is
making a basket. and the father
has returned from the beach with
large basket OF clans on his
shoulder. The others have stopped
to look up at him. These people
lived very largely on FISH and sea
food.
Perhaps the most interesting of
all these groups Is the "Snake
Dance Of the Hopi Indians" Ger
tainiy II would repay anyone for
careful study. Each Of the other
groups shows the family of a DIFF
ferent tribe. arranged in such a
way as to show the family life. Gus
toms. dress. food. etc. This Is
a ceremonial group. It shows a
dance held every two years. which
really Is a PRAYER for rain and for
good harvests. "the former and lat
ter rain in season" as the Bible
expresses II. This brings II out of
fhe realm OF mea nirrless antics of
a savage race. There are nine fe-
"res in this group. The four priests
in the BACKGROUND are the rain
and harvest priests. and the three
in the center the snake priests.
The Hupa Valley and River are
IN California. somewhat north Of
Sacramento. There are several
tribes nearly alike there. This was
hfr. Dunbar's group for last wear.
In this one the wife Is cleaning the
hair from the buffalo hide. One of
the women Is hanging up buffalo
meat. This Is cut into a good-sized
chunk. and then split It will hang
In the split over the line which Is
stretched up in their home. The
man Is teaching his boy to shoot
the arrow from the bow.
These groups are shipped In sec
tions and put together In Toronto
This years group, on which Mr..
Dunbar has been working very
hard for the last few months, COM
rletes the collection Of six groups
which was ordered.
Gallery Open All Year.
Up to a dozen or so years ago
the Corcoran Gallery was closed
all summer. 1t Is now kept open
the whole year. except Christmas
Day and Fourth Of July. The at
tendance during the summer
months has been astonishingly
good. Last year. during the months
of July and August. II Is said the
attendance exceeded $4,000.
This year the exhibition of Phn-
sdelphia artists work has drawn
many people. and called forth
much enthusiasm. This exhibit is
attractively arranged In the Hemi-
cycle. and consists of sculpture and
paintings. many by former price
winners in the biennial exhibits az
the Corcoran Gallery.