Evening star., 1950-09-10
By Florence S. Berrymon

American lndadn," just opened
By Florence S. Berrymon
Pictorial Art of the American
Indian" an exhibition just opened
at the National Museum Gin the
foyer of the Natural History
Building) Is so obviously the
worthy result of painstaking re-
search, study and careful plan
ing that the interested visitor will
wonder why 1t Is to be shown for
so short a time (through Septem-
ber 2D.
1t Is the result Of the joint
labors of Thomas M. Beggs, direc-
tor Of the National Collection of
Fine Arts; Frank M. Settler, head,
and John c. Ewers, assistant
curator of the Department Of
Anthropology, National Museum,
and Bernard Frazier. art director
Of the Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa,
Okla. The show is in the ma
ture Of an experiment, COM
bining museum material of his
torical and chronological impor-
tance with related paintings by
contemporary artists. In addition
to objects from the National
Museum and Philbrook, there are
also loans from Harvard's Pea
body Museum of Archaeology and
the American Museum of Natural
History. New York City.
Having a fondness for develop
ments in any field. which begin
with Adam and Eve and move up
to the present time, I find this
show has richer interest for
starting with a 10,000-year- old
arrow head, revealing fine crafts
manship in taking stone. Another
such head is shown imbedded in
the vertebra of an extinct bison
Associated with them is a pointed
stone graver, a palette and a
sample of the hematite ore which
furnished red pigment for the
ancient Indian artist.
Before the White Man.
A large map of the United
States area of North America
shows the distribution of Indians
before the white man came. They
are broadly indicated as Eastern
Woodland, Great Plains and
Southwest and Pueblo regions.
The development of Indian art
from prehistoric times is intro
duced by archaeological specimens
excavated from ancient Indian
villages and campsites in many
sections of the United States.
AS early as 1400 AID. the Pueblo
Indians began to paint colorful
symbolic muralS on the plastered
walls of their ceremonial cham
bers. The show includes three
half-scale reproductions of frag-
ments of such murals from the
old Hopi villages of Awatovi and
Kawaik-a Qent by Harvard.
These are followed by objects
representing Indian art in historic
times, revealing the influences of
the white man. The rapid expan-
sion of our country and accom-
panying technological progress
affected every one.
Converts to Christianity.
In the 10th and 17th century
Franciscan missions were estab-
lished in the Pueblo villages and
church affairs were built directly
over underground ceremonial
chambers previously used in the
Indians worship, to impress them
with the idea that Christianity
should replace their traditional
worship. Indian converts were
encouraged to paint symbolic
works for use in the churches,
such items as the painted cross
(santo) from the old mission at
Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico, and
other exhibits in the current show.
But the Pueblo tribes managed
to combine Christianity with their
old worship, and continued to-
hold their impressive traditional
ceremonies. In the late 10Th CEN
tury, anthropologists collected ex-
amples of native paintings (some
are included in the exhibition
depicting these rites.
Navajo sand paintings were
made by medicine men in religious
rites for curing the sick. Colored
earths were sprinkled on a back
ground of sand. and the painting
had to be destroyed before sun
down of the same day. A few
small paintings in the show. made
hy Navajo medicine man renro-