Native Americans
odd: label: Introduction
content: Beginning with the first Festival in 1967, Native American presentations demonstrated the vitality of craft traditions, culinary arts, song and dance, and folklore. The 1974 Native American program marked the fifth year in a series of regional programs, to culminate in the Bicentennial Festival in 1976 with a comprehensive national program. More than 90 participants joined the Festival, primarily from the Western States of California, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, and Colorado; special programs on sports and games brought tribal members from elsewhere in the country.

Among the tribes participating in the 1974 Festival were (from California) the Tolowa, Pomo, Hoopa, Yurok, Karok, Luiseno, Maidu, Cahuilla, as well as (from the Basin and Plateau States) Paiute, Shoshone, Kaibab, Northern Ute, Ute Mountain, Southern Ute, and Nez Perce. Sports and games were presented by Creek, Cherokee, Eskimo, Acoma, Athabaskan, Jemez, and Laguna participants. Pomo basket makers, Karok netmakers, Yurok canoe carvers, a Tolowa reed boat weaver, and cooks from Yurok, Hoopa, Karok and Cahuilla tribes of California demonstrated crafts and foodways.

Performances took place in a California plank house and a Basin/Plateau tipi, with workshops and discussions in a Learning Center, and sports and games in a dedicated area. The Learning Center was a multimedia venue designed as an introduction to contemporary Indian communities and their traditional backgrounds. Such topics as the Indian Family, Native Community, and Contributions to America were discussed by participants, while Festival visitors could attend language classes, learn Indian songs, and view photographs of contemporary and historic Native Americans.

Carole Parker served as program coordinator, assisted by Thomas Kavanagh; the California program was coordinated by Joy Sundberg (Yurok); the Basin/Plateau program, by Jim Jefferson (Southern Ute); and the sports and games, by Matt Waconda and Ethan Bigpond. The multi-year program was shaped by the Native Americans Advisory Group, including Louis Bruce, Clydia Nahwooksy, Dell Hymes, William Sturtevant, Samuel Stanley, Herman Viola, Carnes Burson, and Robert Byington. Major sponsors for the 1974 program included the Public Information Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Department of the Army, the Coalition of Eastern Native Americans and the Louisiana Pacific Redwood Corporation.

The following year (1975) saw the last regional Native American program, with the Bicentennial Festival providing a national overview, including some participants who returned from previous years.
label: Participants
content: California

Tolowa

Sheryl Bommelyn, dancer

Loren Bommelyn, dancer

Kara Brundin, dancer

Brenda Green, dancer

John Green, dancer, singer

Carl James, dancer

Samuel Lopez, 1886-1977, singer

Billy Richards, dancer

Mark Richards, dancer

Marvin Richards, dancer, singer

Nicole Richards, dancer, cook

Don Stunrick, dancer

Pomo

Elsie Allen, 1899-1990, basket maker

Dewey Barnes, 1932-2006, fishtrap maker

Rose Barnes, 1929-, dancer

Elvina Brown, dancer

James Brown II, dancer

James Brown III, dancer

Kenneth Fred, 1929-, singer, dancer

Bernadine Hopper, 1918-1999, dancer

Nelson Hopper, Pomo, shell jeweler, Finley, California

Hoopa

Eleanor Abbott, basket maker

Warren Abbott, dancer

Anthony Risling, 1912-2004, fishnet maker

Yurok

George Blake, bow maker, Eureka, California

Ella Johnson, basket maker

Sam Jones, 1913-1996, salmon cook

Walter Lara, Yurok, canoe carver, Eureka, California

Ella Norris, 1892-1982, Wiyot-Yurok, salmon cook, Crescent City, California

Josephine Peters, 1923-2011, jeweler

Pamela Peters, dancer

Mark Sundberg, dancer

Lisa Sundberg, cook, dancer

Tom Williams, canoe carver

Karok

Francis Davis, Sr., 1929-, fishnet maker

Luiseno

Villiana Hyde, 1903-1994, discussant

Maidu

Gladys Mankins, 1912-1985, bead worker, dancer

Seymore Smith, 1891-, singer

Cahuilla

Katherine Saubel, cook

Basin/Plateau

Paiute

Marie Brown, bead worker, cook

Stannard Frank, 1923-1989, discussant

Lily George, 1911-1977, Paiute, tule boat maker, Ely, Nevada

Madaline Kaamasee, doll maker

Lena Murphy, dancer

Marjorie Stark, Paiute, 1911-2001, basket maker, Ely, Nevada

Shoshone

Ella Bear, 1907-1983, hide tanner

Jimmy Dan, dancer, singer

Agnes Gould, 1925-1991, dancer

Audrey Gould, bead worker

Austin Gould, dancer, singer

Vincent Ponzo, buckskin worker

Kaibab

Dan Bullets, 1906-1990, Kaibab, hide tanner, Fredonia, Arizona

Alva Drye, Kaibab, basket maker, Fredonia, Arizona

Lucille Jake, 1920-1997, Kaibab, bead worker, basket maker, Fredonia, Arizona

Lita Sigmiller, Kaibab, basket maker, Fredonia, Arizona

Northern Ute

Irene Coch, bead worker, dancer

Loya Gardner, 1913-2004, dancer

Maxine Natchez, dancer

Ute Mountain

Cliff Duncan, pow wow MC

Bonnie Hatch, Ute Mountain, dancer, Towaoc, Colorado

Sarah Hatch, Ute Mountain, dancer, potter, Towaoc, Colorado

Danny Tallbird, 1926-1996, Cheyenne, dancer, Towaoc, Colorado

Ruby Tallbird, 1934-2004, Ute Mountain, buckskin worker, Towaoc, Colorado

Tony Tallbird, Ute Mountain, dancer, Towaoc, Colorado

Southern Ute

Ramona Eagle, Southern Ute, dancer, Ignacio, Colorado

Dan Jefferson, dancer

Tim Jefferson, dancer

Bonnie Kent, 1918-1989, Southern Ute, dancer, Ignacio, Colorado

Elsie Kent, dancer

Nez Perce

Randall Ellenwood, dancer

Wilfred Halfmoon, dancer

Owen Slickapoo, dancer

Allen Slickpoo, discussant

Sports and Games

Creek

Paul Culley, 1931-1993, Creek, stickball, Wetumka, Oklahoma

Paula Culley, 1963-, Creek-Seminole, stickball, Wetumka, Oklahoma

Jeannie Fixico, 1953-, Creek, stickball, Seminole, Oklahoma

Emma Lowe, 1942-, Creek, stickball, Holdenville, Oklahoma

Larry Soweka, 1945-, Creek, stickball, Henryetta, Oklahoma

Cherokee

George Dixon, 1946-, Cherokee, archer, Muskogee, Oklahoma

Larry Rackliff, 1952-, Cherokee, archer, Tahlequa, Oklahoma

Lyman Vann, 1907-1985, Cherokee, archer, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Pete Vann, 1948-, archer

Eskimo

Laura Bergt, sports

Les Bodfish, sports

Reggie Joule, sports

Roger Kunayak, sports

Acoma

Gordon Joe, 1955-, Acoma, track runner, Paraje, New Mexico

Athabaskan

Fred Titus, sports

Jemez

Steven Gachupin, 1942-, Jemez, track coach, Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico

Laguna

Emmet Hunt, 1948-, Laguna-Acoma, cross country coach, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Bruce Allen Romero, 1959-, track, Paguate, New Mexico

Meldon R. Sanchez, 1959-, runner, San Fidel, New Mexico
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
setName: label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1974 Festival of American Folklife
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
identifier: label: Identifier
content: CFCH.SFF.1974, Series 6
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials