First exhibit devoted entirely to Native American people opens in Creative Discovery Museum

Boys cook in Grandma's Kitchen of the "Native Voices" exhibit. / Photo by Clive Grainger

"Native Voices, New England Tribal Families," a new traveling exhibit created by Boston Children's Museum, will open on Saturday, Jan. 19, in the Creative Discovery Museum.

Visitors to the local children's museum will explore Native American traditions of five communities from northern to southern New England, and how modern families balance contemporary life with preservation of those cultural identities.

In conjunction with "Native Voices," the CDM will also present "Living Traditions: Southeastern Native American Art," featuring the work of Southeastern Native American artists.

"Living Traditions," developed by Creative Discovery Museum, will complement "Native Voices" by showing the diversity, commonalities and differences of traditional crafts of five Southeastern tribes: Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole.

Visitors will view a wide variety of basketry, bead work, ceramics and textile work and learn about the importance of art traditions from contemporary Native American artists, whose craft was taught to them by mentors and/or family members.

"Native Voices" will take children through the four seasons, highlighting stories, songs and cultural materials that illustrate connections between tribes and their traditions.

Visitors will learn about the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot of Maine, the Narragansett of Rhode Island, the Aquinnah Wampanoag and Mashpee Wampanoag of Massachusetts.

Spring: Meet Narragansett teens as they explore the Nuweetooun tribal school, search for animal species in a vernal pool, and try basket weaving and stamping activities.

Alva Crowe demonstrates how to handle a blowgun. He will be part of the "Native Voices" opening day party at Creative Discovery Museum on Saturday afternoon. / Photo by Clive Grainger

Summer: Practice beading in a Mashpee Wampanoag artist's studio, assemble a clam bake and plant corn, beans and squash in the Three Sisters Garden.

Fall: Explore pinch pots from the Gayhead cliffs of Martha's Vineyard, walk on a "bog," investigate a living bog plant and hear about Aquinnah teens' favorite aspects of Cranberry Day, a traditional Aquinnah holiday.

Winter: Toboggan down a wintry hill in Maine with Kaia, a young Penobscot. Try your hand at animal tracking, cook a native Passamaquoddy dish in Grandma's Kitchen, or compete at snowsnake, a traditional native game.

Additionally, visitors can experience the sights and sounds of a powwow through traditional music and dance, and investigate materials and styles of four Native American artists.

Part of the charm of Boston Children's Museum's collection of cultural materials from New England tribes is the dynamic contrast between old and new. For example, traditional beading on a deer skin is compared with an elaborately beaded pair of Keds sneakers.

"At Creative Discovery Museum, we provide experiences that expand a child's world," says Henry Schulson, executive director. "'Native Voices' will contribute to our goal of fostering cultural awareness. It represents the first time that we have ever devoted an entire exhibit to Native American peoples."

"Native Voices" will continue through Sunday, May 12.

For more information about the museum or new exhibit: www.cdmfun.org.