RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - After nearly a decade of giving grants and heaping on praise, the National Endowment for the Arts will give another gift to the First Peoples Fund with the return this weekend of recordings of Lakota songs and speeches made in the 1890s.
The late 19th century recordings were made on wax cylinders, and the 1940s recordings were made on acetate discs. They have been archived at the American Folk Life Center at the Library of Congress, and now two sets of digital copies, as well as field notes and translations, will be returned to the Lakota people.
The materials will be handed over at a ceremony by at 9 a.m. on Saturday at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in Rapid City during the Lakota Dakota Nakota Language Summit, billed as “Tuseca Tiospaye.” The ceremony will see recordings of Lakota songs and speech accepted by representatives from Oglala Lakota College, the Rapid City Journal reported (https://bit.ly/2dzM6C8 ).
Giving added weight to the return of the recordings will be the presence of Jane Chu, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, who will be in Rapid City for the repatriation of the recordings and also to attend the First Peoples Fund’s Community Spirit Awards on Saturday.
“It’s meaningful because we’re giving back the originals, something that was theirs,” Chu said. “We’ve digitized the audio at no cost to the Oglala Lakota, and we’re really appreciative to be able to give them back.”
That sentiment was echoed by Tawa Ducheneaux, an archivist at Oglala Lakota College.
“It’s very important that federal agencies have recognized the value of partnering and collaborating with tribal nations to repatriate materials that have the most meaning by being able to be accessed locally,” Ducheneaux said. “We feel it’s fitting that this happen with an audience of language speakers, linguists and preservationists.”
Chu said she is excited to be meeting with local Native Americans and to meet people involved with the First Peoples Fund.
“I’d known about the First Peoples Fund prior to being at the NEA,” Chu said. “I’m very excited about going to visit them. It’s been a grantee for a number of years, so it’s great to be able to see firsthand the great work they’re doing.”
The endowment for the arts is an independent agency of the United States government that supports and funds important artistic projects across the country. Chu is the 11th chair, having taken the position in June 2014, and has a background of philanthropy, business, and arts administration, and is also a trained pianist.
The organization has supported the First Peoples Fund since 2007, awarding nine grants totaling $270,000 over nine years. This year it gave $60,000 to support the Community Spirit Awards ceremony and Rolling Rez workshops. Chu’s attendance will mark the first time an endowment chairperson will be present for the awards.
“We’re very appreciative of being invited and being able to participate,” Chu said.
Chu added that part of the NEA’s mission has been to be able to honor different traditions and heritage as it relates to arts and culture.
“That’s very important to us, because that’s what America’s all about,” Chu said. “The Community Spirit Awards are about the power that arts and culture has to honor tradition and heritage. That’s very critical to who we are.”
The Community Spirit Awards, which take place Saturday evening at the Performing Arts Center of Rapid City, will honor seven Native American artists from across the country who selflessly weave their talents and knowledge into their communities.
Chu said she felt the awards were an important way to honor Native American artists that also shows the importance of art in a community.
“As far as I’m concerned, arts help people understand themselves, and that’s what’s happening here,” Chu said. “From clothing to bead work to dancers, it’s part of making Native cultures tangible and visible. It means that these artists are culture bearers, and this is an opportunity to shine light on them.”
Chu, the awards recipients and other endowment representatives will tour Pine Ridge on Sunday morning, with a visit to the Oglala Lakota College Historical Center planned.
Chu said she looked forward to traveling to “this beautiful part of the country” and meeting new people, and that she viewed the arts as another vocabulary, something that transcended everyday conversation.
“The arts have an ability to bring us together, to show us that we’re not forced to be alike, but that we can honor the ways we’re different and celebrate it,” Chu said.
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Information from: Rapid City Journal, https://www.rapidcityjournal.com
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