A Song for the Horse Nation Exhibition Prospectus 18/8880
Introducing a major traveling exhibition, developed by the Smithsonian s National Museum of the American Indian and organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. Now available for booking by select venues for the national tour beginning in 2012. Photo by Fred E. Miller/N13766 The image of Spotted Rabbit (Absaroke [Crow]), taken around 1905, shows the complexity of Native horse accoutrements. With compelling images like this, stunning artifacts, maps, videos, and more, the exhibition provides a comprehensive examination of the horse in Native American history.
A Song for the Horse Nation The objects featured in Horse Nation, including this expertly beaded ca. 1915 Walla Walla bag, tell a powerful story of the horse in American Indian life over five centuries. 6/5436 Share Some of the Smithsonian s Most Significant Collections with Your Visitors This compelling exhibition includes: Photographs and illustrations Text and graphic panels and labels Cases and vitrines Audio and video with equipment 150 historical and contemporary objects, including Horse hoof ornaments Spanish horse mask Saddle bags Clothing (hide robes and shirts) Ledger drawings on muslin Coup sticks Horse head coverings Horse sticks Beaded bags Full-scale horse replica in full Crow parade regalia Original and reproduction documents Maps 1
From the Nation s Premier Collection The National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., draws upon its extraordinary collections to present A Song for the Horse Nation, an epic story of the horse s influence on American Indian tribes from 1493 to the present. Never-before-traveled historical objects as well as new pieces by contemporary Native artists reveal the critical role of the horse in shaping the social, economic, cultural, and spiritual foundations of American Indian life, particularly on the Great Plains. Highlights from the exhibition include American Indian clothing, horse equipment, and rare archival drawings on muslin. They were more than work animals; horses were, and still are, cherished. Emil Her Many Horses (Oglala Lakota), exhibition curator Opening at the George Gustav Heye Center in New York in 2009 and then appearing at the National Museum of American Indian on the National Mall in 2011, the exhibition recounts historical events and includes traditional and contemporary stories, songs, and poetry. Audio-visual presentations of Native American horsemen and breeders bring the story up to the present, and remind visitors that the horse, though no longer ubiquitous, is still honored in Indian Country today. Photo by Henry Fair/P4166 The exhibition, which debuts at the National Museum of the American Indian in late 2009, follows on the acclaimed publication, A Song for the Horse Nation: Horses in Native American Cultures (Fulcrum Publishing, 2006), edited by George P. Horse Capture and Emil Her Many Horses. Exhibitors will be able to order copies for resale.
My Horse Flies Like A Bird Kolá Mitá śun ke Kinyań yan Iń yanke lo friend my horse flies like a bird as it runs Sung by Brave Buffalo (Teton Sioux) This ca. 1865 Cheyenne shirt, worn by an esteemed Plains warrior, is one of many well-preserved and noteworthy artifacts in the exhibition that reveal the underlying importance of the horse in Native culture. 8/8034 2 3
Investigate. Interact. Play. With authentic riding equipment and real horse hair that visitors can actually touch, A Song for the Horse Nation is a tactile experience for people of all ages. The exhibition, a true multi-media adventure that combines history, culture, and tradition, will be particularly compelling to those interested in American Indian life, Native American art, the West, and, of course, horses. 5/719 This Taos Pueblo (New Mexico) robe, an exquisite example, depicts the short-legged Pinto rather than the more commonly depicted Plains horse.
These Indians [Nez Perce] are the most active horsemen I ever saw: they gallop their horses over precipices that I should not think of riding over at all. Patrick Gass, sergeant on the Lewis and Clark expedition, 1803-06 A Complete Exhibition Package As a host of A Song for the Horse Nation, you will receive the following: 11/8044 Complete curatorial and registrarial information Thorough shipping, handling, and installation instructions Wall-to-wall fine arts insurance coverage under the Smithsonian s policy Ability to link to and from SITES website Public relations support in the form of digital press releases, images, and logos; and advice on promoting the exhibition and hosting special events Guidelines for local fundraising Educational and programming resources Registrar, conservator, and installation technician to oversee/assist in installation and de-installation Sample copies of companion book Exhibition brochures Photo by Rolf Tietgens/Lot 179 4 5
Security, Care, and Display Requirements This exhibition has been designated HIGH SECURITY and will only be offered to institutions able to meet the requirements on the following pages. High security is required for exhibitions containing objects that are of special cultural significance, highly valuable, sensitive to light or climatic changes in humidity and temperature, or of an especially fragile nature. This exhibition has specific requirements to ensure the proper display and protection of objects displayed outside of cases. Exhibitor Requirements Space Exhibitors must have approximately 4,200 square feet of gallery space. An open mall, hallway, or lounge area is not acceptable. Functioning fire prevention systems and fire protection devices that alert guards and/or local fire department must be available in the exhibition, staging, and storage spaces. Fire prevention and protection systems must meet local ordinances and are subject to SITES approval. Smoking, eating, and drinking are prohibited in exhibition gallery, staging, and storage spaces. The exhibitor must have a recording hygrothermograph(s) in the exhibition space. Empty crates and other packing material must be stored in a secure, pest-free, and temperatureand relative humidity-controlled storage space. No part of this exhibition may be stored, crated, or moved off the premises without prior authorization from SITES. 6/135 Facility reports for exhibitors must be reviewed and approved by both SITES and the exhibition lender(s). Collections Management It is extremely important for light levels, temperature and relative humidity to be controlled at the specified levels while sensitive objects are on display. Light damage is irreversible, and the following levels must be maintained: Light levels must be limited to no greater than 5 foot candles. No direct sunlight must reach the objects or graphics. The exhibition space, staging, and storage areas must have temperature and humidity controls to guarantee an environment of 45 to 55% relative humidity and 68 72 degrees Fahrenheit, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A member of the exhibitor s professional collections management or conservation staff must make daily checks of the exhibition. 23/8761
Exhibit cases will all contain Artens, and dataloggers will be present in cases with particularly sensitive material. Venues will be required to monitor Artens and maintain a chart which will be faxed to SITES. Venues must have capability to calibrate Artens, as necessary. Venues must also be able to download datalogger information to be emailed to SITES after deinstallation. Venues must have capability to re-condition and maintain silica gel chambers as necessary to maintain goal Rh. No photography of exhibition components or objects is allowed without prior authorization from SITES. Protection Trained professional guards, whose sole duty is to protect the exhibition, must be present in sufficient numbers to protect the exhibition adequately throughout the time it is on site (during truck off-loading, unpacking, installation, de-installation, repacking, and truck loading) and on view. The horse replica will not be enclosed and must be under human guard at all times the exhibition is open to the public. Security cameras may not substitute for human guards during public hours. Guard(s) need not be armed. Security must be maintained during hours when the exhibition is closed to the public, including either periodic checks of the exhibition space by guard personnel or adequately monitored electronic surveillance to detect motion, heat, and smoke. It is anticipated that some cases and wall hung items will be alarmed and that the full scale horse replica platform will have imbedded motion sensors. SITES will provide a registrar, conservator, and installation technician for each installation and deinstallation to assist venues in setting up these monitors and alarms. The venues must be able to accommodate the cabling, maintenance, and monitoring requirements for this equipment. All handling, installation, and de-installation of objects must be performed by professional museum staff trained in handling, packing, and installing works of art. Venues must provide a minimum of two registrars, conservators, or other object handling professionals to assist the SITES team during installation and deinstallation. Venues must provide a minimum of four professional exhibition installers to assist the SITES team in exhibition component, interactives and AV placement, installation, unpacking, and repacking. The exhibition will be shipped by a Smithsonian-approved designated carrier. A Crow man would no more want to be seen riding a sorry-looking horse than he would want to have disobedient children. Dr. Herman J. Viola, exhibition collaborator 2/3106 6 7
22/1878 Photo by Sumner Matteson/P21437 Curatorial Team Emil Her Many Horses (Oglala Lakota) Her Many Horses is an associate curator in the office of Cultural Resources at the National Museum of the American Indian specializing in Northern and Southern Plains culture. He was lead curator for the museum s inaugural permanent exhibition about indigenous world views and philosophies and was the co-curator of a recent exhibition about Native women s dresses. George P. Horse Capture (A aninin, Gros Ventre) Horse Capture was special assistant for cultural resources and senior counselor to the director at the National Museum of the American Indian. He also served as assistant professor of American Indian Studies at Montana State University. Dr. Herman J. Viola Dr. Viola is a curator emeritus at the National Museum of Natural History. His research specialties include American Indians, the Civil War, and the exploration of the American West. One of several robes in the exhibition, this mid-19th century Piikuni (Blackfeet) elk skin robe reflects the skill of Native artisans as well as the beauty of objects in this exhibition.
You will grow strong like the horses of your past. You will grow strong like the horses of your birth. Excerpt from a poem by Luci Tapahonso (Navajo) Project Partners Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service SITES has been sharing the wealth of Smithsonian collections and research programs with millions of people outside Washington, DC, for more than 50 years. SITES connects Americans to their shared cultural heritage through a wide range of exhibitions about art, science, and history, which are shown wherever people live, work, and play. www.sites.si.edu. Smithsonian s National Museum of the American Indian The museum recognizes and affirms the historical and contemporary culture and cultural achievements of the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere by advancing, in consultation, collaboration, and cooperation with Natives, knowledge and understanding of Native cultures. The museum also recognizes its special responsibility to protect, support, and enhance the development, maintenance, and perpetuation of Native culture and community. www.americanindian.si.edu 1/4443 The exhibition includes a life-size replica of a horse, decorated from head to tail in full Crow parade regalia. This quilled horse mask is a Northern Cheyenne example. SITES Contacts Scheduling Michelle Torres-Carmona 202.633.3143 torrescm@si.edu Content/Design Katherine Krile 202.633.3108 krilek@si.edu 8 9
Photo by Horace Poolaw (Kiowa)/P26505 additional captions and credits All images courtesy National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution cover, left to right: Detail from Taos Pueblo (New Mexico) robe. Siksika head covering with beads, feathers, and Chinese brass buttons, ca. 1845. page 2: Kalispel woman and child, ca. 1910, on Flathead Reservation in Montana. page 5, left to right: Navajo women at Gallup, New Mexico, ceremonial around 1940. Assinboine horse stick made by Medicine Bear, ca. 1860s. page 6, left to right: Cheyenne River Sioux beaded tipi bag, made around 1885. Ho Chunk (Winnebago) heddle used to separate warp threads on a loom, ca. 1865. page 7: Horse crupper, ca. 1885, with metal jingles made by Absaroke (Crow) artisans. page 8: Members of the Assinboine and A aninin tribes of Montana after a mock battle, around 1906. back cover: Pawnee Bill Wild West Show, staged in Oklahoma, ca. 1928. SITES PO Box 37012 MRC 941 Washington, DC 20013-7012 202.633.3140 www.sites.si.edu www.shows2go.si.edu