Tag: History

Connecting with Heritage: Yanaguana Indian Arts Festival at the Briscoe

Briscoe Western Art Museum celebrates Native American heritage at annual Yanaguana Indian Arts Festival. Photo: Briscoe Western Art Museum, used with permission.

San Antonio, TX – The Briscoe Western Art Museum invites the community to celebrate Native American culture with its annual Yanaguana Indian Arts Festival on Saturday, November 9, from 10a.m. to 4p.m. This free, family-friendly event honors the rich cultural traditions and artistic expressions of Native American communities, showcasing art, music, dance, storytelling and more. Taking place along the scenic River Walk, the festival provides the perfect setting for families to come together and enjoy a day of learning, creativity and celebration. Free event registration is available online. (Briscoe Western Art Museum, 2024)

A vibrant display of Native American heritage that brings together diverse tribes and artists from across the region, the free community festival features storytelling, artist demonstrations, pottery and carving throughout the Briscoe’s campus, as well as Native American-inspired food. The celebration includes free admission to the Briscoe, making it a perfect way to celebrate the important role Native Americans played in shaping the West while enjoying art and artifacts that highlight Native American history.

“Native Americans have played a profound role in shaping the history, culture and spirit of the American West. Their deep connection to the land, their traditions and their art have left an indelible mark on the region’s story. At the Briscoe, we honor these contributions by celebrating and preserving that heritage through exhibitions and events. It’s essential that we recognize and honor Native American communities today, not just for their historical significance, but for their ongoing influence on the culture and identity of the West.” – Liz Jackson, President and CEO of the Briscoe Western Art Museum

Held annually since the museum opened, the festival is named in honor of the Payaya people who were indigenous to the San Antonio area, “Yanaguana” was the word they used to describe what is now known as the San Antonio River.

Experience Native American Culture Through Art, Music and Dance

The Yanaguana Indian Arts Festival offers a unique opportunity to experience Native American culture firsthand. Admission and all crafts and activities included in the festival are free.

Throughout the day, attendees can enjoy:

  • Live Performances: Traditional Native American dancers, musicians and drummers and will share their cultural heritage through mesmerizing performances. From powerful drum circles to the soulful beauty of the Native American flute,  these performances are sure to captivate audiences of all ages.
  • Storytelling Sessions: Engaging storytellers will share traditional Native American tales, offering insight into the values, beliefs and history of Native communities.
  • Hands-on Activities: Families can participate in hands-on art and craft workshops, allowing children and adults alike to create their own artwork inspired by Native American traditions.
  • Artisan Market: Browse a curated selection of Native American artwork and talk with the artists as they demonstrated their crafts, including jewelry, pottery, beadwork and textiles.

The festival’s focus on art and culture aligns perfectly with the Briscoe’s fall exhibition, Storytellers: Narrative Art and the West. This special exhibition explores how Native American and Western artists use narrative art to convey history, culture and identity. It features works that tell powerful stories of the American Southwest, blending traditional Native American art forms with contemporary perspectives.

The 2024 event features:

  • A spiritual blessing by United San Antonio Pow Wow, Inc., a group that works to provide Native American people the opportunity to participate, practice, teach and exchange tribal traditions among all tribes and to enlighten everyone about the history and culture of America’s first inhabitants.
  • A Pow Wow-style drum circle with United San Antonio Pow Wow and Enemy Horse Drumming demonstrating and explaining common pow wow dance styles.
  • Live music by Native American artists, including Tim Blueflint Ramel. An enrolled member of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa, a federally recognized American Indian Tribe, flute player Blueflint Ramel has opened for and shared the stage with Grammy Award Winner Mary Youngblood and a wide variety of artists. He is also an accomplished flute and jewelry maker and will demonstrate his craft throughout the day.
  • Chikashsha Hithla dance troupe demonstrating traditional Chickasaw dance. Comprised of native people from Southeastern American Indian tribes, members of the troupe are Chickasaw, Choctaw, Seminole and Creek, who are dedicated to preserving their culture and educating the public through songs, storytelling and Stomp dancing.
  • Stories from Amy Bluemel, a Chickasaw storyteller and the great-granddaughter of Eastman Kaney, an original Dawes Commission enrollee. Bluemel shares Chickasaw customs and those of other southeastern tribes through elaborate storytelling.
  • Native American art demonstrations, including ledger art with artist George Curtis Levi, showcasing how ledger art captures a moment in time. A type of art that originated amongst the Cheyenne in the late 1840s, ledger art utilized pages of repurposed record books to depict everyday life. A member of the Southern Cheyenne tribe in Oklahoma, Levi also has ties to the Arapaho and Oglala Lakota communities.
  • Kachina carving with Kevin Horace Quannie, a Hopi/Navajo contemporary artist. Living on the Hopi reservation, Quannie specializes in carving contemporary kachina dolls using cottonwood roots.
  • See traditional pottery techniques of the Caddo Nation with Chase Kahwinhut Earles, a renowned Caddo pottery maker who has dedicated his craft to reviving and preserving the traditional pottery techniques of his Caddo Nation ancestors. Earles’ creates intricate, historically accurate pottery that reflects the deep cultural heritage of the Caddo people, whose pottery tradition dates back centuries. His works are celebrated for their authenticity, craftsmanship, and connection to Caddo history and spirituality.
  • Shane Hendren, a turquoise expert and a Diné/Navajo jewelry maker who is a member of the Indian Arts & Craft Association (IACA), an organization committed to promoting the integrity of materials used in native jewelry. Hendren returns to share his expertise of the turquoise gemstone.
  • Crafts and fun for all ages including making your own mosaic, leather medallions, basket and loom weaving, ledger art, a community weaving basket and creating your own parfleche case, a pouch typically made with rawhide that is painted with images or geometric designs. Plains Indians created the parfleche because of its utility, beauty and convenience. Other tribes in North America then adopted its use.

Festival visitors also enjoy free admission to the museum and its permanent collection of Western art and artifacts, including exhibitions that highlight the stories of the American Indian, cowboys, pioneering women and others that define the West.

‘Godspeed, Cedar Key’: Insights and Reflections on Michael Presley Bobbitt’s latest work

‘Godspeed, Cedar Key’ is the debut novel by Michael Presley Bobbitt. Photo: Amazon

Michael Presley Bobbitt is an off-Broadway playwright, novelist, and clam farmer living on a tiny island in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. He always wanted to be a novelist, but first had to spend all those years in the theater to learn how to create memorable characters. Prose was always his first love and will be the windmill he tilts after for the rest of his life. “Godspeed, Cedar Key” is his debut novel; it isn’t just another end of the world book, it’s a despite the end of the world book. (Amazon, 2024)

“Godspeed, Cedar Key” – Cedar Key is an island off the western coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. On a chilly February morning, the horizon is covered in a piercing light, and in an instant the old world is gone forever. Fires burn on horizons around the planet but the heat eventually gives way to the creeping monotone of the skies. The gray sets in overhead and all around, determined to keep the sun away from the land and waters.

In the aftermath, 300 islanders must learn to survive, battling invaders from the mainland, disease and natural disasters, and the intensifying dread of hearing almost nothing from the wider world. Despite the loss of most technologies and modern comforts, the islanders persevere in the face of hardship and death– burying their loved ones in the morning and planting spring vegetables in the afternoon.

Review:
The story begins as the town council is voting on taking down the Number Four Bridge that separates the island from the mainland. Hayes David is the current mayor who briefly left town but eventually returned, as most people often do, but “…was unable to escape for long the reach of its familial and environmental tendrils.” It then goes on to tell the backstory of the town’s various citizens, how they survived the town’s shifting priorities, and how they worked together to tackle the fallout from ‘the gray.’

This novel is an interesting blend of historical and literary fiction set against the backdrop of the charming town of Cedar Key, Florida. It has intrigue, small-town dynamics, and personal redemption with the main focus on character development and atmospheric storytelling. Bobbitt excels in creating a vivid small town setting that feels almost like a character on its own, with its coastal beauty and close-knit community adding layers to the narrative. The writing style is engaging, offering an emotional depth that keeps readers engaged. With language that is vivid and easy to understand, the plot unfolds at a steady pace: “For a moment, he missed her disapproval like an aimless former prisoner homesick for the familiar walls of his cell.”

Overall, “Godspeed, Cedar Key” is a compelling read that combines heartfelt personal journeys with historical facts. By exploring the themes of family, friendship, isolation, death, and resiliency, it emphasizes the need for humans to live in true community with one another. Despite the theme of a nuclear accident, it’s not a dystopian novel, but an excellent piece of literary fiction with rich prose and deeply developed characters. It is an homage to small towns, their citizens’ shared history, and the spirit of community and recommended for readers who enjoy contemporary literary fiction centered around small coastal towns.

“Since that awful morning in early February, the islanders had faced one disheartening setback after another. It would be something short of the truth to say they had met every challenge with honor and courage. Certainly, their resolve was worthy of praise, but in the crucible of those hard five months, there had been less heroism than self-preservation.”

*The author received a copy of this book for an honest review. The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to her.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

The Story of G.I. Joe: Rediscovering a WWII Film Classic in Stunning Restoration

The 1945 classic WWII war film The Story of G.I. Joe is now available on HD Blu-ray and DVD. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

In today’s movie news, if you like military/war movies, here’s a movie release just for you. The enhanced restoration of the 1945 classic World War II classic The Story of G.I. Joe was released last month on HD Blu-ray and DVD. 

Ignite Films, which released the 2023 critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning 4K restoration of the 1953 sci-fi classic Invaders From Mars, recently dropped the reconstructed 1945 trailer and the new poster for its next release, the 1945 World War II classic The Story of G.I. Joe. The long-lost trailer, which has never been online before, in any condition, has been meticulously reconstructed by Ignite Films using the severely damaged 1945 original nitrate trailer provided by the Library of Congress. (Roberson Public Relations, 2024)

The Ignite Films 2024 enhanced restoration of Director William A. Wellman’s 1945 classic WWII war film, The Story of G.I. Joe starring Robert Mitchum and Burgess Meredith, is now available for purchase on HD Blu-ray and DVD. The 2024 enhanced restoration, spearheaded by film restoration supervisor Greg Kimble, also includes a full restoration of the audio by John Polito of Audio Mechanics. 

Ignite Films considers the film to be of such importance that The Story of G.I. Joe necessitated a release right now on the occasion of the 80th Anniversary of the end of Second World War. The potent message of the film deals with everyday life and the sacrifices of the brave soldiers, and is as relevant in today’s world as it was in 1945, and is no different in intensity. That is the primary reason to release this film now. “The Story of G.I. Joe is a true classic which has been undervalued for years,” said Jan Willem Bosman Jansen, CEO and Founder of Ignite Films.

An unforgettable journey through the harrowing yet heartwarming landscapes of WWII, The Story of G.I. Joe is based on the true-life experiences of renowned war correspondent and columnist Ernie Pyle. This cinematic masterpiece immerses audiences in the camaraderie, courage, and sacrifices of the brave soldiers of the 45th Infantry Division, Company C, 150 of whom played extras in the film.

Through the lens of Pulitzer-winning Pyle, portrayed with unparalleled depth by Burgess Meredith, witness the everyday grit and bravery of the foot soldier as they navigate the perils of combat in the Italian campaign. Joining him is the incomparable Robert Mitchum in his breakthrough role as Lieutenant Walker, whose leadership and unwavering dedication to his men inspire hope amidst the chaos of war.

The Story of G.I. Joe portrays the camaraderie and bond between soldiers, a timeless tribute to unsung heroes who fought and bled for freedom. Experience the raw emotion and gritty realism of this war drama, beautifully restored in high definition. It is more than a movie; it is a testament to the triumph of the human spirit.

“What makes The Story of G.I. Joe different from other war movies is that it was directed by Bill Wellman with an eye towards keeping it focused on the day-to-day dilemma of the ordinary combat soldier. It specifically deglamorized war despite being made in an era, 1945, when Hollywood was cranking out a lot of these friendly propaganda heroic films with John Wayne leading the charge — which were great entertainment and good for the home front morale, but not particularly realistic about what the troops had to cope with. The Story of G.I. Joe dealt with this. They used over 150 actual brave soldiers as background actors. The movie holds up so well because it was authentic, and it was deliberately made that way.” – Alan K. Rode, writer/historian

Wellman’s melancholy study of soldiers would not immediately become a popular form of expression in war films, but his soulful treatment of life on the front lines, in which real combat soldiers mingled freely with actors, forming an easy camaraderie, would become an inextricable part of cinematic language. The Story of G.I. Joe would not become a model for war films for quite some time, but eventually its poetic form would become more popular than the more gung-ho patriotic variety.

 The Academy® Film Archive preserved the film in 2000. In  2009, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant. For educational purposes, Ignite Films will provide both institutions with the new 2024 enhanced version for their film preservation archives.

Blu-ray slipcover and Bonus Features available only on the Blu-ray:

  • Blu-ray slipcover
  • “Here he lies where he longed to be…” Wild Bill’s Dog Face Blues – A new video essay by author and filmmaker Scout Tafoya
  • New interview with Bill Wellman Jr.
  • “The Story of ‘The Story of G.I. Joe’,” a new featurette on the restoration by film restoration supervisor Greg Kimble
  • Audio commentary by Alan K. Rode
  • Original nitrate trailer
  • Reconstruction of the original 1945 trailer
  • Photo gallery with original press book pages and stills

The Story of G.I. Joe
Starring Robert Mitchum Burgess Meredith with Freddie Steele Wally Cassell Jimmy Lloyd John R. Reilly Bill Murphy and the Sicily and Italy Combat Veterans of the Campaigns in Africa
Screenplay by Leopold Atlas Guy Endore Philip Stevenson
Edited by Otho Lovering Cinematography by Russel Metty A.S.C.
Produced by Lester Cowan
Directed by William A. Wellman
Program Content: © Lester Cowan Productions, Inc. 1945. Copyright renewed by Lester Cowan Productions, Inc. 1972.

The film is based on by Ernie Pyle’s books “Here Is Your Way”(New York, 1943) and “Brave Men” (New York, 1944).

Courtesy photo, used with permission.