Gifts of the Kachina Art of the Hopi
February 28 - June 13, 1997
The staff of the C.E. Smith Museum and the students of Anthropology 3710 welcome you to Gifts of the Kachina: Art of the Hopi. After ten years, the Lee Collection of Southwestern Indian Art once again becomes available for viewing in the museum gallery at California State University, East Bay. This exhibit represents the combined efforts of many people. The exhibits were planned and installed by the students of the Fall 1996 and the Winter 1997 Anthropology 3710 class under the guidance of the museum staff. The Theater Arts Department provided both the technical assistance and hardware for the exhibits.
Gifts of the Kachina: Art of the Hopi. celebrates the Hopi Kachina ceremonial cycle. Beginning in December at the Winter Solstice and continuing to mid-July the Hopi perform a series of major ceremonies with the express intent of providing rainfall and increasing the yield of their crops. This exhibit looks at the kachina ceremonies, both as a religious ceremony for increased crops and as a mechanism for the continuation of Hopi Society. The Hopi home in Northern Arizona contains some of the oldest continually inhabited towns in North America and in this location the Hopi have planted their corn and other crops for well over 500 years.
The C. E. Smith Museum of Anthropology is located on the 4th floor of Meiklejohn Hall at the southwest corner of the Cal State East Bay campus. The Museum is open Monday through Friday, 10 AM to 4 PM. For information call (510) 885-3104.
