1983 The Great American Indian Leaders - a traveling exhibit "‘I’m glad people realize there are great Indian leaders. I’m proud to be Indian. I hope that everyone is proud of who they are.”

12 Indian Leaders Rise From 

History in Bid to Dispel Myth 

By Patricia VanHorn 

1983 May 12, The Pittsburgh Press 

      Twelve American Indian leaders are visiting Parkway Center Mail in Green Tree... They're only mannequins, but Indian representatives believe their presence, plus a little big of history, may help break the stereotypical Indian mold.

      The Great American Indian Leaders exhibit,  sponsored by Encyclopedia Britannica, will be on display free, through Sunday during the mail's operating hours.

      "The Indians are very much misunderstood," said Kevin Stanton. Encyclopedia Britannica spokesman and driver of the which which carries the exhibit. "They're not savages. They're very religious, very hospitable. They're not like how the Hollywood movies portray Indians."

      "The exhibit educates people on the fact that the Indian is very much alive. Everyone can learn about them and from them."

      Russell Simms, executive director of the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center in the Dorseyville section of Indiana Township, agrees that the public expects Indians to look and act a certain way.

      "The myths are hard on the Indian," said Simms, a Seminole. "People think they're either into something terrible or are greater than great.

1981 Feb 7, Arizona Republic 

      "There are over 300 kinds of Indians. There is no one Indian you can put our there."

      Richard Crow, 53, a Cherokee who lives in the Qualla reservation in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, will travel to Green Tree to participate in the exhibit.

      "So many times the Indian is neglected while the world passes right on by," Crow said. "The only way we can change things is through education, if we learn to read and write.

1982 Oct 21, The Journal News 

            “We don’t want to be erased off the face of the Earth and for a while it seems like the whole trend was to do that. We want people to recognize all Indians as the first Americans. We can only do that, if we stand up and be recognized. Anything like this exhibit will help to do it.”

      The Indian leaders honored in the exhibit include: Black Hawk, Cochise, Pontiac, Red Cloud, Sacagawea, Tecumseh, Conrplanter, Joseph, Massoit, Powhatan, Sequoyah and Wovoka.

      Although 400 leaders were recognized, 38 American Indians were nominated by 14 tribal organizations. Indian study groups associated with universities and American Indian museums. The list was pared to 12 since “that’s all we had room for,” Stanton explained. 

1983 Jan 20, Albuquerque Journal 

      “Something’s better than nothing” Simms said. “All Indian leaders are great leaders. We’re supportive of the exhibit, that’s why we’re here.

      The Three Rivers council, which has about 2500 members, will perform traditional dances … The group also will sell fried dough… 

      Simms said the council hopes to make children more aware of the Indian of yesterday, and today. Adults are harder to deal with, he said, because they bear with them the misconceptions and prejudices of a whole lifetime.

1983 Feb 10, Asbury Park Press 

         Stanton said the $250,000 exhibit was created after land that had been identified as a former Indian village in LaCrosse, Wis., was excavated for a shopping center…..

      For authentic information, they contacted the Encyclopedia Britannica. The interest in the exhibit was so great that Britannica decided to take the Indians on tour throughout the country. 

      Since its premiere at the shopping center, the traveling museum has been in 21 states. This is the first time in the Pittsburgh area and it’s somewhat of a homecoming for Stanton who attended St Francis College in Loretto, Westmoreland County. … What’s special about this exhibit, Stanton said, is that the Indians’ clothing was made by hand by other Indians. 

      “The clothing reflects the type of environment the Indians lived in,” Stanton said. “It gives an authentic picture.” 

1983 Jan 12, The Santa Fe New Mexican 

      Red Cloud’s costume was cut by hand and took 30 hours for three women to complete. There are 100,000 beads adorning the costume, which required three women sewing them on for 18 hours a day for six weeks.

      Powhatan’s cape features three deer skins sewn together. Then 3000 snail shells, some forming the outline of a man, deer and fox, were individually attached to the garment, Stanton said. The guns are exact replicas and Tecumseh’s weapon can be fired.

1987 Feb 13, Arizona Daily Star 

      “It took a year to construct the entire project, including the plastic and fiberglass mannequins,” he said. “As long as we’re beneficial, we’ll stay on the road,” Stanton said. “I get a lot of letters from kids that come right from the heart. “I got a letter from a Cherokee boy in North Carolina that read: ‘I’m glad people realize there are great Indian leaders. I’m proud to be Indian. I hope that everyone is proud of who they are.”    

1988 June 23, The Newark Advocate 

1983 May 12, The Pittsburgh Press 

   

1983 Feb 10, Asbury Park Press 

1988 June 23, The Newark Advocate