Haffenreffer Museum's Kiowa and Comanche cradles will tour the nation
While many of Jennings' peers shunned their Native American culture, she
learned the skill of beading cradles in the tradition of her Kiowa ancestors.
One of a dwindling number of bead artists who still make the cradles, she
recently worked at Brown's Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology to repair some
of the historic treasures of her nation in preparation for their exhibition in
December (left).
"Within three generations this work has almost disappeared ... this is a lost
art," said Jennings, 48, of Oklahoma, as her nimble fingers dipped and rose
with each tug of the needle.
Having once served a practical purpose, the cradles are now coveted mainly by
museums and collectors. A cradle made by Jennings' great-grandmother and one
Jennings made using the same design are among the 40 to be displayed in the
two-year touring exhibit "Gifts of Pride and Love: The Cultural Significance of
Kiowa and Comanche Cradles."
"It's an honor I don't even have the words for," she said.
Used in the southern plains from about 1870 to 1910, the cradles are made of a
hide, canvas or wool cover placed over rawhide supports and laced to two narrow
wood boards. Because of their structure, they are traditionally known as
"cradleboards."
A cradleboard often was strapped to a woman's back while she went about her
work. Its design also allowed it to stand up and rest against a tree or hang on
a barn wall. Many elders thought the upright position of the cradleboard helped
socialize babies by placing them at eye level with adults, according to Barbara
A. Hail, deputy director and curator of the Haffenreffer Museum.
When Hail began preparing the exhibit several years ago, she invited Jennings
to serve on a consulting committee of Kiowa and Comanche from cradle-making
families. It is a fairly new idea among anthropology museums to involve the
culture that is being exhibited in such a project, according to Hail.
Hail also involved the Kiowa and Comanche by incorporating into the exhibit a
series of articles written by descendants of cradle makers, and the family
history of each cradle. Less obvious to those who view the exhibit will be
Jennings' repair work to fortify the pieces, meant to blend with the original
work.
Scissors, beads, needle and thread were Jennings' tools at the Haffenreffer
Museum in June when she replaced beads that had fallen off with wear. Finding
new beads to match the color of the old was the most difficult task. The colors
of old and new beads are as different as garb worn by an old lady and a Las
Vegas showgirl, she said.
Most other bead workers today make products thatt are inexpensive and small,
she said. Trinkets such as key chains, barrettes, beaded salt and pepper
shakers, and wrist bands are valuable fodder for tourist shops.
"People are quick to tell me, `You could make more money selling beadwork for
tourists,'" said Jennings. "Those kinds of quickie items aren't going to last.
With something like this you cannot rush or hurry or take shortcuts."
It takes her more than six months to make a cradleboard but the work is
spiritual for Jennings. The cradleboards preserve a part of the Kiowa history
that is integral to the future of its children, she said.
Jennings looks forward to the day when she can begin teaching her own
grandchildren the art of beading. They are too young and their fingers still
too clumsy to learn, she said, but it is important that they do: "You have to
know your past in order for it to give you a path into the future."
"Gifts of Pride and Love: The Cultural Significance of Kiowa and Comanche
Cradles" will be displayed in six museums around the country through 2001.
Thirty-eight Kiowa and Comanche historic cradles and two new cradles created
especially for the exhibit will be displayed, along with articles written by
descendants of the cradle makers, and the history of each cradle.
The two-year route will begin at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, and travel to
the Heard Museum, Phoenix; the Fowler Museum of Cultural History at the
University of California, Los Angeles; the National Museum of the American
Indian, Gustav Heye Center, New York City; the University of Oklahoma Museum of
Natural History, Norman; and the Haffenreffer Museum, Bristol.
The exhibit is financed by the National Endowment for the Humanities and
National Endowment for the Arts.