Ancient Voices A Museum to honor the least known people in North America, the Original Tribal Women

November 2007

The Women's museum is finished in Pipestone, it has taken 2 months to do and has had help from various people. I have to thank these people here.

The dress area

Chuck Derby was of course around all of the time, after all it is his place and I am his partner. He was the 'odd-job' man, and whatever needed changing, adding to, taking down, putting up, fixing, Chuck was there to do it. He was also there to run ideas by, and his advice was always sound.

Nico Verhoeve came from the Netherlands to help knock down a wall and fix the lights, make the stage area and help with the painting. He also sponsored the manniquins that the dresses are hung on. He was invaluable. Thanks so much Nico.

Janine Sackett came from Minneapolis for 2 weeks to help with the planning and to just 'help out' she felt that she would learn something from these extraordinary women, however we learned from each other and we had 'fun' while working with these women. The night we 'found' some jewellry and put a piece on each woman's section was particulary fantastic.

Elizabeth McCabe always seemed to turn up at the right moments, she would walk in during a crisis and before we knew it the crisis was gone. So thanks Elizabeth for your continued support and help, it is appreciated.

Orlene worked with us on our budget when it came to the women's dresses, if it hadn't been for her there would be no dresses on display, as it is there are dresses and they are beautiful. So thanks Orlene, for your patience and your wonderful clothes.

This museum was made with love, caring, sensitivity and laughter, I believe that it shows. Do please visit it and see for yourselves.

This is the first exhibit that you come to it is for Lori Piestewa, the young Hopi woman who was the first Native American woman to be killed in action of foreign soil.

Now that is done I can divulge the dream I was given. In early 2005 an elder lady came to see me, she was old like the weathered ground, but seemed to have no colour. She told me that the women of the world needed to be honoured, and not forgotten. She said that some of them have had very hard lives but still went on to carve out a wonderful dream for themselves and they saw that dream grow into reality. She said that there were many extraordinary women out there both now and in the past that need to be recognised, and I had to be the one to do something about it.

Well as you can imagine this was quite amazing and scary to me. In the dream I asked her what was I supposed to do, she said, 'Make museums for them, it's what you do.' Well like I said I didn't do anything about it because my life at that time was in a bit of a down slide and so I didn't know what I would be doing with the rest of my life so how could I take on such a task. I awoke, I remembered, I didn't tell anyone.

The lady didn't give up on me, a month later she was back telling me the same thing. I asked her where I was supposed to do these museums. She said 'various places', again that floored me. I again awoke and remembered and didn't tell anyone but I did think about it. How, when, where? Answers didn't come.

A month later she was back, this time I asked questions in a more reasonable way, and was given answers. There were to be three museums, one in Pipestone Minnesota for Native American women only, these were the especially forgotten women, they were ignored by general society and their achievements were not remembered or marked in any way. (Well OK then that was one that I could do easier, I knew the place and I could probably find a building to put it in, and I was familiar with the cultures and could research for these women if it came to it.) The second museum was to be put in England (again one I could do as I live there most of the time) in an ancient place, Avebury, but maybe that could be changed if needs be. This one was for English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish women, the people of these Celtic isles, those who were indiginous to this United Kingdom and Ireland. The third place she would tell me another time. Well those two could probably be done, except for buildings and of course finances, on awakening I gave this much thought and mentioned the idea to one or two people. They thought it would be great.

The following month I was told that the buildings would show themselves and the finances would be there so not to worry, Just do something in the mean time, set up a website for the first museum, well that was easy, it is what I do as well, so this site was born along with the name. The buildings didn't work out, but things took an upturn for me personally and so I thought that I should just do what I could and 'wait and see'. So research was the word of the day and eventually this site went live with information about a number of women on it.

A month or two later - more like a year after the first visit, my friend came back and gave me the rest of the story. The third museum was to be for the women of the world, of all cultures and religions. It was to be put in or close to JERUSALEM! I flipped at this! What did I know about that area? absolutely nothing.... Or did I? It was strange but at that time I had started watching a movie, I watched it once and then again and then again and I was hooked on it. I didn't know why but it pulled me and I had to watch it. It was 'Kingdom of Heaven' with Orlando Bloom in it. It was based in Jerusalem. It was as if I was being shown where I should put the third museum before I was told. I had mentioned my addiction to this film to a number of people and had told them it didn't make sense why I was so hooked on it. After this dream it seemed to make more sense. Anyway I digress. I asked my friend why that city and she said that it was important to the world's three largest religions, none of those religions show too much respect to their women or their achievements. These were Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, all three sharing the city for hundreds of years and all three vying for control over it for the same hundreds of years . Right now there is an uneasy truce and understanding and sharing but the area is like a tinderbox and could ignite at any moment, and this is where she said I, a woman, a white women, a woman who is not a part of any of these 3 religions, should set up a museum for women. My mind balked at the idea. I awoke, I remembered, oh how I remembered, and this time I told a couple of people. I expected them to say, you're nuts, but instead they said 'what a great idea I'd like to come with you to help'! That has been the reaction of all women that I have told. They want to come with me to help.

Well for now I have just finished the one in Pipestone, as she had said the building appeared, well it had been there all along, but Chuck told me that I could use the front of the Little Feather Center to put it in. We have a contract and everything so it is all above board. it is beautiful and I love it. The next will be in England, time and place to be announced when I know! Wish me luck. It is about time for my friend's visit, I wonder what she will tell me this time, 'oh just put another museum on the moon', after all there have been women astronauts!

The sitting and library area. This was a room but the wall was taken out and this is what is left a great open space for exhibits, sitting and reading,

May 2007

In the past month I was offered space in Pipestone to house the Museum and I have accepted. Right now I am collecting items to put in it, and designing the layout of the museum. Just yesterday I found a wonderful buckskin dress and have worked with the owner, a Lakota woman, to have it displayed in the museum.

All of the things I have listed below will be in the museum and I hope that you will visit it.

The building where it will be needs to be altered and so it won't be opening it's doors until September 2007

Introduction

2005

I have worked in a Native American Museum off and on for over 10 years, it is physically located in Pipestone, Minnesota, but also had a large virtual presence on the World Wide Web. For various reasons I left there, and then was given a dream which I didn't work on for a while, but it kept coming back to me, and so eventually I decided to take notice and do something about it. At this point I decided to set up another museum in Pipestone, as depicted in the dream, this time dedicated to the forgotten and least known people of North America, the Women of the Native American Tribes.

People tend to almost have a distorted view of the Women of the Native Nations, believing them to be abused and used by their men. They are seen as slaves who had nothing of their own and who had no say in what their men and Tribes were doing. In most cases this is complete nonsense. This Museum and site will, I hope, put many of these misconceptions to rest and will allow the full abilities of the women to shine.

Their Ancient Voices can almost be heard coming from the items in the exhibits, and each has its own story to tell. Please take a voyage thru their lives with us here and listen as they present you with the gift of their most colorful herstory.