California Indian Arts Association Video Collection

California Indian Arts Association Meetings 1994-2000

Physical Description: 2 linear ft.

Scope and Content Note

Video recordings of California Indian Arts Association meetings. Recorded between 1994-2000.

Item 2005.025.001

Title: Cahuilla Baskets and Known Weavers (#1)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "Dr. Moser is Curator of Anthropology at the Riverside Municipal Museum in Riverside, California, where over the last 12 years, he has mounted four extensive exhibits on basketry of California Indians. For the last 10(+/-) years he has made a detailed study of southern California baskets with documented weavers. Bill Cain, in real life, is a professional geologist for Caltrans in southern California, and is also a professional amateur authority on Indian baskets of the western United States. In this 1-3/4 hour video Mr. Cain walks the viewer through Indian baskets in general and southern California baskets in particular. Dr. Moser then picks-up the reigns and illustrates those baskets he has researched wherein both the basket and the weaver can be documented. In many cases, he has photographs of the weaver in association with the basket." (May 21, 1994)

Item 2005.025.002

Title: Cahuilla Pottery Making With David Largo (#2)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "David Largo is of Cahuilla Indian extraction, from the Santa Rosa reservation, Riverside County. Early in David's career, he learned silversmithing and became very proficient. However, at the suggestion of several friends, he began resurrectiung pottery making in the style of the old ones. Contrary to most beliefs, pottery prior to invasion by Spanish Catholic missionaries did not extend much farther north than what is now northern San Diego County and inland through Hemet and Banning, i.e. only Diegueño and Cahuilla Indians were making pottery before contact (with Europeans). David Largo is now reestablishing this style of pottery, which uses the "paddle and anvil" method. In this 1-1/2 hour video David demonstrates the process." (June 18, 1994)

Item 2005.025.004

Title: Southern California Rattlesnake Baskets, C. Moser and J. Farmer (#17)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "Perhaps no other Indian tribe in the world utilized the rattlesnake in their basketry patterns to the extent that southern California Indians did. This may be due to the fact that Rattlesnake appears quite prominently in their cultural legacy. This design element first appears in baskets made circa 1880-1890. Few weavers used rattlesnakes in basketry patterns due to taboos. As a consequence these baskets are relatively rare and eagerly sought after. During this CIA meeting, Dr. Moser leads off with slides and a discussion of Cahuilla baskets with Rattlesnake patterns. Justin Farmer then follows with approximately 100 slides from various collectors and museums in southern California. Len Wood winds up the slide presentation with slides from his extensive collection." (April 17, 1996)

Item 2005.025.005

Title: Island Gabrielino Indian Artifacts, Antelope Valley Indian Museum (#3)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "The Antelope Valley Indian Museum is located on a small State Park site somewhat between Palmdale and Lancaster, in Los Angeles County. The building itself began in the early 1920s to house a growing collection of artifacts, mainly from the Channel Islands. The building became part of California's State Park System in the 1970s. Edra Moore, the only state employee (albeit part time) narrates a tour through much of the building. A major part of the 1-3/4 hour video deals with some of the very spectacular Indian artifacts collected in the 1920s on the Channel Islands, such as San Nicholas, Santa Catalina, and San Miguel Islands. This museum is privileged to have some of the really prime seaweed and bird skin weavings. Although they are videoed, they must be seen to be appreciated." (June 16, 1994)

Item 2005.025.006

Title: Basketry of San Diego County Indians (#4)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "By profession, Justin Farmer is a consulting Traffic Engineer in Fullerton. Within his office, he maintains his collection of some 200 Indian baskets from southern California. Being of Diegueño Indian extraction (and a weaver and lecturer on Diegueño baskets), his collection quite naturally leans heavily toward basketry of the Diegueño people. The video's venue is Mr. Farmer's collection room, where he discusses the "Mission" Indian basket in general and how Diegueño baskets are similar to -- and are different from -- other "Mission" Indian baskets. "Mission basket" is a term given to all baskets originating from southern California. Although most basket collectors frequently lump all "Mission baskets" together, Mr. Farmer discusses how baskets from the various southern California tribes differ, and what constitutes the predominate characteristic of Diegueño baskets." (August 20, 1994)

Item 2005.025.007

Title: Rock Art of Western Riverside County (#5)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "Steven 'Steve' Freers is a seasoned amateur rock art devotee who, with Dr. Gerald Smith, recently published Fading Images, a book on rock art of Western Riverside County. This 1-3/4 hour video depicts much of the data, information, and photos from their book. Steve begins with a short synopsis of rock art throughout the United States which is largely petroglyphs (images pecked into a rock surface) and then concentrates on southern California rock art sites, which are mostly pictographs (images painted onto a rock surface). While most lay people think of rock art as petroglyphs, they overlook the literally thousands of rock art sites all over southern California. Due to our infatuation with non-indigenous Indian art forms, local pictographs have gone largely unnoticed, except for the sickies who vandalize them." (September 17, 1994)

Item 2005.025.008

Title: Tomo Khani Park and Kawaiisu Culture (#6)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "Tomo Khani is a Kawaiisu Indian word meaning 'Winter Home'; i.e. a place where ancient Kawaiisu people spent their winters. During warmer periods they lived at higher elevations in the Tehachapi Mountains. Tomo Khani is a new State Park which shall remain primitive; i.e. there will be no paved roads nor camping facilities. Tomo Khani contains two unique features; viz, there is evidence of ancient sleeping circles, evidence of long ago brush houses, and there is a cave known as Creation Cave. It is here that the traditional Kawaiisu people believe man emerged into this world. This video depicts the first public tour of Tomo Khani guided by Mr. Andy Green, believed to be the last full blood Kawaiisu Indian in the region, assisted by a docent group from the Tehachapi Historical Museum." (October 15, 1994)

Item 2005.025.009

Title: National Repatriation Laws, The (#8)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "Public Law 101-601, referred to as NAGPRA (Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act) dictates the return of certain Indian human remains or objects associated with a funeral, as well as rites of cultural patrimony (a culture or religion cannot continue without such an object). Unfortunately, NAGPRA has been interpreted by some as a carte blanche to hire a U-Haul and load up. Dr. Whitaker, a Chief Curator of the Southest Indian video, explains in this nearly two hour long video exactly what the law permits and what a museum must do to comply. Summarized very briefly, the law states that a tribe must first prove that: 1) the object was either directly from a grave, or 2) it was directly associated with a specific funeral, or 3) it is of cultural patrimony, or 4) the object is of religious significance to the entire tribe. Dr. Whitaker explains the legal steps involved in the repatriation process." (April 20, 1995)

Item 2005.025.010

Title: Chinigchinish Religion of Southern California (#9)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "Paul Apodaca (Navajo/Mexican) is Curator of Folk Art at the Bowers Museum in the City of Santa Ana, California. He is also a part-time instructor in Ethnic Art at U.C.L.A., where he is also pursuing a PhD. Paul is a student of native religions and is well informed on Chinigchinish (pronounced chin-igg'-chin-ish), an Indian religion that originated near Los Alamitos in Los Angeles County during the late 1700s. This religion very uniquely incorporates traditional Indian beliefs with Christian myths of the 1700s. It began as teachings of the man Chinigchinish and soon spread throughout southern California and, although rigorously opposed by the early Catholic missionaries, persisted, at least in part, into the 20th century. Mr. Apodaca gives a short history of post 1500s history and events leading to the formation of Chinigchinish."

Item 2005.025.011

Title: Early California Indian Trade Routes (#10)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "Henry 'Hank' Koerper is a professor of anthropology at Cypress College in Orange County, California. Hank has conducted numerous archaeological digs and has written extensively on artifacts recovered en situ in the Los Angeles Basin. From these explorations, Mr. Koerper has postulated several theories regarding western U.S. prehistoric trade routes, together with items that were apparently traded extensively. During the nearly two hour discussion, Mr. Koerper discusses interregional trade in obsidian from the Salton Sea and the great basin portions of Inyo Couny, as as other Great Basin goods. These materials were apparently traded for acorns, sea shells, steatite (soap stone), etc. In as much as non-indigenous cultures were slowly interjected, along with trade goods, these trade practices are of immense importance to anthropologists as well as ethnographers." (June 17, 1995)

Item 2005.025.012

Title: Making a Diegueño Acorn Granary (#13)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "Justin Farmer is of Diegueño heritage ("Mission" Indian from northern San Diego County) and is one of the very few who can still make a willow twig granary for storage of acorns. In this video, he demonstrates the process at Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens in Claremont, California. The process consists of a form of braiding long willow switches which still retain their leaves. Willow switches must be very fresh so as not to break while they are twisted and braided. Leaves are an important part of the process as they, when dry, form a "thatch" which turns rain water when stored outdoors, as well as keep out rodents. Inasmuch as these granaries were torn apart as the level of acorns fell, they were rarely salvaged, which explains why they are rarely found in collections." (November 18, 1995)

Item 2005.025.013

Title: Making of a Yucca Fiber Sandal (#14)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "In prehistoric times, Indians in the western United States went barefooted except when traveling in very rocky terrain or when protection was needed. They then made a sandal using fiber from either yucca or agave leaves. Samples of these are occasionally found in rock shelters or in caves. Paul Campbell is a student of primitive survival arts and has written extensively. In this video he demonstrates the art of making such a sandal. Fibers are from Yucca whipplei leaves, which have been beaten on a flat rock to extract their long strong fibers. Cordage for the toe loops and ankle straps are twisted from those fibers. Fibers for the sandal itself are of two types; one of roughly pounded yucca leaves, with little or no effort, to separate fibers, while the other uses relatively clean soft yucca fibers." (January 20, 1996)

Item 2005.025.014

Title: Stone Tool Making (#16)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "Anastasia (Stacy) Vellas is active in the Imperial Valley College Desert Museum, specifically in their efforts to build a brand new museum, as well as being a student of early man stone tool making skills. At this meeting of California Indian Arts Association meeting, she demonstrates how early man made a stone knife, or chopper / cutting tool, from quartzite cobble stone. She also leads the group in making a stone cutting tool. The process consists of holding a rather thin cobble of quartzite stone in the palm of one's hand and striking it a hard downward blow from a tough hard hammer stone. This blow strikes off a side flake from the hand held cobble. That cobble is then turned over and a similar flake is struck from the opposite side. A remarkably sharp and effective blade can be formed in a matter of a minute or less." (March 16, 1996)

Item 2005.025.015

Title: Sherman Indian High School and Museum (#19)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "Sherman Indian Institute was organized in the late 1800s, originally in the City of Perris California, by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). In approximately 1903, Sherman Institute was relocated to Riverside's Arlington district where it operated as a 1st to 12th grade school for Indian children from the western United States. Indian children were taken from their reservation homes and boarded at the Institute until they graduated, after which they were allowed to return to their parents if they so desired. The purpose of the institute was to "acculturate" Indians into a purely Caucasian, Christian culture. In the 1970s, Sherman became a high school, not an institute, and now has full high school accreditation. Lori Sisquoc was born on the grounds and is an instructor and curator of a fine Indian museum." (July 20, 1996)

Item 2005.025.016

Title: Calico Early Man Site, Calico, Calif (#20)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "The Calico Early Man Site is located in the Great Basin Desert east of Barstow (California) and is one of the "New World's" oldest known archaeological locations. Its age has been established at 200,000, plus or minus 20,000, years Before Present. Although there are no human skeletal remains, the site contains literally thousand of stone tools and implements. Calico Early Man Site was discovered by Ruth "Dee" Simpson in the 1950s and was excavated under the direction of the late Dr. Louis Leakey during the 1960s. In this video, Mrs. Yvonne Lipking gives a brief narrative on the history of this site and then conducts a tour of California Indian Arts Association members through the main Pit and several minor Pits." (October 5, 1996)

Item 2005.025.017

Title: Western U.S. Indian Basketry Hats (#21)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "Pre-contact American Indians (those Indians living here prior to contact with non-Indian people) almost universally wore a hat of some nature, albeit a great many were woven in much the same manner as were their baskets. Along the coast of western Americana, Indian hats were as diagnostically different as were their baskets. In this California Indian Arts Association (CIA) meeting, Mr. Bill Cain presents colored slides and a discussion of basketry hats from southern California to Alaska. Mr. Cain is not only a student of Indian basketry, he is an extensive collector and has lectured widely on basketry of the western United States. Many of the slides presented herein are of those in his personal collection, while many are from museums or private collections he has visited." (January 18, 1997)

Item 2005.025.018

Title: Indian Artifacts of the Los Angeles Basin (#22)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "During pre-contact (prior to invasion of the area by non-Indians), what is now the Los Angeles Basin was perhaps the most densely populated region in the entire western hemisphere. Most evidence of that great population has long ago vanished in the rush to build parking lots, apartment houses, and Taco Bells. However, some of the artifacts still remain in private collections as well as in museums throughout the region. This CIA meeting followed a 'show and tell' format with various collectors displaying and discussing items from their personal collections. Those making presentations are: Jerry Gaither who lead a discussion on southern California hunting bows and 'charm stones,' Justin Farmer, and Steve Shearer. Persons showing museum items are Barbara Arvi and Connie Cameron." (February 15, 1997)

Item 2005.025.019

Title: Indian Baskets in the Southwest Museum (#23)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "The Southwest Indian Museum, the oldest museum in the City of Los Angeles, has perhaps the largest collection of American Indian baskets in the world, there being something over 14,000 Indian baskets in that collection. During the March 15, 1997 California Indian Arts Association meeting, members were escorted through and allowed access to a portion of that collection. Due to limited space in the collection area, only approximately ten persons were allowed in the area at a given time. Inasmuch as approximately 120 minutes of video tape was available, the second portion of this video was filmed in Southwest Museum's California Room, where Justin Farmer narrated a tour of those exhibits from the Los Angeles Basin for the benefit of the Museum's docents. The latter emphasizes arts and artifacts of the Chumash and Gabrielino Indians who occupied southern California." (March 15, 1997)

Item 2005.025.020

Title: Indian History Through Mission Records (#24)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "Early precontact history regarding California Indians is very sketchy or is entirely lacking. Some information is available through very early interviews of Indians. However, most of what information we have today has been gleaned from records kept by the Catholic Missionaries, specifically those records on births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths of Indians converted to Catholicism. In this video, Stephen O'Neil, a working archaeologist, discusses the nature of records which were kept, where those records can be found, and some of the ways early California Indian history can be traced. For example, village names, locations and population were often estimated based upon the number of Indians which were converted to Catholicism. Baptismal records also give clues as to the sphere of influence of the mission's military forces." (April 19, 1997)

Item 2005.025.021

Title: Southern California Fake Artifacts (#25)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "During the late 1800s and into the late 1900s, stone, bone, and shell effigies and artifacts from southern California were in very high demand by collectors, due in part to their unexcelled quality. As might be expected, there were also unscrupulous persons counterfeiting these items. This practice is traceable in southern California as far back as the middle-late 1800s. However, during the first quarter of the 20th century, trade in these fakes reached a peak. Today, virtually every collection will contain some fakes. The May 17, 1997 California Indian Arts Association meeting held at the Santa Barbara Museum of Nature History was devoted to a study of both fake and geuine artifacts from southern California. John Johnson (Chief Curator) and Jan Timbrook hosted the meeting." (May 17, 1997)

Item 2005.025.022

Title: Western U.S. Indian Bird Songs (#26)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "During pre-contact periods, Indian people from most of what is now the Western United States told oral history through what is now called songs, chants, or Bird Songs. Many of these Bird Songs are very lengthy and tell a long and sometimes a very complex piece of oral history. After the introduction of Christianity into southern California, Indian Bird Songs were considered pagan rituals and prohibited outright, thus being forced into an "underground" situation. Fortunately some of those early songs were preserved and now are beginning to emerge as a legitimate part of the southern Californian Indian culture. In this program, Mr. Paul Apodaca discusses the history and meaning of some of these Bird Songs, viz. those of the Cahuilla people from Riverside County. Mr. Apodaca is a professor at Chapman University in Orange California." (June 21, 1997)

Item 2005.025.023

Title: Cogged Stones at Riverside Museum (#27)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "During what is knon as California as the "milling stone age," 8,000 to 2,000 (+/-) B.C., southern California apparently had a reasonably well developed social structure with some fairly complex stone tools. In today's world, we know what most of the tools were used for. There are, however, some puzzles that we have yet to solve. One of those is the function of 'cogged stones.' These are small, usually disc shaped stones that have grooves cut into their periphery much like teeth in a gear. Some have as many as 22 teeth while others have as few as four. They seem to be confined to southern California, and there is speculation only as to their function. In this program, Dr. Chris Moser of the Riverside Municipal Museum displays approximately 300 plaster casts of cogged stones made by Mr. S.C. Evens prior to 1930." (July 19, 1997)

Item 2005.025.024

Title: Indian Spirituality, LIttle Crow (#28)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "In our 20th century society, there are hundreds of thousands of people who are hungrily searching for a religion that will serve the needs of the environmentalist, those who are "into" holistic practices, those who are dissatisfied with the current 'major' religions, and those who simply are agnostics. It is only natural that some, of even many, of these people will look toward the 'religion' practiced by the American Indian. It is unfortunate that many people tend to lump all Americans into one group. Such is not the case! Little Crow is of Lakota and Dakota lineage and is pastor of the American Indian Church in Garden Grove. Little Crow speaks to the group in an informal, backyard setting, on how his religion views the world about him, how we relates to the animals and plants about him, and for what he prays." (July 19, 1997)

Item 2005.025.025

Title: Pavuit Wands at the Riverside Municipal Museum (#30)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "During the pre-contract and probably into early post-contact periods, Indian boys about to enter the puberty rites were given a 'wand' which they would use as a personal source of power and energy. This wand was often kept for life and may have been altered in shape and ornamentation during his life. Today these 'Pavuit' wands are very rare and are found only on rare occasions in a museum. The Riverside Municipal Museum in late 1997 acquired three such wands from Mrs. Ethel Allen of San Diego. These three join the half dozen already in the museum's collection. In addition to the wands, Mrs. Allen very generously donated a very large and impressive collection of Indian baskets from California and Arizona. These wands and baskets are displayed in this video by Dr. Chris Moser, the museum's Curator." (February 21, 1998)

Item 2005.025.026

Title: Weaving an Open Weave Basket (#31)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "During the period before non-Indians introduced metal buckets, Indian ladies were obliged to gather their food stuffs in woven baskets. However, weaving a gathering (aka burden) basket was extremely time consuming effort. There was also a problem with storage of such baskets while not in use. As a consequence, most southern California Indians developed a twined basket that could be made very quickly, used once or twice, and then be thrown away. The basket maker generally used unsplit juncus for both the warp and the weft. Unlike most northern California twined baskets, wraps in these baskets 'wandered' much like in chicken wire, which gave the finished product a fairly rigid form with minimal use of material. In this video, Chris Roman demonstrates the making of such a basket." (March 21, 1998)

Item 2005.025.027

Title: Campbell Collection of Early Indian Artifacts, The (#33)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "During the 1920s, Mr. and Mrs. William H. Campbell, residents of the high desert area of San Bernardino County in what is now known as Twentynine Palms, hiked the region very extensively and collected literally thousands of Indian artifacts. Much of this area was government land and the Campbells obtained legal permission to make such collections. The Campbell collection was first given to the Southwest Indian museum of Los Angeles, who opened a branch museum in Twentynine Palms. After Mr. Campbell's passing, Mrs. Campbell authored a museum paper on the collection. This wonderful collection was later acquired by the National Park System and resides at the headquarters site of Joshua Tree National Park. On May 16, 1998, California Indian Arts Association visited this collection and video taped the collection as it exists at park headquarters." (March 16, 1998)

Item 2005.025.028

Title: Recent Rock Art Findings (#34)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "This is the second of Mr. Freers' presentations on Rock Art of Western Riverside County (southern California). In this 1 1/4 hour portion of a two hour video, he visits several rock art sites where he is using innovative photograph and computer imaging processes to study hand prints, as well as painting techniques. Of specific interest is his correlation of hand print pictographs with ancient cultural rites at many of the sites. In this regard he is beginning to question old concepts of the use of hand prints as part of the female puberty rites. He also discusses various rock art styles extant in Riverside, as well as spatial location of this sites. The second portion of the video addresses the most recent exhibit on 'Plateau Indian' baskets and bags, which has been mounted by Dr. Christopher Moser. Dr Moser narrates." (July 18, 1998)

Item 2005.025.029

Title: Details of a Chumash Basket (#35)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "On August 15, 1998, Ms. Jan Timbrook presented a program on Chumash basketry at the Chumash Cultural Center in Thousand Oaks, California. However, because of certain limitations placed on the slides she presented, CIA was unable to video much of her program. Therefore, Justin Farmer, on September 19, 1998, added a number of unencumbered slides on Chumash baskets. In both presentations, details of Chumash baskets were discussed, and in Justin Farm'ers presentation, those details were illustrated by approximately 150 35mm slides of Chumash baskets from various sources, albeit most of the slides were of baskets in the Southwest Indian Museum collection. Mr. and Mrs. Steve Shearer, as well as numerous other collectors, provided approximately 40 slides of Chumash baskets either in their personal collection or on display at various museums." (August 15, 1998)

Item 2005.025.030

Title: Basketry of the Los Angeles Basin (#36)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "Perhaps some of the rarest Indian baskets in all of California are those of the Los Angeles Basin Indians; viz. Fernandeño, Gabrieleno, and Juaneño 'tribes.' There are many ethnographers that do not distinguish between Fernandeño and Gabrieleno people. On the basis of their basketry there is little basis for such a distinction. The same can be said of differences between the Juaneño and Luiseño. In this video, Justin Farmer had collection 35mm slides of baskets from as many sources as was practical. In total, there are slides of approximately 30 baskets from all three 'tribes.' During the presentation, Mr. Farmer discussed details of their materials, weaving styles, patterns, and shapes. Particular attention was given to coil foundation material and treatment. Attention was also directed to pattern styles, treatment of fag ends, and use of sumac as a base material." (September 19, 1998)

Item 2005.025.031

Title: Southern California Cradle Boards (#37)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "Cradle boards have been used by Indian women for thousands of years. A cradle board generally holds the infant securely so that the mother can either carry the child or prop it up against a solid object while she goes about her daily work. Although there are generalized styles that seem to be common to certain geographic areas, cradle boards from virtually every 'tribe' had characteristics that set theirs apart from others, much as did their basketry. The purpose of Mr. Farmer's study was to assess cradle boards from southern California. In his preparatory research, he contracted virtually every major museum in the U.S., plus many private collections, and located only one authenticated cradle board from all of southern California. The video, therefore, is devoted to examples from central California to the Kumeyaay, and from the San Diego to the Pima arenas. There is speculation as to: what did Southern California cradle boards look like and why did none survive?" (October 17, 1998)

Item 2005.025.032

Title: Quechan Songs and Culture (#38)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "Preston Arrow-Weed is a Quechan Indian and was raised by his grandmother, a Kamia, living at Fort Yuma near the present city of Yuma, Arizona. As a youth he spoke the Quechan language (Hokan base), as well as Kamia (also a Hokan base) even before he leanred to speak English. He also learned many of the Quechan and Kamia 'songs' which were being sung at tribal ceremonies. In this program, Mr. Arrow-Weed discusses his youth, and some of the songs still in use in southern California and along the Colorado River. These songs reflect the various Hokan dialects spoken by Quechan, Kamia, Cocopah, Kumeyaay, and Diegueño people of today. Mr. Arrow-Weed has organized a group of young Quechan and Kamia Indian children and is very active teaching them their native songs, dancers, and culture. He is a playwright and has written and starred in a number of Indian films." (January 16, 1999)

Item 2005.025.033

Title: Fired Clay Figurines in Southern California (#40)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "On very rare occasions, archaeologists will uncover small fired clay anthropomorphic 'dolls' in Los Angeles Basin archaeological 'digs.' These 'dolls,' or figurines, are generally 4-6" long, 1-2" wide and perhaps 1/2" thick. Characteristically, they will have bulging 'coffee bean' eyes but rarely have they any limbs. In this 1.5 hour video, Dr. Koerper, a professor at Cypress College in Orange County, discusses the many years of archaeological excavations he has conducted in southern California and the very few such figurines that have been recovered. Dr. Koerper is of the opinion that they were introduced into southern California as very special gifts to cement relations between trading partners." (March 20, 1999)

Item 2005.025.034

Title: Unusual Artifacts of the Los Angeles Basin (#41)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "This video pertains to some of the more unusual Indian artifacts allegedly excavated in the Los Angeles Basin. Unfortunately, a tremendous number of these 'artifacts' surfaced in the 1920s -- many of which were sold to collectors and to major museums. Constance Cameron recently retired as Professor of Anthropology at Cal State Fullerton and is the primary speaker on this video, in which she shows slides of some of these 'artifacts,' most of which have been proven to be counterfeit. Unfortunately, Mrs Cameron became ill during the program and Justin Farmer concluded by displaying and discussing approximately 50 Los Angeles County artifacts from his personal collection, a few of which are believed to be counterfeited but most are genuine." (April 17, 1999)

Item 2005.025.035

Title: Pattern Anomalies in Southern Californian Indian Baskets (#41)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "Most Indian weavers, be they makers of baskets or tapestries, occasionally placed a flaw in their pattern. That flaw, referred to by the author as a 'pattern anomaly,' may be very obvious or it may be so innocuous that it can be seen only after detailed study. In the subject video, Mr. Justin Farmer, a maker of southern Californian Indian baskets, presents results of many days studying literally thousands of southern Californian Indian baskets. He points out anomalies in approximately 150 Cahuilla, Luiseño, and Diegueño baskets. Although he points out many of these anomalies, he has been unable to offer a 'meaning' or 'purpose' behind these anomalies. He does speculate that perhaps some anomalies may represent some of the 'First People.'" (June 19, 1999)

Item 2005.025.036

Title: Curating Museum or Private Collections (#44)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "Many collectors spend considerable amounts of money, time, and effort amassing a collection of Indian arts and artifacts but then spend little or no money, time, or effort taking care of them after they are collected. In this video, Bryn Potter discusses methods by which she and her employer (Southwest Museum of the American Indian) curate museum collections. Bryn discusses methods by which an item may be cleaned and stored without undue damage from insects, mildew, fading, and general deterioration. Bryn Potter has an M.A. degree in Anthropology and a certificate in Non-profit Organization Management from the University of California at Riverside, plus a decade of museum and field experience.'" (November 20, 1999)

Item 2005.025.037

Title: Ancient Fish Traps Near Salton Sea (#45)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "Jay von Werlhof, who is CIA's guide on this field trip, has approximately four decades of archaeological experience in the Imperial Valley of southern California. In this program he conducts a tour of the ancient (pre-1500 A.D.) fish traps generally west of California's Salton Sea. These traps are actually small rock corrals built along the edge of ancient Lake Cahuilla. They were used to trap and hold fish until they could be harvested for food. The region ranges from sea level to about 180 feet below sea level in an arid desert. Lake Cahuilla was formed as the ancient terminus of the Colorado River. It dried up after the river found its current outlet to the Sea of Cortez in about 1500 A.D.. The current Salton Sea did not form until 1903.'" (December 11, 1999)

Item 2005.025.038

Title: California Bows and Arrows (#46)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "Paul Campbell, a devout student of Indian arts and survival skills, has just this month published a book entitled 'Survival of Native California.' In that book he addresses over 70 different survival skills possessed by early Indians of the western U.S., particularly southern and Baja California. In his program herein, he addresses skills needed to make a bow and arrow in the style of early southern California people. Although he has made bows from a number of different woods and styles, those that he presents in this program are in the style of Diegueño (Ipai, Tipai, and Kumeyaay) people of San Diego County, California. He also discusses the creation of arrows and bow strings as well as their various attributes.'" (February 19, 2000)

Item 2005.025.039

Title: California Indian Cradles (#48)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "It has been said that California Indian basket weavers are some of the finest in the U.S., if not the world. Perhaps the same might be said of their cradle boards. Although California Indian tribes did not use beading or quills like some of the Plains or Plateau people did, their cradles are really works of art. In this meeting, Justin Farmer narrates a program in which slides of over 100 such cradles are shown and discussed. The program starts with those tribes at the Mexican border, and then works north to the Oregon border. A study of the various styles used in California suggests that cradles ran the gamut from forked stick frames, to those composed of twined Tules, to very elaborate twined basketry, to those with or without buckskin covering. Mr. Farmer discusses characteristics of each tribe." (May 20, 2000)

Item 2005.025.040

Title: West Coast Indian Bead Work (#49)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "In this video, Mr. Steve Shearer, a serious and extremely knowlegeable collector of beaded Indian items, displays a wide variety of Indian artifacts and art work from his personal collection. He starts the program displaying and discussing glass, stone, shell, and bone beads used by early people from southern California. He then moves north along the Pacific coast discussing Indian beaded items, particularly amongst the Pomo, Washoe, and Paiute people. He devotes a very considerable amount of time displaying beaded bags of the "Plateau" tribes of Eastern Oregon and Washington. He terminates his discussion with beaded bags, baskets, and wearing apparel of those people common referred to as the Pacific Northwest. Mr. Shearer's collection was augmented by items from the William Cain collection, from other private collectors, and from the Riverside Municipal Museum." (May 20, 2000)

Item 2005.025.041

Title: Chinigchinish Religion, The (Video #50)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "During the period 1769 to approximately 1834, the Spanish Catholic church colonized much of what is now southern and central California. One of the primary purposes of that colonization was to stamp out all vestiges of the Indian religions and replace them with Catholicism. Rarely did anyone stop to study, leave alone chronicle, an existing native religion, other than in a demeaning manner. In the early 1820s Fr. Geronimo Boscana wrote two rather detailed accounts of a religion called Chinigchinish, which was being practiced in what is now the Los Angeles Basin and south into San Diego County. In this 1.5 (+/-) hour video, Justin Farmer summarizes a number of translations of Fr. Boscana's narratives." (June 17, 2000)

Item 2005.025.042

Title: Cog Stones and Stanford University Baskets (#11)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "Paul Apodaca (Navajo/Mexican) is curator of Folk Art at the Bower Museum in Santa Ana, California. He is also an instructor at UCLA in addition to pursuing a PhD from UCLA. The Bowers Museum was a recent recipient of approximately 115 Western U.S. Indian baskets formerly of the Stanford University Art Museum in Palo Alto. The collection was made available for viewing by Mr. Apodaca and Bowers Museum. Also made available for viewing are a number, albeit a small percentage, of the Bowers Museum collection of "Cogged Stones" from the Los Angeles Basin. Cogged stones are discoidal shaped stones approximately three to four inches in diameter but with cogged or geared type teeth around the perimeter. Although little is known positively as to their original function (they range back to 5,000 to 7,000 years ago), Mr. Apodaca discusses some possible uses." (July 15, 1995)

Item 2005.025.043

Title: Making and Throwing a California Rabbit Stick (#32)

Scope and Content Note

Description: "One of the very earliest weapons used by Native people the world over is believed to be the "Throwing Stick," aka "Rabbit Stick" or Boomerang. This weapon pre-dates the Bow and Arrow or the Atlatl, probably because of its simplicity of construction and its aerodynamic nature. Basically, it is a 2 1/2 foot long crooked stick that has been carved down to lessen its weight and to make it fly. In this video, Dr. Henry Koerper and Mr. Paul Campbell present a number of slides to show how the weapon is still being made and used by California Indians. Paul Campbell presents a number of slides on how the raw oak limb is bent to the correct overall shape and then carved to the desired finished shape. The second half of the two hour video presents views of California Indian Arts members throwing the sticks at a rabbit target." (April 18, 1998)