Box Of Treasures Summary

Both, Sabloff's Box of Treasures and the National Museum of the American Indian provide information on Native American cultures that were deprived of their right to express and enjoy their cultural traditions through dance. Box of Treasures voice is described by Narrator Vo ,and Gloria Synch, a member of the Kwakiutl culture who actively tries to save her culture. Synch describes the loss of her cultures traditions by "white men" as a moment of sadness in the history of her people. Synch's culture is saved through preservation of their lost artifacts, organization of artifacts, and practice of a dance/gift-giving ceremony named Potlach. I believe neither ethnocentrism nor stereotyping was present in the portrayal of "Box of Treasures".

Gloria Synch specifically has an impact through expressing how she felt about losing native culture traditions and respect. In the late 1800s, potlaching was prohibited and fishing was not allowed in Canada. The Native American group who lived off of Salmon and praticing potlach were oppressed by the Canadian government who outlawed the kwakiutl tradition. The museum of the Native American depicted some of the kwakiutl artifacts as they would appear in a potlach to save the culture. Potlach was the most important tradition of the kwakiutl culture in which is a "ceremony of dance and gift giving that linked culture to the past". Many of the lost culture "treasures" were given to a cultural center named U'Mista which means "the return of something important". The opening of the cultural center imposed feelings of happiness and great sadness from the memory of having the kwakiutl culture stripped from its people for more than 60 years. Gloria Synch and Narrator Vo go on to explain how the artifacts of kwakiutl culture, organized in order of potlach, without glass cases is the representation of freedom of the culture from the hands of "the white man" and safe in a place where people from kwakiutl culture can take care of their own

The circle of dance is described by 80 percent of Native American community members as a series of dances that allows "greater cosmic order" amongst several groups of Native Americans. The Yup'ik people practiced a dance in the winter time to give thanks for having the necessities needed to sustain the weather. There were dances for growing up, gift giving, celebrating the dead, and daily activities of the Yup'ik peoples everyday life. Yakama performs religious ceremonial dances to thank "the creator" for food abundance and "the fancy shawl dance" depicted girls as butterflies, as described by the Yakama people. Oyne ceremonies of dance were practiced between January and February of a year to celebrate family members who had passed away. Even though Oyne dances are no longer practiced, the masks from their costumes are still being created for display, and being