New Mexico History Museum
Wonders on Wheels
Day: Monday
Time: All Day
Location: Main Street
Fees: Free
Learn More Visit: Wonders on Wheels
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The New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs mobile museum Wonder on Wheels (WoW) is on the road with a new display for 2018. The featured exhibit from the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC) is entitled Indigenous New Mexico: Sharing the Wonders of Our World.
The WoW MIAC exhibit was guest curated by Dr. Jessie Ryker-Crawford (Ojibway) and Dr. Shelly Valdez (Laguna Pueblo), president of Native Pathways, a nonprofit educational company. The MIAC Native American Tribes of New Mexico exhibit was produced by a cohort of four Pueblo, Apache, and Navajo educators selected from each of the three tribal groups: Melissa Henry (Navajo), Sherwin Sando (Jemez Pueblo), Mia Toya (Jemez Pueblo), and Ina Montoya (Jicarilla Apache). Program partner Dr. Carnell Chosa (Jemez Pueblo) from the Leadership Institute of the Santa Fe Indian School provided pre-program support.
WoW’s exhibit from MIAC focuses on the importance of traditional foods, plants, and animals as well as dance-music, and the arts of New Mexico’s indigenous populations. Through displays and hands-on activities, this exhibit, designed for visitors ages 4–14, shows children the natural-dyed yarns that go into making Navajo rugs and lets them feel the sheep wool while learning about weaving. Visitors will learn about the traditional clothing of New Mexico’s tribal people through a doll exhibit that features some of our state’s most talented tribal doll makers. Bows and arrows, atlatls, drums, and rattles are there to be handled and discussed. Pottery activities, an interactive tribal map of New Mexico, and videos on corn, drum making, and honoring traditional Native American ways of living are featured within this dynamic exhibit.
The WoW program is made possible by the support of the J.F. Maddox Foundation, the SP and Estelle Yates Family Foundation, The Chase Foundation, and the New Mexico Public Education Department. MIAC’s WOW mobile exhibit is also supported by a generous “Learning Experiences” grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Sciences, the National Museum of the American, Washington D.C.; and the Indian Education Division of the Public Education Department.
Be sure to tour their van throughout the day on Monday of Bean Days. Click for more information about the Wonder on Wheels new exhibit from MIAC
