Museum reopens doors

Posted by admin on 26/1/10 • Categorised as News, No. 50 Aug 2007

Members of Thunder Nation - L-R Chuquai Billy, Ant Hatcher, Deanna Shunkaha Wannagiwin and Christy Kristofferson.

Hastings Museum reopened on Saturday 28th July to the sound of Native American chants and prayers. Hundreds of people, including Gensing councillor Andrew Cart-wright and several councillors from neighbouring wards, attended the re-opening ceremony. Rep-resenting the US Embassy, Cultural Attaché Michael Macey praised the museum’s collection of Native American artefacts, saying, ‘It’s amazing to walk through this museum and see objects which have great power for people from the US. We need to explore the lessons that objects from other cultures can teach us. As cultures around the world become increasingly similar – in itself a good thing, because it’s less easy to demonise someone who is like you – it seems ever more important to preserve the great insight and wisdom of ancient cultures. As long as places like Hastings Museum exist, people will be able to learn from those cultures.’
Museum Curator Victoria Williams praised architect Thomas Ford for his design and also the numerous volunteers who in recent weeks have put in long hours to get the museum ready for the opening day. A plaque commemorating the museum’s renovation was then unveiled by Deputy Mayor Vivienne Bond, who said, ‘The building is wonderful. There’s so much more to see, and I’m so proud that it’s in my ward.’
The ceremony was followed by a performance of music, dance, storytelling and prayer by Native American group Thunder Nation. The various pieces were introduced by UK-based stand-up comedian Chuquai Billy, himself a Native American from the Lakota and Choctaw nations. These included a ‘Sneak-up Dance’, performed by Ant Hatcher, who is half-African American and half-Cherokee; a personal address by Christy Kristofferson, who is part Chickasaw; and an invocation, first in the Lakota language, then in English, by Deanna Shunkaha Wann-agiwin, of the Dakota Sioux people, which said, ‘When I speak with my grandmother, I say the old times are gone. So much has changed. But love, like the wind, is still here. Love, faith and hope remain … I thank you in a sacred way for all my relations.’ Like the ceremony as a whole, the sentiment of this speech was simple and powerful, and a reminder of the true purpose of any museum – to persuade us of the importance of tradition and the ties that bind us ineluctably to our ancestors.
The performance ended with a round dance in which the performers and every member of the audience – adults and children – held hands in a massive circle. A smile was on every face.