by Brooke Thomas
November might be known for Thanksgiving and the start of a crazy holiday shopping season, but it also is Native American Heritage month.
If you’ve been to the library recently, you might have noticed the display wall and the Native American items that inhabit it. It has everything from clothing to jewelry to handmade items, all owned by Chief George Dodge.
What caught my eye were the dream catchers; I love dream catchers and collect them so I found it interesting to see the different ones. The most important item in the display is the drum; in the Native American heritage it is the “actual heartbeat of mother earth and represents that,” says Chief Dodge, “the drumbeat is steady like a heartbeat, not like you would hear in a movie.”
The Chief has had the items for about 30 years, and most of them were handmade by his wife or by others in different places like Guatemala.
The benefit of the display is getting to view the items up close and in person instead of looking at pictures in a book or somewhere else. If you are interested in viewing the items or have any questions, you can visit the library and talk to Linda Broyles. The display will be up for about another week (until around Dec. 1st).