1. Debbie is home.
Debbie is retired.
She will sub from time to time, but she's got more time and energy for us to do things together.
Like go to Spokane.
Like go to the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture (MAC) in Browne's Addition.
And that's just what we did.
And I was blown away.
The MAC is currently showing an exhibit titled, Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight.
Singletary is a glass artist and this exhibit features his many pieces that illustrate the Tlingit story of Raven and his transformation of the world, primarily by bringing light to a world of darkness. It's an origin story and features elements found in many mythologies around the world including the idea of "let there be light", immaculate conception, and others.
The designers of this exhibit set it up so that we walked through the four main parts of the story: Along the Nass River, Transformation, The Nobleman at the Head of the Nass River, and Clan House. Each part featured the works of Preston Singletary and all around us we heard the sounds of ravens, soundscapes of the Southeastern Alaska coast, Raven's story being told by native storytellers in their native language, and original music. In addition, the exhibit was further enhanced by video projections adding visual textures and images to the experience of being immersed in this story.
2. The story, Preston Singletary's art, and the design of the exhibit all moved me.
I was also moved by memories of team teaching with Rita Hennessy and found myself wishing she were still alive and that we could walk through this exhibit together. I also had wishful thoughts rise up about how much I would enjoy it if Rita and I could experience this exhibit with the students we worked with over the years.
Over the years, Rita immersed herself in understanding and experiencing Native American life and culture in the USA, especially in the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and the west coast.
As we taught philosophy and writing together, she creatively and intelligently integrated her knowledge of and experience with Native cultures into our studies of ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics.
At the heart of our approach (mostly guided by Rita) to learning philosophy was the vast work Joseph Campbell did over decades, studying and writing about the myths of countless cultures worldwide. Campbell identified patterns and images these myths had in common, despite the cultures having had no contact with each other.
Rita and I would have had a most stimulating time discussing the elements of the Tlingit origin story and how Campbell's work would help us see that it has deep connections to other myths and religions. Campbell helped us see that through these stories human beings have had the common experience of trying to make sense out of the great mysteries of origin and of the journey from youth to adulthood and have told stories featuring heroes who experience similar cycles of experience that test them, cleanse them, and strengthen them to become flawed figures to looked up to and inspired by.
3. Debbie and I left this exhibit with plans to return. I bought the very handsome book published to accompany this exhibit. We'd both like to learn more about the exhibit and return so we can experience it more fully.
*****
When Christy, Carol, and I went to the Jundt Art Museum on an earlier Sibling Outing, afterward we ate Indigenous Eats (Hamilton and Boone) in Spokane.
Debbie and I decided to have lunch there after our museum visit.
I didn't want anything as filling as an Indigenous (NdN) Taco, so I ordered a bowl of Three Sisters Soup, featuring maize (corn), squash, and beans -- three main crops of some North American tribes.
I ordered frybread on the side and together they provided the lighter and delicious lunch I wanted.
By the way, I'll just add that I'm happy it's a great time of year for soup. The ham and bean soup I had at Meacham and this soup today were both deeply satisfying.
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