This exhibit is based on the research of NMSU's Dr. Fumi Arakawa, with whom we became acquainted in a previous post on this here blog. The research Dr. Arakawa has completed to date is part of an ambitious international research project that spans 1000 years of history and crosses multiple Native cultures.

From NMSU's announcement of this exhibit:

"The exhibition is the result of research NMSU Anthropology professor and director of the University Museum Fumi Arakawa conducted in collaboration with professor Atsunori Ito at the National Museum of Ethnology (Minpaku) in Japan. Ito and Arakawa began the research by meeting with Hopi arts [sic] and in hopes of hearing their interpretations about the meanings of the designs on the ancient vessels. Arakawa spent eight months in Japan engaged in a fellowship at Minpaku working on the project."

Details here. Contact info for the American Indian Student Center here.

Dr. Arakawa assures us this research has only just begun. Like the Hopi, other Native groups in the US Southwest have connections to the Mimbres-Mogollon culture, such as the Zuni, Acoma, Laguna, Apache, and Navajo. Dr. Arakawa hopes to integrate their interpretations with those the Hopi have already shared. It seems we will be periodically dropping in on Fumi to follow his progress...

[Photo of Fumi Arakawa via www.crowcanyon.org]

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