Dallas Public Library: Indigenous Peoples Day 2021

Press release from Dallas Public Library:

Molly Tepera

October 2, 2021

South America accounts for approximately one eighth of Earth’s landmasses and it is one of the most diverse regions of the world, populated by many different nationalities, language groups, environments, and religions. Some of the ancient inhabitants of South America predate the better-known empires of Central America; people may have lived in the Andean region as early as 3500 B.C.E. With its enormous mountains, valleys, deserts, and coasts, countless peoples have passed through these rich lands—the Nazca, Paracas, Wari, and Moche cultures to name a few. While numerous civilizations blossomed and deteriorated over a period of several thousand years, the European conquest of the Americas caused an unprecedented level of death due to disease and what we would now term genocide.

Some descendants of these indigenous cultures still survive but must actively campaign for their rights against governments that wish for their assimilation or destruction. As recently as June 2021, The Guardian recognized the efforts of Bora activist Liz Chicaje Churay to protect the Yaguas region of the Amazon rainforest. She told the Guardian, “Our fight is more visible to the world. Every year, I can tell more people are talking about indigenous communities.” This fight is shared by many indigenous and native groups across the globe, including the campaign to change the holiday Columbus Day in the United States to Indigenous Peoples Day…which brings us here to Texas, and one Dallasite in particular.

Charles E. Beard (1900-1982) was an Ohio-born Dallas cultural aficionado and president of Braniff Airlines, a small Dallas-based airline that has since gone bankrupt. He promoted the arts in north Texas as well as travel to South America. From the few papers that he left with the library, it seems that he acquired many items while organizing flights to Peru; in 1960, he was awarded the Order of Merit for his contribution to the Peruvian economy (Moore, n.d.). Towards the end of his life, he donated many of these priceless works of pottery and sculpture to the Dallas Public Library, where they still reside in the Virginia Lazenby O’Hara Fine Books Room. The item descriptions and numbers, including the dates, are from Charles Beard and may not be accurate. Some of the cultures featured here include the Nazca (or Nasca); the Moche (or Mochica); and the Chimú.

The Nazca culture lived on the southern coast of what is now Peru between approximately 200 B.C.E. and 600 C.E. Proulx and Rickenbach note that the Nazca culture is closely related to the earlier Paracas (900 B.C.E-200 B.C.E) culture, sharing some of the same religious beliefs and crafts. Some Nazca pieces contain as many as ten colors.

The Moche culture was another great Andean civilization that existed circa 1 to 700 C.E. Like the Nazca, they derive their name from a river valley. Despite their advanced technology, they did not use wheels in creating their remarkable pottery. However, art historians Fred Kleiner and Christin Mamiya consider their ceramics to be comparable to the Greeks and Maya in terms of craftsmanship. Many fine pieces of pottery have been uncovered at Moche grave sites, indicating that these works may have been highly regarded in society.

This collection also includes works attributed to the Chimú culture, a group of people who followed the Moche. They were later conquered by the Inca, but some of their ceramics survived and can be seen here.

If you are interested in learning more about these objects, please contact the Dallas History & Archives Division of the Central Library. Be sure to check out some of the related books on pottery and sculpture on the 4th floor, too.

This press release was produced by Dallas Public Library. The views expressed here are the author’s own.