Roasting Ears of Corn Festival
40th Annual
August 15 & 16, 2020
The Museum of Indian Culture invites the public to its 40th Annual Roasting Ears of Corn Festival, Pennsylvania’s oldest Native American Indian Festival, on Saturday & Sunday August 15th and 16th, 2020. Gates open 10:00 am until 6:00 pm rain or shine. Grand Entrance is at 12:00 noon.
Admission: $10 adults, $5 children 8-17 and seniors over 62, FREE for children under 8.
Calendar of Events
An Introductory Workshop to Native American Drumming
The Native American Drum Circle – Heart Beat of Mother Earth
Saturday, February 29, 2020, 4 pm to 6 pm
The drum beat holds significance in Native American custom; tribes use drums in daily life and in ceremonies. Many tribes believe that the beat of the drums represent the unwavering pulse of Mother Earth.
Please join Reed Brown, Oglala, Lakota Tribe, South Dakota, to learn about the significance of the Native American drum, and how to drum to different beats of Traditional Native songs. This interactive workshop is suited to those who are interested in understanding ancestral Native knowledge of the First People of North America. We encourage all who attend to bring their own hand drum.
As a Native American drummer and singer, Reed is committed to lifting awareness about ancestral knowledge wherever he goes through song, storytelling, and traditional teachings.
To register, please mail a check or money order for $20 to Museum of Indian Culture, 2825 Fish Hatchery Road, Allentown, PA 18103. For more info please call (610) 797-2121 or email . Please register early. Space is limited
KACHINAS: SPIRIT DOLLS OF THE HOPI
“Kachinas: Spirit Dolls of the Hopi” features over 50 hand-carved and hand-painted wooden figures based on Hopi kachinas. Carved by George Melloy, a retired Bethlehem Steel Metallurgical Engineer, the sculptures reproduce with stunning color and historical accuracy the full round of Hopi ceremonies, including the Bean Dance ceremony and the Winter Solstice ceremony. Visit us and learn the fascinating history of Hopi kachinas and their pivotal role in Pueblo Indian cultures.
“Warrior Spirit: Journey of the Native American Warrior”
The Museum of Indian Culture’s newest exhibit, “Warrior Spirit: Journey of the Native American Warrior,” honors a long tradition and largely unknown participation of native peoples in the U.S. military. Since the Revolutionary War, Native Americans have served in every major conflict and at a higher rate in proportion to their population than any other ethnic group.
The spirit of the Native American warrior is deeply rooted in culture and tradition. “Warrior Spirit: Journey of the Native American Warrior” chronicles the history of native participation in the U.S. military amidst wars fought on a land that once was theirs and also abroad. This 200-year history is told through pictures, stories of heroism, and wartime relics, including 1940’s field radios used during WWII by Navajo Code Talkers who used their once forbidden language to help save this nation.
Mystery Unearthed:
The Extraordinary Story of Two Lenape Rock Shelters
This exhibit features a unique collection of over 200 stone and bone tools, pendants, decorated ceramics, and European trade goods excavated in 1942 from the Broomall Rock Shelter sites in Broomall, Pennsylvania. This assemblage was featured in a 1947 article in the prestigious archaeological journal American Antiquity, and includes a fully-reconstructed steatite bowl and numerous archaic stone points that may date to over 3,000 years ago. Visit us to learn the incredible story of the site’s discovery, context, excavation, and the artifacts’ journey to the museum.
Treading Lightly around Prehistoric Digs:
1980’s Interstate-78 Southern Corridor Project - Upper Saucon
In 1972 Tropical Storm Agnes ravaged the Lehigh Valley with rain and wind. Days after the flood waters subsided, Upper Saucon resident Robert Kufrovich went rock hunting in a nearby cornfield. To Robert’s surprise, the ground erosion caused by “Agnes’” heavy rains unearthed stone artifacts and pottery sherds from an ancient Lenape settlement dating 8,000 B.C. to 1,500 A.D. Robert’s findings were reported to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and became part of PennDot's 1980's Interstate-78 archaeological sites surveyed for prehistoric evidence. The artifacts show how the Lenape lived and worked in our region before the land filled with housing developments and shopping centers.
Beneath the Mounds: Pottery and Tools of the Mississippians
Discover America’s prehistoric cities at Beneath the Mounds: Pottery and Tools of the Mississippians.
Over 1,000 years ago, a mysterious and advanced civilization existed in Midwestern America. These prehistoric people built complex mounds in massive building projects that amaze modern scientists—and with no metal tools. Their culture extended throughout Texas, Arkansas, Illinois, and Ohio, and they controlled trade networks that extended coast to coast and into Mexico. They left no written language but created some of the most complex burials and artifacts ever recorded in North America.