Artifact of the Week — February 1, 2024

NAGPRA Compliance

“Since 1990, Federal law has provided for the protection and return of Native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony. By enacting NAGPRA, Congress recognized that human remains of any ancestry “must at all times be treated with dignity and respect.” Congress also acknowledged that human remains and other cultural items removed from Federal or tribal lands belong, in the first instance, to lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations. With this law, Congress sought to encourage a continuing dialogue between museums and Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations and to promote a greater understanding between the groups while at the same time recognizing the important function museums serve in society by preserving the past. (US Senate Report 101-473).”

These powerful words send a message to museums and collectors across the United States concerning the respect we must treat the Native American treasures we are given and choose to display. With recent news articles related to NAGPRA compliance flying around the Internet, it has come to the attention of the staff at Old Independence Regional Museum how caring and thoughtful our patrons are. We have received several texts and emails concerning the recent article focusing on the Third Annual White House Tribal Nations Summit and want our patrons to rest assured we began the process in autumn 2023 of speaking with our local NAGPRA coordinator via the University of Arkansas.

To date, we have sent photos of all items within our inventory of Native American design and history that have not previously been recognized as covered by NAGPRA guidelines. Our liaison has reached out to the two local tribes most vested in these items: the Caddo Nation, and the Quapaw Nation. Representatives from both parties have been in contact with us and we are working closely with both Nations to ensure our collections 1. Can be shown with dignity and 2. Will be repatriated if necessary.

We have had a number of archeologists examine the items in question and they have agreed the pottery and points (the bulk of our collection) can definitely be identified by a time frame – Mississippian Era – but not directly to a Nation. Recent research has pointed out that many pieces of pottery are indicative of a specific Nation, but trade between Nations cannot be discounted. In that case, which Nation do the objects truly belong? This question is not taken lightly; it is the discretion of the individual Tribes as to where these objects truly belong.

OIRM Native American Items
OIRM Native American Items

OIRM is more than willing to comply with NAGPRA regulations. We are excited about transforming our current Shawnee Room into a more inclusive Mississippian-Era showcase where we focus not only on individual Nations, but the archeological methods now in place to study the heritage of these cultures. We appreciate the concern our patrons have for this issue, and we will follow through on the recommendations of the Nations whose artifacts we represent. Thank you very much for reaching out.

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Artifact of the Week — January 25, 2024

Toas-Tite® Sandwich Maker

Today’s generation has a wide variety of sealed sandwiches in differing sizes and shapes. Long before pocket sandwiches was Toas-Tite. Patented in 1945 and sold in 1949, this marvel was a one-hit wonder, falling into obscurity after being on the market a few short years. By 1953, it was nearly impossible to find a Toas-Tite on a store shelf. What happened to this marvelous little kitchen gadget?

The original inventor was John E. Streitelmeier, who apparently worked for Bar-B-Buns when he created the Toas-Tite. Patents for Mr. Streitelmeier and Bar-B-Buns were both filed; the latter as an improvement on the former. Mr. Streitelmeier passed away in the 1950s, and it might be his influence on Toas-Tite’s appeal was what placed it on the shelves. After Mr. Streitelmeier’s death, Bar-B-Buns may have gone in a different direction.

If you look closely at the packaging in this picture, you will note above the name “Replica of 1949 original”. This box may be more modern, but the reason it exists is because, after a 70-year hiatus, Toas-Tite has returned to a website near you!

Toas-Tite Sandwich Maker
Toas-Tite Sandwich Maker

To make a hot, melted sandwich, take two pieces of bread (or tortillas) and add your favorite ingredients. Press your creation between the rounded Toas-Tite paddles and toast this masterpiece on a grill, fire pit, or stovetop. Within three minutes you can create a warm meal. 

Thank you to Jessica Bumann for allowing us to display her Toas-Tite for our “A Taste of Community” exhibit. Come by and visit our Smithsonian Institution/Old Independence Regional Museum exhibit – it is now officially open! We will see you at the museum!

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Artifact of the Week — January 18, 2024

Porch Milk Boxes

A recent drive to Betty Barnett’s house to fill our “A Taste of Community” exhibit with Mack Farm Dairy items unearthed an unusual find: a porch milk box. Appropriately, it is emblazoned with the Mack Farm Dairy name.

When milk was delivered daily by horse and buggy (or later, by truck) to houses in Batesville, the driver’s route included customers with different daily needs. While large families may ask for a gallon a day, others were content with a quart every few days. The obstacle in purchasing milk was in its preservation: before the 1940s, refrigerators were rare and families who ordered milk generally kept in mind their needs for the day. If they did not finish the milk, chances are it would sour.

Milk deliveries were usually early in the morning before families had cooked breakfast, which almost always included milk. However, most families were not awake at the time of delivery, and the milk might sit on the porch for a few hours and spoil. An answer to this dilemma was a porch milk box. Usually insulated and made of aluminum, these small containers were a “go-between”: customers would leave the empty milk containers in the box along with payment, and the full containers were deposited by the milk delivery service.

Milk Bottles and Porch Milk Box
Milk Bottles and Porch Milk Box

Alan Bufford vividly remembers the thumping of the milk box lid at his house every morning far earlier than he would care to be awake. He said he learned to abhor that sound, shuddering at the mere thought of it. When the milk box was brought into the exhibit, he insisted I shut the lid, which I did. “No, it has to be harder than that,” he insisted. I slapped the lid down. “Yes,” he grinned, “that is the sound of nostalgia.”

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Artifact of the Week — January 11,2024

Sorghum

Facts about sorghum:

  • Sorghum was first domesticated 8000 BC in Ethiopia and Sudan.
  • The first recorded passage in the United States that mentions sorghum was from the pen of Benjamin Franklin, who mentioned its use in making brooms in 1757.
  • The “sorghum belt” encloses a swath of the United States from Texas to South Dakota, where it enjoys the arid climate.
  • The appropriately-named city of Cane Hill, Arkansas holds an annual Cane Hill Harvest Festival where they squeeze sorghum using a draft horse and an old fashioned press.

The steps to make sorghum seem deceptively simple, although it is rumored you are not good at making sorghum until you are at least 70 years old.

  1. Plant in May.
  2. Harvest in September by lopping off the seed heads and stripping the leaves.
  3. Using a scythe, cut the cane as close to the ground as possible.
  4. Feed the cane into the press 3-5 canes at a time.
  5. Use a draft horse or mules to turn the press.
  6. Catch the green juice as it pours out the other side of the press.
  7. Add the juice to a very large cooking vessel over a perfectly temperate fire.
  8. Cook the entire batch of juice at once since it takes a long time to cook.
  9. Skim the green foam from the surface of the sorghum as it cooks.
  10. When the bubbles turn from green to brown, your sorghum is almost ready.
  11. Sample to see if it is done. It will thicken as it cooks. Be sure it is evenly cooked; raw sorghum will mildew.
  12. Can in a sterile glass jar.
Cooking a sorghum batch
Cooking a sorghum batch

Old Independence Regional Museum has a series of pictures along with a sorghum scythe on display in our “A Taste of Community” exhibit, which we are presenting in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street. Come by and see this exhibit beginning January 23, 2024. We look forward to seeing you at the museum!

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Artifact of the Week — January 4, 2024

The Smithsonian is Here!

For the past six months, Old Independence Regional Museum has been working arduously to present our patrons with an outstanding exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street we are calling “A Taste of Community”. This exhibit’s focus is on food and how it defines us, shows our individuality, but, in the grand scheme of things, works to bring us together.

In April Cathy Shonk was notified the application she had submitted had been chosen as one of only six small museums in the United States to showcase the Smithsonian’s FOOD exhibit. This exhibit is currently on display in Washington, D. C., and Cathy had the privilege of viewing the exhibit in late 2022.

With the scheme of the Smithsonian’s exhibit and the guidance of their staff, OIRM has developed an outstanding exhibit that brings not only Washington, D. C. to Arkansas, but showers their exhibit with our local “flavor”. We have been blessed with an outpouring of exhibit pieces, stories, and ideas from our community, and working with many local individuals and businesses will be able to share information on Independence County’s past as well as inviting in different stories from around the state.

Eating Out Booth
Eating Out Booth

Along with the long-running exhibit, OIRM plans on monthly food classes focusing on a specific culture. For instance, OIRM is working with First Community Bank for the month of February to bring you “A Taste of Home”, a Black Heritage celebration with mouth-watering dishes for you to try. Stay tuned for more details on February’s event as well as many, many more.

Grapette Exhibit
Grapette Exhibit
Vintage Delivery Vehicle
Vintage Delivery Vehicle

For our members, a soft opening, members-only premiere is available at 6:00 pm on Thursday, January 18, 2024.

We will host our grand opening and Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, at 10:30 am. Please join us for festivities, free snacks courtesy Outlaw Snax (it is a food exhibit, after all), fantastic camaraderie, and the beginning of a stellar 18-month exhibit, “A Taste of Community”!

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