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It’s easy to lose yourself in the city. American Indian people in Baltimore have been resourceful in creating and maintaining spaces to assemble and stay connected or reconnect to their cultural heritage. Heritage is different from history in that it is living. We inherit it from predecessors, but we also create it constantly, in community, and we pass it on to future generations. At first we were just in Baltimore. As time went on, we became part of Baltimore and it became part of us.
“<span class="small-caps">on the reservation</span> — East Baltimore street near Broadway is the ‘reservation’ for thousands of Lumbee Indians, like... Mrs. Mattie Locklear [Lumbee].” Photo for the Baltimore Sun June 27, 1966, permission from Baltimore Sun Media. All rights reserved.
Much beloved D.C. “Slim” Hunt (Lumbee) chose to be photographed in this Hollywood Plains-style headdress, we suppose, to look the part. Ordinarily, he wore a trucker-style baseball cap and on some special occasions, in his youth, a cowboy hat. D.C. “Slim” Hunt, photo by Malashuk for the Baltimore Sun June 27, 1966, permission from Baltimore Sun Media. All rights reserved.
“<span class="small-caps">indian crafts</span> — Mrs. Mildred Pevia, a Lumbee Indian, makes a beaded headband during a meeting at the Indian Center.” Photo by Richard Childress for the Baltimore Sun September 28, 1970, permission from Baltimore Sun Media. All rights reserved.
“<span class="small-caps">snake dance</span>: Cultural Aide Sandra Linkins [Lumbee] leads William Paca Elementary students.” Photo by Bob Stockfield for the News American, November 20, 1983, permission from Hearst Corporation.
“Kirby Locklear [Lumbee].” Photo by Bill Perry for the News American, May 17, 1973, permission from Hearst Corporation.
“Wearing traditional Lumbee costume.” Photo by Bill Perry for the News American, May 17, 1973, permission from Hearst Corporation. Kirby Locklear (Lumbee).
“Young Indians Tammy Lynn Hale and Sophie Lynn Harding, both 6 [and both Lumbee], model Indian bead headbands and broad grins.” Photo by Bill Perry for the News American, May 17, 1973, permission from Hearst Corporation.
“Quilting.” Photo by Jim Davis for the News American, October 24, 1985, permission from Hearst Corporation. (L – R) Margie “Pocahontas” Chavis, Alme Jones, Geri (Hunt) Farley (all Lumbee).
“<span class="small-caps">promoting the positive</span>: Barry Richardson [Haliwa Saponi], director of the American Indian Center on South Broadway, says, ‘I want our people to have a good self-image.’” Photo by Jim Davis for the News American, October 24, 1985, permission from Hearst Corporation.
“This mural, just getting started, is a Summer Job Corps project at the American Indian Center on South Broadway. With 15 Indian youths doing the work, only 6 are allowed on the scaffold at one time for safety reasons. The outer-wall mural will symbolize the coming together of Indian residents and the community, with the aid of the Great Spirit.” An Indian artist from Virginia, Dan Nicholas [Munsee-Delaware], is project coordinator, with local muralist Monique Voss a consultant. Photo for the Baltimore Sun July 24, 1980, permission from Baltimore Sun Media. All rights reserved.
Tiger Hunt (Lumbee) dressed in traditional regalia for a Culture Class photoshoot with the Baltimore American Indian Center, ca. 1994, courtesy of Tiger Hunt.
