Choctaw house

A nifty card just arrived from Oklahoma, featuring a red clay mud & pole house with thatch roof, found in the southeast before Choctaws were relocated to Oklahoma in the 1830s. My friend works with tribes coordinating transportation issues such as road construction and found this card while attending a meeting with the tribe located in Durant. Very nice!!

Alert Bay Memorial Pole

A Canadian friend who is an archaeologist sent a card from British Columbia earlier this summer. She visited Quadra Island's cultural center and saw many lovely masks, rattles and ceremonial items that had been returned to the tribe.
This card shows a carved & painted memorial pole with an interesting history: "This pole in Alert Bay cemetery was commissioned by Mrs Tom Patch for her memorial. Unsatisfied with teht size of the figure's hat she refused to pay for it, and it was abandoned on the beach. Years later some locals raised it at her grave and eventually friends put a tire around the carved hat, enlargening it in accordance with her original wishes."

Chichen Itza, Mexico

a nice swap via the Postcrossing forum nets me this nifty card sent by folks on vacation in Mexico! Its a fun site to visit...a friend also just visited and swam in the cenote but reports nobody is allowed to climb the stairs to the top of the main pyramid now. Too bad as its a wonderful view from up there!

2015 Sovereignty Symposium

friends in Oklahoma recently attended a conference discussing various aspects of Native American tribal sovereignty...issues included language preservation, gaming, justice, education, and resource management. A friend sent this wonderful postcard featuring the conference design, thanks RSF!!

NM turquoise

my pen pal Gary in Oklahoma took a nice trip west to New Mexico and shopped at the Laguna Pueblo. Gary and I both love old fashion tourist stuff and a driving trip out west is a great way to experience that even today! He sends a fun card that features some nice old jewelry (look for this is pawn shops but be prepared to pay high dollar). 

California Rock Art

I received an email from a Postcrosser in California recently...she had noticed a card of an Otoe man that I had sent as an Official and asked about it. The card's image  is from my University's museum's photo collection and I had arranged a gallery exhibition when some of the photos traveled. The Mathers Museum kindly shared postcards of a few images to use for publicity for the event;  I usually give the extras to my students, but occasionally mail a few to Postcrossers. I mailed one to her and in return she very kindly sent this awesome card of petroglyphs carved into the granite of the eastern Mohave Desert. The site is a National Preserve Surprisingly it is hard to find cards that celebrate Native peoples & cultures in California and so this card is a special addition to my collection. Thanks Jeannie!! Its really a super find

Ancient Puebloan tools from Mesa Verde

A nice trade with an American Postcrosser from Colorado brings this interesting card. She had many lovely cards of  Mesa Verde including stone structures, ancient pottery and this unusual offering! This card caught my eye right away and didn't seem like the type  that tourists would buy...featured in the photo are bone awls for sewing clothing, a stone axe, and ceremonial objects. Mesa Verde is a rock shelter occupied by the ancestors of Puebloan peoples 600-1300AD, with the stone shelters built around 1200 (perhaps in response to intrusions by other Native peoples such as the Apache). The site was famously discovered by a cowboy seeking lost cattle; it became a National Park in 1906 to protect the unique aspects and is a popular vacation destination.