gardant

The Great Ballcourt at Chichen Itza before restoration

Taken in 1890

Late Classic to Postclassic (750 to ~1250 AD). Maya. Yucatan, Mexico

CultureHISTORY: The “Lost Friends” Ads - New Orleans, LA (1879-1880)

A heartbreaking piece featuring the newly digitized collection of original advertisements from a New Orleans newspaper between November 1879 and December 1880. Because it was part of the institution of slavery to split up families, after the Civil War, African Americans began the search for their lost kin. Once they were free, this was one of the few options former slaves had to try and find their families. Writing ads in local newspapers. Just another piece of American History.

Head of a virgin statue sculpted in ivory and painted, with glass eyes

 Hispanic-Philippine school, 17th century 

Golden Horse Monastery

The 9,000-year-old bones known as “Kennewick Man” or “the Ancient One” will be returned to Columbia River tribes for burial under terms of an amendment passed Wednesday by the U.S. House of Representatives.

The legislation is a conference-committee meeting away from going to President Obama for his signature.  It must be reconciled with similar legislation, sponsored by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., passed in the Senate.

Twenty-two members of the Colville tribes donated DNA to prove that “the Ancient One” was genetically linked to modern Native Americans.

Once this was confirmed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act required that “Kennewick Man” be returned to culturally affiliated tribes.

“For two decades, the native peoples of the Columbia River Basin have striven to rebury their ancestor. The action taken by Congress today honors the rights and traditions of these tribes and returns the ‘Ancient One’ home,” said U.S. Rep. Denny Heck, D-Wash.

The burial precludes scientists’ opportunities to study the remains, although, as Smithsonian magazine noted, “ancient human remains from North America are incredibly rare, and forensic technology gets better all the time.”

Kevin Taylor, in Indian Country Today, wrote:

“It’s the chafe between science and spirituality, between people who say the remains have so much to tell us about the ancient human past that they should remain available for research, versus people who feel a kinship with the ancient bones and say they should be reburied to show proper reverence for the dead.”

The remains were discovered in 1996 by two college students. They initially thought they had come across remains of a murder victim. They instead found someone living at a time when Pleistocene glaciers covered much of North America.

The repatriation of “the Ancient One” saw a rare revival, in a polarized Washington, D.C., of the once-fabled bipartisan cooperation of the Northwest’s congressional delegations.

The amendment was cosponsored by Heck and Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., whose district is in central Washington.  Other cosponsors were Reps. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., and Greg Walden, R-Ore.

Similar cooperation, earlier this year, passed legislation sponsored by Heck that renamed the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge after conservationist, native-rights and tribal fisheries advocate Billy Frank Jr.

“Tribes in Washington state have a right to bring ‘the Ancient One’ home,” said Kilmer.  "I’m glad the House has recognized this and passed our bipartisan legislation to honor the descendants of the Ancient One and clear the path for a proper burial on tribal lands.“

The House-approved amendment transfers the remains from the Army Corps of Engineers to the Washington Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, in order to repatriate the remains to the tribes.

via Mike Brown: Facts and dog whistles by Jonathan Korman (@miniver)

CAMBRIDGE, MASS.- This fall, Harvard archaeologists will continue excavations in Harvard Yard in the area of the 17th-century Indian College sited near Matthews Hall. This is the 4th excavation season in this area of the Yard. (Earlier excavations took place in 2005, 2007, 2009, and 2011). A foundation trench believed to be part of the old Indian College was found in 2009, and confirmed in 2011. This season, the class will continue to trace the Indian College foundation.

A group of Ifugao men discuss their performance at the public gym, Banaue, Ifugao province, Philippines, after joining the groups participating in the 2014 Imbayah Festival cultural parade on April 27, 2014.

I’ve been itching to share this for a while now. My last project was Cinderella, and since there’s already one version of Cinderella for Far Faria, I decided to do a Filipino version version just to mix it up. 

Mario Testino “Alta Moda” Queen Sofia Spanish Institute 684 Park Avenue (between 68th & 69th St) Upper East Side (UES)

“Alta Moda is quite different from the portraits I am perhaps best known for,” famed fashion photographer Mario Testino said of his latest exhibit.

Testino has strayed away from his typical subjects—celebrities and fashion models—and traded them in for natives of his home country, Peru. Alta Moda—which translates from Spanish as “high fashion” -  refers to the vibrant and ornate traditional and festive dress of Peruvians in Cusco, the historic capital of the ancient Inca Empire. 

“I usually try to capture the moment,” Testino said. “But with this series, I wanted to do something very different—not just with my own work, but also with the practice of photography. I tried to fit as much time and history into each frame as possible—from the traditional and festive clothing to the Chambi backdrops to the Peruvian people in them.”

The exhibition is curated by Queen Sofia Spanish Institute chairman fashion icon Oscar de la Renta.  source