The Kwahadi Museum of the American Indian

The Good Girls went to Texas to see the rodeo, but we took time out to visit the Kwahadi Museum of the American Indian one day. The exterior building does not begin to tell the story of what’s inside. 

Exterior of Kwahadi Museum in Amarillo, Texas
Photo @ Debi Lander

We were met by Charles Ritchie, the Director, who is just the right man for the job. He’s both compassionate and passionate about the center. You notice the adobe architecture building from along I-40. Inside it contains a museum plus an entry room with lots of paintings, a Great Room for performances and a fabulous gift shop. We found it all quite a splendid surprise.

Charles, Ritchie, Kwahadi Museum Director
Photo @Debi Lander

The center or Kiva is the home of the world famous Kwahadi Dancers as well as an amazing collection of Native American art and artifacts. The Kwahadi Dancers began in 1944, but this, their own building, did not open until 2004.

The museum presents a varied collection of arts, books, costumes, artifacts, and paintings. You can see works by the late author and artist, Thomas E. Mails, covering 14 native cultures. Nature enthusiasts will love the detailed carvings of the Birds of the High Plains by Bob Jones.

Kachina Dolls in the Gift Shop

 I enjoyed the many kachina dolls and handmade crafts and costumes by tribe members. Judy found a horse dance stick, probably Lakota, that had been danced with in the gift shop to add to her collection.

Handmade Crafts

Judy's horse dance stick

We were surprised to learn that the dancers are not Native Americans. It began as a World War II era Boy Scout project. These are everyday normal Amarillo school students, male and female (plus the occasional tag-along little brother or sister) who’ve been encouraged and inspired to join and learn. They perform at the museum throughout the year, and travel during the summer and special occasions. They have danced in 48 states and overseas too.

Kwahadi Dancers perform in the Museum Kiva Room
Photo courtesy of Amarillo CVB

The Texas Commission for the Arts awarded the Kwahadis the Youth Award for Excellence. From a list of prestigious invitations, they were chosen to represent the U.S. at the International Festival of the Arts in Amman, Jordan and were selected by the International Olympic Committee to represent North America in the opening ceremonies of the Xtreme Games in South Korea.

Their performances are based on Comanche dances but are interpreted by the Kwahadi’s. That name was given to the young dancers by the Elders of the Comanche Nation who were also known as Kwahadis.

The dances journey into the folk art of the Southwest, demonstrate prayers and thankfulness for rain, the hunt, and harvest. Some honor our flag and soldiers. They tell stories and encourage folks to believe that persistence can make dreams come true. 

Kwahadi Dancers in costume
Photo courtesy of Amarillo CVB

Through learning and performing, the students experience the rewards of good choices, high goals and commitment.  Ritchie said that many of the past members went on to college, something that seemed beyond reach before their involvement with the group. 

We were very disappointed that we couldn’t watch a performance. If you are ever in the area, or if the Kwadahi Dancers come to your town, by all means, go see them.  And, if you are interested in Native American art, stop by the museum. 

Lots of growing going on in Greenwood, SC

Like many county seats in the South, Greenwood, SC, has a charming, antebellum and turn-of-the-century downtown for its population of 23,000. Unlike many of the others, the movers and shakers here work to make sure their downtown - or uptown as they call it - thrives.

Kelly McWhorter of the Greenwood Regional Visitors and Tourism Bureau gave us a quick tour of three adjacent, re-purposed buildings on Main Street that had been turned into a cultural arts center, a community theater home and a science and history museum. All three nonprofits are interconnected as the Emerald Triangle.

Images from the center's files.

The Cultural Center is airy and spacious with well displayed art by regional artists in what was once a federal building built in 1911 as a post office and expanded in the 1930s.

Handsome inside and out.

Since opening in 2006, the 3,300-square-foot gallery space has had 180,000 visitors.

The Museum fills three levels with special exhibits plus permanent ones. The Regional History and 1900s Main Street exhibit takes visitors back in time. Naturally, we had to try on hats in the Milliner's shop.

How's this for 1914 chapeaus?

Given time we would have loved to explore the M. J. "Doc" Rhodes Gems and Minerals Gallery, the Epic Journeys of Animal Migration and the interactive Discovery Lab.

"Footloose" is the next production, opening Oct. 17, 2014.

The Theatre, once a movie house, is home to the thriving Greenwood Community Theatre. Executive Director Stephen Gilbert showed us around the 300-seat facility and talked about the group's success.

Musicals, staged with a 13-15-piece orchestra and at an average cost of $25,000 to $35,000 apiece, are particularly popular, playing to Standing Room Only audiences. There seems to be no lack of enthusiasm on the other side of the curtain: the recent "Wizard of Oz" production drew 212 auditioners for the 70-80-person cast.

It's a true year-round season with main and second stage productions, a children's theater, special events and movies when the stage is dark.

Connected to the Museum but located at the other end of Main Street, The Railroad Historical Center is a work in progress. Historically a railroad and textile town, Greenwood had five different lines coming through it in 1914. Now four of those antique cars are being restored and memorabilia and artifacts collected and displayed.

Speaking of Main Street, Greenwood's was once considered the widest in the world but reconfiguring it to add store front parking ended that status. It's still pretty wide and the convenient parking probably adds to uptown's success.

Topiary to show
Another reason for Greenwood's popularity is its festivals - barbecue, catfish, discovery, 4th of July stars and our favorite, flowers and the giant topiary featured during The SC Festival of Flowers.  It began 47 years ago and peaks the fourth weekend in June. They start putting out the topiary in May and leave it up through most of July.

Prepping for new moss.

We visited horticulturist Ann Barklow, keeper and grower of the Disney-scaled creations, in the greenhouse where volunteers were preparing the beasts for their next plantings.

The original 13 have grown to 40. A giant tiger and gamecock honoring college mascots and safari wildlife from apes to elephants stand waiting for a fresh foundation of moss for the flowers that will make them standouts.

Lunch time brought us to Kickers, a tiny restaurant with huge flavors across from the Farmers Market, where Chef Abdel Dimiati and wife Andrea serve an international, innovative, organic cuisine. His soups are outstanding and dessert, , a fried Oreo, came as a lagniappe. Never would have ordered one but the almost pudding consistency of the cookie and the non-greasy crust was a flavorful surprise.

A surprisingly good fried Oreo.

Don't miss this little gem.

Note the quilt square on side of far left building.

McCormick was another tiny destination, but we were a bit disappointed. The gold mine over which the town is built was closed, the steam-driven cotton gin, one of two in the country, didn't work, the historic house was for sale (its exterior in need of TLC) and the vaunted Quilt Trail was a mere few stops long with small- to medium-sized painted quilt squares.

A quilt square in progress.

With the South Carolina portion of giant Lake Thurmond, the county does have three of the state's six state parks with excellent outdoor recreation facilities including a golf course. Alas, none of them were on our schedule.

Our list of next times is getting awfully long.