Folklorist shares background in traditional arts

By Anne Hatch, South Dakota Traditional Arts Program Coordinator

Today, I am surrounded by boxes and giddy at the sight of an empty bookcase in the office of my new home in Rapid City. I unpack items of traditional art gathered over the 30 years as a state folklorist Program Coordinator T for Utah, Nevada and Wyoming and reflect on how my previous work will inspire me as the folklorist for the South Dakota Arts Council. I unfold three weavings that provide insight into why I love my work.

The Navajo rug came during my first trip to document a Traditional Arts Apprenticeship project and my first of many visits to the Monument Valley area of Utah. The meeting with the mother-daughter pair taught me the impact that this grant category had on enhancing cultural knowledge and perpetuating traditional skills for a generation of artists to come. Learning how to make a rug was the smallest part of the lessons. I learned how understanding the design relationship among the landscape, family stories and community history was more important than the technique taught. The experience deepened my conviction to support the transmission of traditional arts to new generations.

The Tibetan carpet came through my work as the crafts area coordinator at the annual Living Traditions Festival in Salt Lake City. The festival featured performers, artisans and food vendors representing the array of cultural groups within the city limits. Under the craft tents, leather workers, wood carvers and fiber artists demonstrated how to make saddles, lace, instruments, fans, moccasins, quilts and more. Visitors learned about the talents of their neighbors that are often hidden in backyard workshops or on basement tables. I experienced how Salt Lake’s newest immigrants, many refugees from distressed parts of the world, proudly shared their unique creativity and skills to connect with their new community.

The Scottish tartan came from my family. The Nibleys are descended from Mormon Scottish immigrants who arrived in Utah in the 1840s. The family continues to gather and commemorate our patriarch Charles W. Nibley and his three wives, Rebecca, Ellen and Julia. To keep the three families straight, we wear color-coded nametags: red, green and blue. The Nibleys did not come from the Scottish Highlands, tartan country. So, to celebrate Charles’ 150th birthday, the family decided to commission a family tartan. For a new pattern to be approved, the design can only be submitted by a registered Scottish weaver and we were able to have a pattern representing the three wives (with a bit of white for Charles) approved. Like so many heirlooms, my family’s collective experiences of immigration, westward expansion, religious intolerance and our continued commitment to annual reunion and renewal are woven into this scarf which warms my soul more than anything else.

I have much to learn about my new state’s history. I have many Native, settler and recent-arrival community members to visit as I look at opportunities for the citizens of South Dakota to experience their own and their neighbors’ vibrant traditional arts. I know South Dakota has many experiences for me and I keep space on my shelves for new work to inspire me. If you would like to share a traditional story, song or item with me, reach out to sdtraditionalarts@outlook.com.

Above, An Arts Across America YouTube screenshot of South Dakota’s The Wake Singers.