First Voices - Gerald Lomaventema

Behind the Scenery

"It's so big and vast and especially in that area by Desert View. That's where we have shrines, and we still observe those shrines during our important religious activities that we have here. It's still connected to us. Every part of that Canyon is a very important part of our religious activities.” Gerald Lomaventema is an award-winning silversmith, a mentor to young Hopi artists, and a runner. He's also the great grandson of Olympic medalist Louis Tewanima.

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TRANSCRIPT:

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Gerald: It's breathtaking. Yeah, it's so big, you know, vast and especially in that area by the desert view. That's where we have shrines, and we still observe those shrines during our important religious activities that we have here. It's still, you know, connected to us. Every part of that Canyon is a very important part of our religious activities. Jesse: Hey, this is Jesse today on the podcast, we're featuring an interview that Phantom Ranger Ceili Brennan recorded with Gerald Lomaventema. Gerald is an award-winning silversmith, a mentor to young Hopi artists, and a runner. He's also the great grandson of Olympic medalist Louis Tewanima. Louis won silver in the 10,000 meters in the 1912 Olympics and set an American record that stood for decades. He was also a spiritual leader in his community. In this interview, Gerald talks about his art, his cultural connections to Grand Canyon, and running and Louis's legacy in the Hopi community. Enjoy. Gerald: My name is Gerald Lomaventema. I'm from Shongopovi, and of the Bear Clan. Our history, the Bear Clan, what the archaeologist say is that if was first inhabited here by the Bear Clan in 700. And I’m from that family, the lineage, and I've lived here all my life. Although I went to boarding school as well, in Riverside. My mom was deceased when I was very young so my grandmother raised me. But you know, throughout the time, boarding school and afterwards I went to trade school and then a few two years of community college, and then I had a family. So, I returned home and there was a silver smithing class that was offered by the Hopi Co-op Guild here in the early 90s and so I took that class and so now I've been doing it for a long time. And now we have our own shop. And I've traveled internationally talking about, you know, fake and imitation of hope art. Ceili: When is the last time that you were? At Grand Canyon. Gerald: I think in 2019, I think when they used to do the artist demonstration at the Desert View Tower. Ceili: OK, right. Yeah. So a couple of years ago. Gerald: Yeah, you know, I also mentor younger Hopi. They invited us, so there were a few of us that I took. And the good thing about that was they provided the housing, so we stayed the whole weekend, and it was like a free vacation for us. Ceili: Yeah, that's so awesome. And what was that like bringing the people that you mentor to Desert View? How would how'd that go? Gerald: I think they had their first experience, you know, how to talk to visitors about your artwork and a little bit of history that's involved. We tell them about how the Hopi Started doing their jewelry work in ancient times. They had adornment. They had turquoise, they've always had turquoise and shell and colored stones and hematite. So adornment was always part of our culture and even copper bells. Yeah. And the Grand Canyon is a spiritual place to us. We can't just go into the Canyon for some of us and we have to make preparations if we're going to do that. Ceili: Yeah, what was it like the first time you saw Grand Canyon? Do you remember? Gerald: No, but every time I see it, it's breathtaking. Yeah, it's so big, you know, vast and especially in that area by Desert View because that's where our spiritual… we have shrines down in there and we still observe those shrines during our important religious activities that we have here. So, it's still, you know, connected to us. Ceili: Actually, that's a good segue. You're an award-winning artist and you teach your art, you mentor. I'm wondering how your art is influenced by your home and you know the landscape around you. Gerald: You know, as an apprentice, when I was in my late teens the elders used to tell us that, you know, we can't just make jewelry with lines and circles and whatever. It has to have a meaning, so we get the inspiration from our culture Ceili: Right. Gerald: And our landscape. So, we're taking part of our culture and putting it into, you know, what's acceptable, into the jewelry. Ceili: Right. Gerald: And there's a line there that we don't cross. Some stuff that we don't talk about publicly or international, whatever. So, we all know that line that's not, you know, we can't cross because some of our culture isn't open knowledge, even to other members. You know it's not that tricky to know you know, I mean if you’re Hopi you know what that line is. Everything comes from our culture and the area we live in, even the Grand Canyon, so when we do our religious ceremonies, I tell our students that, you know, we have to pay it back. And so that's how I guess I feel better about, you know, sharing some of these stuff. When we participate in the ceremonies, some of them which are physically demanding, you know, and then fasting and all that, you know, so that we sacrifice our bodies for some of the ceremonies. But to me that's our way of paying it back. Ceili: You know, a lot of that sounds so physical. Like you said, you're paying things back with your body. So, I'm wondering about what your relationship is to running, and what the relationship is with running and your community. Gerald: Yeah, you know, we just had a ceremonial run this past weekend. Ceili: Oh, really? Gerald: Yeah. And I was excited because my nephew came in third. Ceili: Wow! Gerald: And I know that course and I used to run it when I was younger and some of those young guys like it's, you know, like practice to them. You know, they can sprint up that Mesa and some of them are pretty fast. But in relation to what we're doing here, you know it's part of our religion. You know, we're probably weaklings compared to our ancestors, because, you know, even though the Spanish brought the horse, you know, for transportation, they didn't readily accept the horse and the cow. They didn't like cows. But they like the sheep. Oh yeah, yeah. And so to me, that part for me is kind of like a therapy. Because it wasn't always like this for me. You know, I wasn't always like out there, you know, exercising or whatever. I tell my students that, you know, there's jewelry making, and there's our Culture, what we have to observe, and then there's our fields, and our family. And then the running is up to an individual. And if you could combine all that into your daily routine, there's no room in there for alcohol or drugs. So that's what a lot of us are vulnerable of, you know, to doing in our younger years. Some of my students were offered scholarships for their running. Ceili: Really? Gerald: Yeah, one of my students, I saw him run in state and he relaxed right at the end and he got beat. Ceili: Oh Gerald: So I told him “well, I saw you relax, you know, you thought you had it, but you didn't,” you know, and this guy just ran right in front of him and won. So anyways, I think running is a crucial part for me today. Although, I ran the Louis Tewanima a few times. I got two medals. I guess in my age category. Ceili: Ohh wow, that's pretty awesome. Gerald: Yeah. So I was surprised at that, but I had to push myself, you know. Ceili: So you mentioned the Louis Tewanima Run. Can you explain that for listeners that don't know what it is? Gerald: Oh yeah. Louis Tewanima was our great grandfather. Although my grandmother was adopted by her aunt, who has Louis Tewanima’s, was a wife, so she inherited the house that I grew up in after my mother's, when she died and my grandmother, you know, raised us in that house. Although I never met Louis Tewanima, I think he died in the late 70s or early 80s after a ceremony in the winter. But the reason why he went to the Olympics was because back in the 1900s, the early part of the 1900s you know the government had that forced assimilation of Native Americans. And one of the Presidents, I can't recall who, you know, said this but they wanted to “kill the Indian and save the man.” So throughout America, they were just, you know, separating kids from their families and sending them to boarding school. So he was one of them that, you know, they couldn't catch him so, you know, they had to use horseback to catch him. Ceili: Because he was too fast. Gerald: Yeah because he was fast. And him and another some other kids that were, you know, didn't want to go. And I believe that there were faster individuals here, but they weren't caught because, you know, they used to run to Winslow, which is almost 70 miles one way, 65 maybe, just to watch the train and be back for dinner. Ceili: That's amazing. Yeah. I was thinking about that when I was driving from Winslow. And I couldn't believe it. Gerald: You know the highway that's a longer the route, but there's a shorter route that you pass through a few springs. Ceili: Oh that's helpful. Gerald: Anyways, back then, I guess they were very strong. You know, because they were the last of the ancestors, I guess. That's the reason why he ended up going to Olympic because he was a resistor and he got arrested. They made them walk from here to Fort Wingate in New Mexico about, you know, in a car, probably 2 hours. Ceili: Yeah. Oh my gosh. Gerald: And then they put them on the rail on the train. And some of them got sent to Riverside, California, and some of them got sent to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and he was sent to Carlisle. And you know there are stories about him that he tried to run away a few times, but it was just too far and he always got caught or somebody reported him, you know, because there was a boy or a young man that was walking around and he wasn't from there. Ceili: Right. Gerald: So they always took him back. Finally, I guess he saw, you know, the track team and he went up to Pop Warner, the coach there at that time and he told him that he could run. He just looked at him and you know, they didn't believe him, I guess until he actually started, you know, practicing with him. And he became the teammate of Jim Thorpe. And they I guess there were only like a few members on the track team, but they competed against all those elite schools. Ceili: Yes. Gerald: And they, you know, they used to win. And when the Olympics came, he went to the trials and he was, you know, he became eligible and so I think in 1908 he ran the marathon and then again in 1912 he won the silver. So Louis Tewniam, you know, he set records. And how did he say it? He said “me run fast,” and he said “all Hopis run fast.” in one of the articles that I read. Ceili: Yeah. And especially because you said that, you know, there were faster people that were, you know, that just didn't get caught. So there he was probably running with faster people all the time. Gerald: Yeah, you know. You know when he returned, there's a story about him that there was a traditional race. And he got decked out in his track outfit. And he went out there and he ran and he got beat by about 3 of them. Ceili: Wow! Gerald: Yeah. So that's how we say he probably wasn't the fastest at the time. But I guess probably you know how runners are, competitive runners, they probably wanted to beat him. Ceili: Yeah, yeah, they were probably very motivated. Gerald: Yeah, and oh, there's another story, too, about him and another runner that were rivals. And they were always, you know, talking trash. And then there was an older man. He didn't like what he was hearing so he challenged both of them to the run, like a marathon. And he beat both of them. Ceili: Wow! Gerald: The older Hopi. Ceili: Wow. Gerald: And you know, later on, my grandmother, she, you know, when she was a little girl and she was born in 1925, but her great Aunt Blanche took her in. And so, they became the parents of my grandmother. And you know, Louis was quite famous, and he knew a lot of people. So, they built the little house there as in addition to the older part of the house. And that's where my grandmother grew up. And she always believed that that was her dad. But she had a, you know, she had a real dad that was her aunt's father. These were traditional people. But anyways, he became a religious leader, Louis did. He was returning from a ceremony held in the winter and his eyesight wasn't too good and he walked in the wrong direction and fell off the Mesa. Yeah, so I wish I would have met him, but you know he died around that time. And then his wife, Blanche she lived for a long time. And we don't really know how old she was. But she was one of the lucky ones that didn't get sent to a boarding school, so she didn't speak any English. She only spoke Hopi. I remember she used to pray every morning. And she wore a belt, a Hopi belt that she put on every morning, too. Ceili: They left a pretty big impact on the community. Gerald: The whole reservation, yeah, and even other natives that come here. And I guess internationally because we've had international runners. Ceili: And then for a number of years now, every year, there's the Louis Tewanima Memorial Run that's open to the public and is that an exciting thing for everyone? Is that something that people look forward to? Gerald: You know, every Labor Day they had it. Labor Day is when we usually have a harvest festival or not a harvest festival, a harvest dance. And, you know, that makes it more, I guess, exciting because the race is early in the morning and then whoever's speaking there, he invites the whole group or the whole crowd to come and enjoy the dance. Some of them stay, you know, some of them will stay and they check out the dance and mostly some of the pueblos from New Mexico. They enjoy those dances, so they stick around. Ceili: So it's like a holiday. It's sounds pretty exciting. Gerald: Yeah, it's festive and everybody's all happy. But you know, I guess it's competitive too in the morning. Ceili: Yeah, I can't imagine it not being competitive. Gerald: Yeah, it goes through some of the traditional trails, traditional foot race trails, some of it does, but most of it's a new course. All the memorabilia I have at the shop I bring out during the race. I set it up to where the runners can come and see it. A lot of people, you know, they surprised me, too because some of them take it spiritually, too, the running, and they pray when they go there to see some of that memorabilia. So, I think we have, you know, not only something treasured by the Hopi people here through the memorabilia, but also, it's a history for Americans. Ceili: Yeah. And like you said, the whole world really like it's Olympic history. Gerald: You know the thing about it is in back in the time in that era, Native Americans weren't American citizens. So even though they weren't considered American citizens, they still represented the United States. Jim Thorpe and Louis Tewanima. Ceili: So we kind of have one, maybe one final question. Here in Grand Canyon, on the trails like amongst all the tourists and you know the Ranger stations down in the Canyon, there's, you know, especially in the spring and the fall there's so many people that run through the Canyon and people have some varying opinions on runners in the Canyon. A lot of people say that you should be walking in the Canyon because if you're running, you won't be able to appreciate your surroundings as much and you won't be able to feel as connected with the place. And as a runner myself, I always think about this and I'm kind of not sure, like sometimes it's true for me when I'm walking, I am going slower so I have a different experience, but running is one of my favorite things to do and I often feel like that's the best way for me to connect to a place. So we're curious about your thoughts on that. Running in Grand Canyon and how it can affect your connection to the police. Gerald: I think you know because some of the religious pilgrimages that we, you know, in our histories to the Grand Canyon, it's all about running. Yeah, they can walk, but for us, you know, it's spiritual. I think early in the morning is, you know when we really feel that, I guess, urge because that's what our ancestors used to say. You know, before the sun rises, you're supposed to go to the shrines and pray and then, you know, on the way back then you take a bath in the spring. So that's what they tell us. And for the Grand Canyon, that places it's spiritual to us. Every part of that Canyon is, you know, a very important part of our religious activities which are in our prayers. So for a Hopi, I think, not all Hopis are runners. So anyways, I think in the morning is when we like to feel that spiritual connection to our surroundings wherever you are, I guess. When I was in Santa Fe I was up early Saturday, and I just walked and I prayed. Either way, you know, you still you still enjoy your surroundings and maybe walking you have a longer time to appreciate it. When you're running, you’re, you know, you're going by, but you're still appreciate appreciating it. Ceili: Yeah. Gerald: So, as a Hopi and people that like to run, I think in the mornings, you know It's good for runners to run, and if you're not a runner, you know, you can walk and enjoy the same surroundings. Jesse: The behind The Scenery Podcast is brought to you by the interpretation team at Grand Canyon National Park. Many thanks to Gerald for sharing his stories and perspectives. You can find Gerald his art and his memorabilia in his shop at the Hopi Cultural Center on Second Mesa, Arizona. We gratefully acknowledge the native peoples on whose ancestral homelands we gather, as well as the diverse and vibrant native communities who make their homes here today.