On Friday, Jan. 23, leaders of the Longyear Museum of Anthropology collaborated with Colgate’s Native American Indigenous Student Alliance (NAISA) to host the school’s second annual Alasitas celebration. The event, which aimed to highlight cultural practices in Bolivia, emphasized historical and cultural context for the festival and featured a clay-making activity in which participants created symbolic offerings.
Rebecca Mendelsohn, co-director of University Museums and curator of the Longyear Museum of Anthropology, and Summer Frazier, assistant curator of the Longyear Museum of Anthropology, began by providing context to the festival and the celebration.
This particular festival is held annually in Bolivia, honoring Ekeqo, the Aymara god of abundance. The room for Friday’s event featured a figurine of Ekeqo, and Mendelsohn and Frazier stressed the importance of understanding what figurines mean in their cultural context. Ekeqo is understood to bless the house, yet he is also a retaliatory god. Therefore, it is crucial for people to honor him culturally. One of the reasons this event is held is to provide Ekeqo with offerings, some of which included pasta, music, a textile bag and money — all things which people hope to receive in the next year.
A video was then shared, which provided historical and cultural context to the festival in Bolivia — representing the traditions and offerings that are featured at the Alasitas festival. Participants viewed grand markets in which people socialize and make offerings in hopes their wishes will come true. Roosters and chickens are examples of popular offerings. The video also showcased how Catholicism is a driving force behind these traditions.
Mendelsohn shared the importance of bringing this event to Colgate.
“For me, this event is really important as a way to take care of our collections … Museums are really changing the way that we think about collections care,” Mendelsohn said.
Mendelsohn also stressed the importance of properly caring for items. Most notably, there is a shift that is emerging among museums from simply preserving items to instead celebrating the cultural value of the pieces.
“I think it’s an interesting event that relates to this specific piece and the specific festival but also speaks to that overarching movement in museums that we’re trying to work with,” Mendelsohn said.
The video was followed by a clay-making activity, in which attendees were encouraged to provide Ekeqo with offerings they crafted with it.
Senior Melanie Gonzalez, attendee and member of NAISA, shared her reasoning for attending.
“I decided to come to this event because it’s important to celebrate this statue that has been in the archives for quite some time and has since been neglected,” Gonzalez said.
She emphasized her thoughts on the importance of cultural celebration in relation to this event.
“I think it’s our mission, as beholders of these types of artifacts, to practice whatever culture is associated with them in order to show the utmost amount of respect towards them, as well as to embrace some cultures that we may not necessarily be familiar with,” Gonzalez said. “We could always benefit from exposure to different things.”
Other attendees expressed a similar appreciation for learning more about different cultures.
“I enjoyed learning more about the Aymara culture, as that is something I have researched extensively in my Core Communities class. I also enjoyed having a fun activity to help unwind after the first week of class,” sophomore Eloise Jenkins said.
The event, held to appreciate cultures around the world, stands alongside many other exhibitions that the Longyear Museum hosts. This coming Tuesday, the gallery will be open once more for a traveling exhibition, “Hostel Train 94.” The Longyear Museum will continue to host exhibitions and events similar to the Alasitas celebration, highlighting the museum’s emphasis on community and cultural appreciation.
