A recent visit to Prescott brought us to the Smoki Museum. We’d just missed their annual Southwestern Native American arts festival, but wanted to see what this small museum holds. All of the exhibition space occupies one large hall, and there are numerous displays of pre-contact pottery, stone carvings, and ancient basketry. The “Smoki People” (pronounced “Smoke-eye”) were non-Native residents anxious to shore up their failing Prescott Rodeo; they devised their own version of the Hopi Snake Dance, dressed as Indians, and created an event that made money and brought its originators a certain amount of notoriety. It took until 1990 before the Hopi Tribal Council got this event shut down. The museum’s supporters are confirmed, however, in their desire to promote Native cultures. The Smoki Museum is worth a little under an hour of exploration, and it illuminates social attitudes in Arizona before political correctness became established as the right way to celebrate Native achievement.
- The Smoki Museum, Prescott, AZ
