PEMBROKE, N.C. (AP) - The selfless efforts of a local educator helped save rare American Indian historical artifacts that were threatened when heavy rains from Hurricane Florence poured into the Indian Education Program Museum.
“I got a text that the roof was off the building. I jumped in my vehicle during the hurricane and came with my husband,” said Connie Locklear, director of the Public Schools of Robeson County Indian Education Program. “We went running in there to salvage as much as we could. We got drenched when pulling all this stuff out. Everything was falling in.”
Her voice cracked and tears flowed down as she spoke of Sept. 15, a Saturday and Day 2 of Florence’s visit.
“It was so emotional. It was like you were losing a part of who you are. That is what these artifacts mean to this community,” she said. “It’s their identity, our identity. It’s who we relate to. It’s who we are.”
A tarp was placed over a section of the art gallery, adjacent to the main room, which was filled with works created by American Indians from Robeson County.
“You are pulling this stuff out and you think, ‘This was somebody’s grandparent’s item over here. Somebody donated this over here.’ You want to protect that ‘cause it means so much. Some of them, we were able to keep and some were damaged.”
Some yearbooks from the 1940s, a school registry from the 1800s and stories written by American Indians were damaged, Locklear said.
“I don’t think people really understand, unless you are from this community, when you walk in you feel the people,” she said. “This is our history.”
Help came from the state’s Cultural Resources Emergency Response Team, which brought in a team with expertise and equipment to clean and repair artifacts. The CREST team is trained in soot removal, photograph salvage, freezing techniques, and textile cleaning, for temporary or long-term conservation and storage, according to Adrienne Berney, an administrator with CREST.
“Most of the objects in the Indian Education Program Museum, we have been able to clean or stabilize on-site. At our next workday, we will finish cleaning some oversized objects and organize archival materials for Digital NC,” Berney said. “That is another free service to cultural heritage organizations based at UNC.
“They will send a team down in the near future to digitize photographs and tribal records. Conservators at the NC Museum of History plan to work on two damaged objects, a drum with water damage and a vest with significant mold growth.”
The vest is believed to be more than 100 years old, she said. It is on loan from a private citizen.
Locklear was able to proect many historical pieces by moving them into a room not affected by the rain.
“She was amazing. I don’t know how she did it,” Berney said. “It’s because of Dr. Locklear most items were salvageable.”
The museum, located at 808 W. Third St. in Pembroke, is more than a building, said Kenneth Clark, the museum’s cultural enrichment specialist. He is charged with the upkeep, inventory and description of each artifact housed in the museum.
“We are oral people, we like to tell our stories orally. We want to pass it down. That’s what we do, ” he said. “When, especially children, visit the museum, history is told through objects made by our people.
“Some items that were damaged can, maybe, be reproduced. Fortunately some of those artists are still alive, so we might be able to get as close as we can to what we lost,” he said. “Unfortunately some things we can’t replace. We’ve got some baskets that were from an individual that is no longer alive.”
Cleveland Jacobs, a well-known basket weaver, taught children the art of basket-making, he said.
“You look at a piece he made 50 years ago. You can’t replace it after he is gone. He passed on his skills. Hopefully we can get as close as we can get to what he made,” Clark said. “When he taught the kids how to make these baskets, he taught them their culture and about their history, about being Indian.”
The buiding itself is historical.
“This was the first American Indian high school during the segregation period. It was built to create jobs as part of the ‘New Deal’ in 1939 during the Franklin Roosevelt era after the Depression,” Clark said. “It was built for that purpose, then it became a place to educate our people.”
County natives often return with their children to share with them their customs, traditions and the historical events they experienced.
“We got a lot of people coming through here. One guy was in here with his grandchild and said, he was standing right there in that spot when he heard about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy,” Clark said. “His grandkid stood there and cried with him.”
Clark has a photo, hanging in his home, of his mother on the front steps of the museum, he said. Talking about that photo brought tears to his eyes.
“This building meant a lot to my mother. I am a part of her. It means a lot to me,” Clark said. “Heritage meant a lot to our ancestors.”
Craig Lowry, county school board member, said his concern is to make sure the building is structurally sound.
“It’s important to make sure to preserve artifacts and items that we have because, they are one of a kind,” Lowry said. “They (children) would lose, to me, part of their identity if these items were lost.
“These items are from 30, 40, 70 years ago, some more than 100 years. Just like everybody has a history, this is ours. Instead of somebody telling you about it. You can see it which is very important.”
Susi H. Hamilton, Natural and Cultural Resources secretary, expressed the importance of preserving the history of North Carolina through relics.
“It’s not necessarily the first thing people think of in a disaster, but our cultural and historical treasures are also at risk following events such as floods or hurricanes,” Hamilton said. “This amazing team is trained to recover and restore artifacts of every kind after almost any type of disaster. I am so very proud of the vitally important work that they do in protecting our state’s heritage.”
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Information from: The Robesonian, http://www.robesonian.com
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