In March, the Ancient Art Archive visited Washington Elementary School in Ada, Oklahoma to test drive an educational activity based on our work in Devilstep Hollow. We chose Ada because it is the seat of the Chickasaw Nation and home to descendants of the original artists. We are taking feedback from teachers and students to refine the activity before a general roll out this fall.
This activity is aimed at helping students understand the role of symbolic images in visual story telling. It also touches on pre contact culture of the Southeastern United States
Artist and collaborator Dustin Mater puts it this way.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity to share this collective history with kids who are descendants of the Mississippian tribes,” Mater said. “But to non-native kids as well. This is part of American history. Hopefully this kind of sparks their imaginations. It gets people kind of asking larger questions, and appreciating the cultural history and legacy that we come from.”
Dustin Illetewahke Mater
Read more about the visit in the Ada News (here).
Devilstep and this education activity is part of our Mural of America project. Between now and 2026 we are building VR experiences and educational activities of 10 prominent North American rock art, cave art and geoglyph sites. The story telling and education pieces are driven by the Native American descendent communities. It is a way to help deepen our understanding of American History.
You can help us in our goal of getting all 10 sites recorded this year by donating here.
