Cathy A. Smith
Owner & Curator
Museum of Western Film & Costume
Santa Fe, NM
(505) 455-2819
www.nambetradingpost.com/museum
What event (gallery show, museum exhibit, etc.) in the next few months are you looking forward to, and why?
I’m currently advising and working with the property department making the 19th-century Lakota, Comanche and Crow props for the new series Y:1883, the prequel to Yellowstone. I’m very excited about the project and looking forward to seeing the finished film. It is a well-funded series with a great writer and crew, and a quality production concerned with authenticity. I think it will stimulate interest in the historic West and the Western genre.
What are you reading?
The Encyclopedia of Trade Goods, Vol.4: Clothing & Textiles of the Fur Trade by James A. Hanson from the Museum of the Fur Trade in Chadron, Nebraska. A recent publication of almost 700 pages, it illustrates textiles that were traded to the Natives of North American and clothing of fur traders and Indians.
Interesting exhibit, gallery opening or work of art you’ve seen recently.
We are very immersed in putting the finishing touches on our new exhibit, The Demise of Tonto or Hollywood Meets the Sioux, featuring iconic Native American regalia, props and costumes from over 20 award-winning films, including Dances with Wolves, Geronimo: An American legend, Longmire, Son of the Morning Star and The Missing, among others. We are currently organizing original film scripts, continuity photos, jewelry and on-set photos for the exhibit.
What are you researching at the moment?
Historic Lakota bow and quiver cases, Comanche breastplates, lances and war shields for the Y:1883 film.
What is your dream exhibit to curate? Or see someone else curate?
Hanskaska: The Shirtwearers, the war shirts and regalia of 12 historically important Plains Indian Chiefs. This is a collection I created for a private client, but which has recently been donated to the Booth Museum of Western Art, and currently resides in their storage vaults. The collection is a tribute to the great leaders of the plains, plateau and prairies of North America. It is of significant educational value in that it is the only authentic recreation of the documented (but now non-existent) regalia of these important men. It would love to curate this exhibit for the Booth Museum.
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