Dance of the macaws

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Collection Creator: Lothrop, S. K. (Samuel Kirkland), 1892-1965; Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation

See more items in: Samuel K. Lothrop photograph collection; Samuel K. Lothrop photograph collection / Series 3: MAI Central American Expedition in El Salvador / Cacaopera (Kakawira): Dance of the macaws

Collection Citation: Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Samuel K. Lothrop photograph collection, NMAI.AC.001.010. National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.

Collection Rights: Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website. There are photographs in this collection that are restricted due to cultural sensitivity.

Scope and Contents: View during the dance of the macaws performed by community members in Cacaopera, El Salvador. The Jaguar man on the left wears an animal skin mask (NMAI 131012.000), and the Birdman on the right, wears a wooden mask . The Birdman has a beak, or bill, similar to the Tuxtla stauette. The Jaguar man is dressed as a businessman to represent modernity. They are standing in front of the bull, or "el torito pinto," whose horns can be seen, and the Birdman is teasing the bull to enrage him.
Additional Community Narrative: Found in family files, Mama Chica retold the account of that week at Cacaopera where the stated it was the first time she wore a western style dress, gifted by the "foreign man" to use during this event. The man (likely Lothrop) also lent his jacket to Gabriel Sosa, the great-great-grandfather of Chief Leonel Chevez, who is the beaked man in the photo above, and represents the noble clan geneology to Ti Wanatuku. Chief Leonel Chevez (October 2024)

Collection Restrictions: Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).

NMAI.AC.001.010_ref554

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NMAI.AC.001.010

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