“Maya People in Siouxland” exhibit
Date: 08/31/2010
“Maya People in Siouxland” exhibit
Since its springtime opening, “Maya People in Siouxland” has attracted almost 20,000 visitors. The exhibit honors Native people from Gutemala, Belize, eastern Honduras and southern Mexico who have relocated to Siouxland to work and raise their families.
The exhibition comprises family portraits by noted photographer Don Doll, S.J.; and text panels that take visitors from the cultural beginnings of the Maya, 5000 to 200 B.C., through centuries of adversity and ultimate endurance.
Maya people today are writing a new chapter of cultural preservation, development and collaboration – a challenge they have met for some 500 years.
Since the early 1990s, Maya people have been relocating to Siouxland to live in Sioux City, South Sioux City, Le Mars, Storm Lake, Rock Valley, Sioux Center, Wakefield and other communities. Often, Maya incorrectly are identified as Hispanic.
While the exact number of Maya in Siouxland is unknown, community members estimate the total to be several thousand. Like generations of immigrants before them, many Maya first worked at the Sioux City Stockyards or in its allied industries. Today, they are employed in a broader range of industries, businesses and non-profit institutions.
Development of “Maya People in Siouxland” involved: Fr. Raymond Bucko, S.J., project of concept; Fr. Don Doll, S.J., photographer; Carol McCabe, portrait printing; graphic design, Patrick Osborne; text, Sr. Nancy Wellmeier, S.N.D., Pastoral MayaUSA; Marcia Poole; Fr. Bucko; Alan LeBaron, Ph.D., Pastoral Maya USA; Gail Ament, Ph.D., Morningside College; Mike McCormick, installation; Sioux City Santa Eulalia Maya community liaison, Luis Marcos, Pastoral Maya USA.
The Betty Strong Encounter Center and adjoining Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center comprise a private, non-profit cultural complex built and sustained by Missouri River Historical Development, Inc. (MRHD) and located on the Missouri Riverfront, exit 149 off I-29. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.siouxcitylcic.com or call 712-224-5242.
Sebastian and Regina Francisco-Lucas and their children, Juan, Maria and Angelina, are among the Sioux City Maya families who were photographed by Don Doll, S.J. for “Maya People in Siouxland,” an exhibition honoring the origin, culture and traditions of indigenous people of Central America who have relocated to Siouxland. (©2010 Don Doll, S.J. photo)