Tulare County Museum to Debut New Native American Exhibit

October 28, 2011

Tulare County’s History of Farm Labor & Agriculture Museum will debut a new exhibit in November – The Yokuts Legacy: Celebrating Native American Traditions in Tulare County.

The public is invited to attend a reception to honor the opening of the new exhibit from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 5 at the museum, located inside of Mooney Grove Park in Visalia. Admission to the park and the museum is free.

The reception will feature a traditional invocation, a musical performance by the Tule River Yokuts Language Project, poetry reading by Sylvia Ross of Lemon Cove and a drum circle performance by The Four Directions of the Mono Tribe from Dunlap.  At the conclusion of the program, guests will be invited to view and participate in basket weaving, acorn grinding, flint knapping demonstrations and an interactive cradle board weaving demonstration.

A video presentation “Yokuts: Tulare County’s First Agricultural Producers”, created by the Tulare County Office of Education, will be also be available in the Museum Learning Center and refreshments will be served.

The exhibit and reception is sponsored by The Gas Company, Southern California Edison, the Tulare County Board of Supervisors, the Tulare County Historical Society and the Tulare County Office of Education. 

Exhibit Features

“The Yokuts Legacy: Celebrating Native American Traditions in Tulare County” exhibit will demonstrate how Native Americans used the land before agriculture became prominent in the San Joaquin Valley.

For example, visitors will be able to view: a display where attendees can find artifacts used in daily life such as baskets, projectile points and tules; an authentic style hut made from tules by Johnny Sartuche of Visalia; an art piece made to look like a bedrock mortar created by Adam Longatti of Fresno; and mannequins reenacting daily activities crated by Leticia Valencia-Martinez and Claudio Martinez of Visalia.

Tulare County Parks Manager Neil Pilegard said the exhibit would not have been made possible without the help of the community.

“All aspects of this new exhibit were made possible through generous time commitments from individual residents as well as our local tribes,” Pilegard said. “The success of Tulare County’s History of Farm Labor and Agriculture is dependent on the community.”

For more information, please call: 559/733-6616.