Author: Ms. R.

Last week, as protests against police violence and systemic racism were spreading across the country, activists took aim at monuments around the American South. Some toppled a monument in Linn Park in Birmingham, Alabama, and covered the neighboring Confederate Soldiers and Sailors monument, a five-story obelisk, in graffiti. They communicated their distress in red and black letters, scrawling #BLM, the “Black Lives Matter” hashtag, across the monument’s base. They climbed the obelisk and tried to topple it, too. They……

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This topsy-turvy house looks like it’s being supported by its own roof. The sculpture, called “Twisted House,” was created by John McNaughton, an artist whose work has been featured in Smithsonian collections and the White House. For over 35 years, McNaughton taught woodworking at the University of Southern Indiana. He created this piece in 2015, and it showcases his crafty woodworking skills. The house is crafted from cedar wood while the five windows contain glass. Even the flowers on the……

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The first stones of this medicine wheel were placed over 4,500 years ago, making it is one of the oldest known manmade structures in Canada.  It consists of a central cairn, linked to a surrounding circle by 28 spokes. Sometimes known as sacred hoops, medicine wheels have been used by Native American tribes for health and healing. They take different forms, including paintings, artifacts, and large physical constructions like this one. The Majorville Medicine Wheel was created by ancestors of the……

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Sprawled over 51 acres, the Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork (better known as Malbork Castle) was built by knights of the Teutonic Order. They first came to the Baltic region as missionaries, ostensibly to convert the pagans to Christianity. In time they grew in wealth and influence, periodically challenged the authority of local rulers, acquired vast swathes of land and built fortified monasteries. Malbork Castle was the seat of power of the Teutonic Knights for over 150……

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Most visitors to Brasilia stay along the Monumental Axis, with its wide boulevards of roaring traffic, and conclude that the city is a noisy and unwelcoming place for pedestrians. However, those who venture into Brasilia’s master-planned “superblocks” will find leafy parks, tranquil sidewalks, and quirky local businesses. One such establishment is the newsstand serving block SQS 108. When Brasilia was conjured out of wilderness in 1960, SQS 108 was one of the first superblocks to be laid out and……

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Northwest of the state capital Oaxaca de Juárez lies the area of the state known as La Mixteca. The ancestral homeland of the Mixtec people, it is now also known for the “Dominican Route.” After Spanish conquest, this region was given to the Dominican order for the evangelization of the locals, and the efforts are best represented by three monumental former convents. The towns of Coixtlahuaca, Yanhuitlán, and Teposcolula are the locations of these, although in between them one……

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In 2003, in the Wakayama Prefecture outside of Osaka, Japan, 51-year-old schoolteacher Kimiko Hirahata attended a festival for the local technical high schools, seeking inspiration for her lesson plans. Hirahata taught her students in a variety of media, from pottery and painting to lamp-making and calligraphy. But what appeared at the festival that day was something completely different. “When I saw a doll carrying tea,” Hirahata says, “I was amazed.” The doll was a karakuri—a traditional automaton. Like many……

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In March, a few weeks before COVID-19 shut down the country, chef Nico Albert and her longtime mentee, chef Taelor Barton, met at Duet Restaurant + Jazz to discuss plans for their upcoming Native American dinners and culinary classes. Each November for the past two years, Albert has turned the menu at Duet Restaurant + Jazz into full Native American fare. While the seasonal, New American food that Albert serves year round has made the 140-seat eatery one of……

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