Celeste Ray, Department of Anthropology
Students in discussion with Wigwam Village No. 2 owner Keith Stone
Anthropology students taking the special topics course “Sacred Realms and Biocultural Diversity” traveled to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky this September. The trip concluded a course unit on caves and sacred darkness and laid groundwork for class themes including Environmental Justice and Environmental Jurisprudence by prioritizing place- and issue-based knowledge. In preparation for the overnight fieldtrip, students read multiple articles on Mammoth and two in particular by cultural geographer Dr. Katie Algeo (Western Kentucky University). One considered the making of place at Mammoth Cave and the second examined “The Wigwam Village, No. 2” where we stayed the night. The “Wigwam Villages” were a 1930s motel chain (featuring steel “teepees” rather than wigwams) developed for early automobile-based tourism in 6 states (only one other remains in operation in Arizona). Indigenous peoples never lived in either teepees or wigwams in Cave City, KY. The current owners, practicing architects from New York, view the site as a teaching tool and after an introduction and discussion of their perspective, we were joined by Dr. Algeo for conversation about the motel chain’s almost one century-long history and the evolving structures of power and privilege that make the remaining “villages” themselves museums of cultural appropriation and the use of Native American imagery in popular culture.
Students with Dr. Algeo (center) at Wigwam Village No. 2, Cave City, KY
Following supper, we returned for a second session with Dr. Algeo by the “campfire” (which is lit in a sinkhole and has been a feature of motel stays since 1937). Her engaging talk considered the significance of Mammoth Cave to successive populations, its development as a symbol of national natural/sacred heritage, and how the use of local caves for T.B. treatment and for tourism in the nineteenth century related to contemporary views of race and class. Literally reflecting on ‘perspective taking in context,’ all students had questions and the conversation lasted for nearly 3 hours. Breakfast the next morning at an Amish bakery involved, for some students, dialogue with staff of a similar age about their views of Mammoth Cave and how daily interactions with tourists articulated with their community life, while others focused intently on the sweet fare. By 9AM we were on our way for a Lantern Tour of Great Onyx Cave to experience “sacred darkness” and the sensory load of “being” deep within a cave. The visit was the culmination of class lectures, student research, and discussions about sacred caves around the world and also bridged to class coverage of current invasive tourism at Sacred Natural Sites globally.