Smithsonian Voices

From the Smithsonian Museums

Wooden shelves and counter filled with jars are lit by two oil lamps.

In Appalachia, Women Carry Traditions in Folk Magic and 'Granny Witchcraft'

Folk magic goes by many names in the Appalachian Mountains: root work, granny magic, kitchen witchery, Braucherei, witchcraft

Two people in grass skirts stand on the shore, facing the ocean under an overcast sky.

Shared Experiences Through the Ongoing Virtual Mother Tongue Film Festival

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'Dressing Like a Human' to Honor Uzbekistani Art and Identity

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Finding Balance Is a Global Experience at the 2024 Mother Tongue Film Festival

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The Millville Rose: Artifacts of Whimsy and Art in Industry

Two protesters hold signs saying "You're on Abenaki land" and "This is Abenaki land."

This Land is Whose Land? Interrogating the Shortcomings of Settler Protest

A beautiful rust colored hill against a blue, cloudy sky.

The Power of “Bears Ears” and Indigenous Place Names

On the left, a woman with long wavy dark hair and patterned blue blouse sings into a microphone, seated, eyes closed. On the right, another person sits behind a long barrel-shaped drum, holding a hand drum, looking down.

Warming to Tradition: The Culture of Vocal Exercise

Various cobs of multicolored corn.

How Seeds Tell Stories

American Sign Language alphabet

Hearing the Voices of Deaf Culture at the 1981 Folklife Festival

Carolyn Smith collecting beargrass in Klamath National Forest, 2015. For beargrass to be supple enough for weavers to use in their baskets, it needs to be burned annually. Ideally, it is burned in an intentionally set cultural fire, where only the tops are burned, leaving the roots intact. Prescribed fires in the Klamath National Forest are few and far between, so weavers “follow the smoke” and gather, when they can, after wildfires sweep through the landscape. (Photo courtesy of Carolyn Smith)

How Indigenous Ecological Knowledge Offers Solutions to California’s Wildfires

The Indianola dock stretches out into the Puget Sound. Since time immemorial, the Suquamish Tribe has sourced their sustenance, folklore, and community from the salt waters and pebbly beaches of the sound. Photo by Julian White-Davis

The Struggle for Native Lands in Indianola, Washington

From Insects, their way and means of living. Artwork by R. E. Snodgrass

Cicada Folklore, or Why We Don’t Mind Billions of Burrowing Bugs at Once

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In Appalachia, Women Carry Traditions in Folk Magic and 'Granny Witchcraft'

Shared Experiences Through the Ongoing Virtual Mother Tongue Film Festival

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