Rededication of the Rupert Costo Library of the American Indian

The Rededication of the Rupert Costo Library of the American Indian, which took place on Saturday, February 9, 2002 in the Costo Room, was a great success. More than 100 people from throughout the Inland Empire were in attendance thanks in part to a very informative article on the significance of the upcoming ceremony by Pat Murkland of The Press Enterprise (February 6, 2002).

The ceremony, which opened with a moving invocation in the Cahuilla language by Alvino Siva, featured musical offerings by two groups: the Cahuilla Birdsingers (see photo); and Tushmal, a group comprised of women of the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians of the Acjachemem Nation. The Tushmal singers gave a beautiful gift of a hand-made dream catcher, and an abalone shell filled with bundles of fragrant dried sage (to symbolize prayer), cornmeal (to symbolize the fruit of hard work), and pine needles (to symbolize the fine line between life and death, and good and evil) to the Special Collections staff.

Venita Jorgensen, Interim University Librarian, welcomed everyone to the ceremony, introducing each Native American elder by name and tribal affiliation. Venita also introduced Vice Chancellor Emeritus James Erickson and Mrs. Jan Erickson, who were instrumental in bringing the Costo Collection to the library; Judge John Gabbert, a personal friend of Rupert Costo; and Professor Jack Norton, former Costo Chair. Melissa Conway, Head of Special Collections, gave a brief description of the Rupert Costo Collection of the American Indian, including an announcement of the completion of the microfilming of the Costo Archives by the Gale Research Group. John Tanno, Associate University Librarian, shared his often humorous memories of Rupert and Jeannette Costo, and recounted the history of the donation of the Costo Collection to the library. Joel Martin, Costo Chair, spoke of the significance and future of the Costo Collection. Joel then joined Melissa in presenting special gifts to Mara Rose Costo, the niece of Rupert Costo: a copy of Joel’s book on Native American spirituality, The Land Looks After Us (Oxford University Press, 2001); and a juncus and sumac coiled tray basket woven by the Native American artist Alejandra Silva.

The ceremony ended with an invocation by Alvino Siva, and an invitation issued by Venita Jorgensen to “follow the elders” to the luncheon of traditional Native American dishes which included chia seeds in olive oil with a vinaigrette dressing; a salad of watercress, mustard greens, dandelion greens, wild spinach, sun chokes, flower petals, mint leaves and pine nuts; fried yucca and nopales; weewish (an acorn mush that Alvino Siva referred to as “Indian Jello”); acorn muffins; mesquite cakes; stinging nettle soup (for the vegetarians); and milky rabbit stew and venison stew with tepary beans (for the carnivores). The lunch was catered by Lorene Sisquoc and Barbara Drake of Mother Earth Catering, and generously underwritten by the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians. Special Collection student workers Cindy Hsieh, Mike Ramos, John Siev, Vanessa Smith and Secured Collection’s Eric Milenkiewicz and his student workers, Diana Alday and Daniel Koi, helped with the serving and seating of the honored elders throughout the luncheon.

The much-praised programs for the ceremony were printed on two earth tone papers, specially chosen by Sheryl Davis and Sara Fitzpatrick. The front and back covers featured Sara’s linoleum-cut of Southwestern Indian rock drawings of sheep, printed by Sheryl and Sara on the 1846 Albion Press, with the help of students Philip Mau, Mike Ramos and John Siev. The construction of the program included the hand-stitching of the inner pages, and the insertion of a photograph of Rupert and Jeannette Costo into the hand-cut notches on the back cover. The labor-intensive assembly of the program involved all our hard-working and very patient student assistants mentioned above, along with Brooke Chappell and Charlyn Lynton. So admired were the programs that the tribal elders requested copies for friends and relatives not able to attend the ceremony. As a result, not a single copy (of 150 printed) remains—with the exception of the copy reserved for the Costo Collection Archive.