THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 11, 1994 TAG: 9409080202
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FRISCO LENGTH: Long : 108 lines
THE HANDWRITTEN sign at the entrance to the Frisco Native American Museum & Natural History Center warns that what you will witness is ``a far cry from your early movie and TV exposure to the original Americans.''
It might also give advance notice that this is a far cry from your typical beach attraction.
Its appearance is unpretentious. Its gift shop is more like a trading post. And its admission is free.
``We're not glitzy, and we're pretty small,'' admitted Carl Bornfriend, who began the museum and non-profit educational foundation with his wife, Joyce, eight years ago this month.
``We don't attract people because they think they're coming to an extravaganza. Our visitors are people who are interested in people.''
Bornfriend, who was adopted into a Delaware Lenni Lennapi tribe, says his dark brown building on N.C. 12 near the southern end of Hatteras Island doesn't immediately grab you.
But it has caught the attention and affection of more than a few visitors.
Earlier this summer two Richmond, Va., native chiefs, who also are husband and wife, stopped by to browse.
An hour later, one of them came up to Bornfriend and said, ``I am at peace here. May I bless this place?''
He came back from his car with a smudge bowl and sage and eagle fan and bestowed prayers and a powdery mist on each of the seven rooms within the museum.
The chief blessed the opening displays on the origins of people. The Eskimo ivory carvings and fur samples. The peace pipes and combat weapons. The musical instruments, old Navajo blankets and intricate beadwork.
Then there were the silver and turquoise jewelry pieces, the doll display, turn-of-the-century tourist gifts, a painting said to radiate heat and much more.
``That was astounding for us,'' Bornfriend said. Equally astounding to visitors is the lack of an admission charge.
The museum survives on donations, gift shop sales and Joyce Bornfriend's job. Carl, a retired teacher, runs the museum while Joyce, a principal, runs Cape Hatteras School.
This year, the Bornfriends expect to receive ``on the light side of 50,000 visitors.'' Many are from school groups, Scout troops and senior citizens.
Visitors are allowed to gently tap a sacred Hopi Kiva drum, touch the clothing of a mannequin trapper, view artistic renderings of Native American life and listen to Bornfriend tell of the treasures he has collected during the past half-century.
``These all have vibrations,'' he tells a mother and her son checking out an exhibit of small boulders unearthed along the Delaware River. ``They have thousands of years of stories to tell.''
So, too, does the hazel-eyed curator with close cropped graying hair have a lot of tales to relate about the people he embraces.
Bornfriend said he began looking for a place to showcase his Native American collection shortly after he moved to Frisco 10 years ago and married Joyce two years later.
Originally, the museum was to be housed in the Bornfriend home. ``The garage, bathroom, wherever else we had space.''
Then a gift shop in Frisco went up for sale, and soon the area's Native American museum and natural history center opened its doors.
In addition to the museum, there's a walking trail behind the building.
The foot path has signs pointing to native plants and animals, a North Carolina shad boat and comments on humans' use of nature.
``If you amble and read the signs, you can finish on the light side of a half hour,'' Bornfriend said. ``But if you sit down and really want to commune, you could spend some time out there.''
Bornfriend says he has never tabulated just how many items are displayed, but, he added, ``we never have enough.''
A big draw, judging by the crowds one rainy day last month, is the gift shop.
``It helps pay the juice, but that's not what we're all about,'' Bornfriend says, while employee Mary Tolson answers questions for a guest.
``I love it here,'' she says a few minutes later. ``It's my home.''
Selling well at the gift shop are ``dream catchers,'' made by a Nags Head native, of netting and natural materials, such as feathers and twine. Hung over the bed, the item is believed to catch good dreams and let them trickle back down while you slumber. They sell for $10.50 to $47.50 and more.
Jewelry and beadwork also are hot items. The tags on a piece never change, but just about everything is open to trade.
Many visitors have left encouraging entries in a guest book.
``Great! Great! Great!'' read one entry. ``Amazed at the artifacts,'' a Baltimore visitor penned.
``To have a place that is free, that they can enjoy and perhaps maybe learn one or two things too - that's what makes us content,'' the owner said with a wide smile. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON
Tammie and John Graham of Ligonier, Pa., stroll through the Frisco
Native American Museum exhibits that were gathered by its operator,
Carl Bornfriend.
NATIVE AMERICAN MUSEUM
Where: N.C. 12 in Frisco on Hatteras Island
Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. except Mondays, which are by
appointment.
Admission: Free
Attractions: Seven rooms of Native American and world history
displays and interactive exhibits; gift shop; walking trail
Restrictions: No food, drinks or smoking
For more information: (919) 995-4440.
by CNB