THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 10, 1995 TAG: 9509090104
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines
``We should understand well that all things are the work of the Great Spirit. We should know that he is within all things: the trees, the grasses, the rivers, the mountains, and all the four-legged animals, and the winged people.''
- Black Elk - Oglala Sioux
MANY YEARS PAST, in the southeastern part of the country, when some white families cleared their land, they also killed the Indians on it.
McTigrit was clearing his land one morning when his wife saw him load his musket. He was about to kill two babies.
``No,'' she screamed. ``We'll raise them.''
The babies he had planned to kill became his children - Elisha and Mary.
Bronze sculptures created by Elisha's granddaughter, 77-year-old Retha Walden Gambaro, are part of an impressive exhibit at The Suffolk Museum - ``The Indian, the Animal and the Land.''
Her medicine wheels and shields are also on display, as well as photographs by her husband, Stephen - Italian-American by birth, native American by adoption.
``Indians intermarry, die - the culture is under assault,'' he said. ``The photos are a record, honoring some of the people who are conservators of the heritage.''
He said, ``After the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890 - the last Indian resistance - they were militarily defeated. They were forced to westernization. They had to turn their backs on their own culture.''
The account of McTigrit and the American Indian babies is part of Retha Walden Gambaro's family history that was passed on to her to years ago. It's her personal connection to the culture that the Gambaros are working to preserve.
She began sculpting when she was 52, after an abbreviated try at painting.
``My first attempt looked like early (Salvador) Dali,'' she said. ``The more paint I put on, the less happened.''
What happened next was an attempt at sculpting, following a friend's advice to give that a try. It hit her right in the emotions.
``I was swept away - tears so big I couldn't see what I was doing,'' Gambaro said. ``It was as if I wasn't doing it, but it was happening.''
She said, ``I've truly been blessed. My work has been displayed in 18 countries. I have people working for me - one man moving the heavy stones, others taking care of business, doing the bookkeeping.''
The latter is a busy man. The Suffolk Museum pieces are valued at more than $156,000, individual pieces selling for $350 to $12,000.
``Often, I trade my sculptures for jewelry or other items,'' Gambaro said. ``One man had a large collection of arts and crafts. I got it for a piece I made showing a woman on a horse.''
People and animals, realistic and surrealistic, are the creations of the soft-spoken Creek Indian woman who is now working on a stone centerpiece, ``Attitudes of Prayer.''
``Each animal has its own Master Spirit which owns all the animals of its kind - so all the animals are the children of the Master Spirit that owns them. It is just like a large family.''
- Running Bird - Cree
In Gambaro's bronze family the animals and the people are lovingly and beautifully crafted - designed to appeal to the emotions.
Each piece is an artistic joy - each tells a clear story, sometimes humorously as in ``What Can Mama Bear?''
Some of the inspiration for Gambaro's work can be traced to the Dunn Studio at Santa Fe, which opened in 1928.
``They taught Indians to depict their own culture,'' said Stephen, the family historian. ``They encouraged artists to sell their work.''
Retha has been working since she was 9 - backbreaking work in the fields or as a maid.
She was born in Lenna, part of the Creek Nation in Oklahoma, but grew up in Phoenix.
``We were very, very poor. These were dust bowl times,'' said Retha, who explained her name: ``My mother wanted to give me an Indian name. Indians supposedly named their babies after the first thing they saw following the baby's birth.
``Many were arranged - with all due respect. She named me Flossie Wretha Flowers because there was an orange wreath of flowers over the bed. She was going to name me Orange. Daddy said skip the Orange.
``During World War II I needed a birth certificate. It came back - Retha.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Retha Gambaro's bronze sculpture, ``Spotted Wing,'' is part of ``The
Indian, the Animal and the Land'' exhibit.
Gambaro's ``Chiefs Honoring Shield'' is on display at The Suffolk
Museum through Oct. 8.
Gambaro's ``Stickball Player''
[side bar to the cover story]
Local Museum exhibits range from fine arts to photography
[list of art happenings]
by CNB