THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 11, 1996 TAG: 9608090203
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 26 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KIA MORGAN ALLEN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 84 lines
They gathered around, eyes fastened on ``Bright Path,'' dressed in decorative, authentic American-Indian regalia. These students no longer had to settle for vicarious perceptions from television, now it was real.
For seven of the 20 foreign exchange students who traveled thousands of miles from the Basque area of Spain, spending time with ``real live'' American Indians Don Kuhns and his family was somewhat unreal.
Now at the end of their 30-day stay in America, courtesy of their government, which sent them here on scholarships, the students had fulfilled their obligation to tour and learn about America and its cultures. But the last stop before they flew back last Wednesday was to meet an Indian. It was an effort to set aside the stereotypes they saw on television and in the movies, to search out some truth about what they thought was the American Indian ``myth.''
``It's very strange,'' said Marian Vaquero, 19, about Kuhns and the relics inside his American Heritage shop across from Green Run High School.
``It's like in the movies. It's great.'' She attends Sarriko University in Bilbao, in the industrial northern part of Spain.
Seeing was believing for Aitziber Soraluze, 17, a student at Ignazio Zuloaga High School. She and the other students touched ``dream chasers,'' animal hide made into clothing and feathers with intricate paintings of Indian faces.
Members of the group, ages 16 to 19, were here studying America's cultures while taking English classes at Larkspur Middle School. During their stay, they lodged with host families - everyday working people from the Hampton Roads area - who provided them with a safe environment, exchanging their cultures and home customs as well.
The Technical Institute of European and American Studies, a nonprofit organization based in Spain, organizes and screens the host families and places exchange students with them.
Nearly all the students who were here spoke English well enough to be understood.
During their visit, they took in America's customs like riding TRT buses, visiting the malls and dining on the infamous U.S. fare: burgers and fries.
Outside of the American Heritage shop, Kuhns; his mother, Edith ``Whitefeather'' Custalow Kuhns; his son, Daniel ``Little Bear'' Kuhns; his nephew, Justin ``Red Eagle'' Whitman; and employee Jessica Wright, a Cherokee Indian, sat in front of an 8-foot tepee on a grassy area.
Kuhns displayed custom-made crafts that make use of every part of animals, including bones used to make jewelry. Also, seashells, woods, pottery, bowls used for drinking, a drum and vegetables. With hair that flows past his shoulders, Kuhns towered over the students and preached the wisdom that his grandfather, Chief Webster ``Little Eagle'' Custalow, now 83, imparted to him.
It's the elders' job to rear the child with respect, he said. ``If you look and listen, you will learn. The elders are the greatest teachers.''
Kuhns talked to the group about how the shape of the turtle's shell carries all the worries of the world and how the ground is the ``mother of all things.''
``One of the biggest problems,'' he told the group, ``is learning to live without prejudice.''
After the sessions, the students scrambled to talk with Kuhns and the others to learn more and take pictures.
America, they said, has been OK, except for a few distinct differences. The youths had some major excitement during their American excursion. Many for the first time rode a roller coaster at Busch Gardens and they toured a Navy base. Washington, D.C., was nice because of the all the monuments like Spain, one student said.
And they had some major disappointments. No. 1, they hated the food: ``We have hamburgers here all day,'' said Nekane Rios, 18, who attends Bidebieta High School. ``It's different.''
No. 2, the U.S. has too many restrictions on young people: ``I think that we have more freedom in Spain. We can go to the bars,'' (at 16 years of age) said Maite Perez, 17, a student at Urritxe High School.
And No. 3, they're disappointed with the transportation system: cars, cars, cars. ``We spend more time in our house than here. Here, they live in their cars,'' said Leire Urkito, 17, who attends Aiara Kantzelaria High School. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by KIA ALLEN MORGAN
Nekane Rios, center, an 18-year-old foreign exchange student from
Bidebieta High School in the Basque area of Spain, meets with Don
``Bright Path'' Kuhns and his employee, Jessica Wright, outside the
American Heritage shop across from Green Run High School. by CNB