Museum and shop preserve Native American culture
From the tepees outside to the drumbeat rhythms piped out to the porch to the array of feathered, beaded, tanned, carved and crafted items displayed inside, Eagle Trading Company is a cornucopia of all things Native American. The museum and gift shop, situated on Hwy. 231 just north of Cottondale in West Florida Electric Cooperative’s service area, have arisen from owner and curator Charles Eubanks’ mission of preserving Native American artifacts. Visitors from remote regions of the country, as well as local residents, stop in to share his interest in Native American culture.
Museum Collection
Eagle Trading Company originated a year ago as a venue for Eubanks to share his extensive artifacts collection with the public. The non-profit museum’s relics, from tribes and time periods ranging from prehistoric to modern, include ancient Aztec ceremonial bowls and an Olmec jade figure, as well as a staff, bow and arrow made and used by Geronimo. A gigantic mounted white buffalo, one of the museum’s biggest draws, fills another glass case. Civil War weaponry and currency also are on exhibit.
Although Eubanks strives to accurately portray the Native American culture of North and South America, he won’t display any genuine sacred objects or burial goods. All the museum’s items are authentic with the exception of the reproductions of sacred and burial goods. He also shuns the buying, selling or trading of illegal human or animal parts or bones.
Intertribal pow wows
Another way Eagle Trading Company preserves Native American culture is by holding pow wows on the premises. Free and open to the public, the gatherings are intertribal. "Every tribe has its own traditions," said Eagle Trading Company Manager Kimberly McDowell. "You’ll see different types of regalia here, unlike going to a pow wow on a reservation."
After three well-attended pow wows this year, Eagle Trading Company plans two more next year on dates to be announced. Delicacies such as buffalo burgers and fried bread are a favorite feature of the events, which attract visitors from the tri-state area including Dothan, Panama City and Tallahassee. Eagle Trading Company also has begun offering educational programs on the grounds. For instance, a Cottonwood, Ala., Cub Scout troop recently spent a weekend there camping, touring the museum, playing Native American games and learning about drumming and dancing. Museum field trips are welcomed and classroom demonstrations are available, as well.
Gift Shop
Like the pow wows, Eagle Trading Company’s gift shop is intertribal, buying and selling items crafted by local artisans from all tribes, including Cherokee, Creek, Comanche, Lakota and Mohawk. The shop’s decor offerings include chairs, lamps, blankets, rugs, art, pottery and vases. The leather coats and jackets are popular, but the moccasins in sizes ranging from infants’ to men’s 15 are among the shops’s biggest sellers, according to McDowell.
The walls are lined with dreamcatchers in all shapes, sizes, colors and materials, and shelves and racks hold an assortment of decorative and ceremonial items, along with music and books. Sterling silver jewelry from Navaho and Zuni reservations in Arizona and New Mexico is discounted 50 percent all the time. "We’ve been told by customers that this is one of the largest Native American shops in the country," said McDowell.
Customers from other states such as Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Tennessee make return visits on their trips to the beach, and locals have been "very supportive," McDowell added. "So many people have Native American heritage, but many of them just have an interest."
This unique chair and lamp in the gift shop are fashioned in Texas from cattle horns.
Among the museum's artifacts are ancient North and South American tribal pottery and statuary.
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