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Exhibit
Plan ~
“Life on Core Sound”
"To everything these is a season..." 
--Proverbs
March 2001, Updated April 2002
Support for this project provided by the NC
Arts Council.
EXHIBIT FOCUS: Down East--A
Heritage Shaped by Core Sound
The Museum's exhibits will integrate
interpretations of the cultural and natural resources of the Core
Sound region of North Carolina. They will illustrate how nature
has molded the character of the region's people, and how those
people have imprinted their character upon the region. The museum's
exhibits and the educational programs that accompany them will
help visitors directly experience aspects of a lifestyle lived
close to and in harmony with nature and with nature's elemental
forces.
Gallery: "Life on Core Sound: For Everything
There Is a Season" This exhibit conveys
the major themes of the Down East story using a seasonal structure.
Visitors enter into the winter section
and proceed through spring, summer
and fall with an awareness of how each
season unfolds into the next. Lighting
and choices of colors for each section will help create the sense
of seasonal change.
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Carteret
Rod and Gun Club
photo: Mr. Richard Gillikin and Mrs. Sue Buck
The original clubhouse was destroyed by fire
in 1970, then rebuilt as the Core Banks Club. The structure
was taken in by the National Park Service in 2000, when the
lease agreement expired. The membership and club house continue
today and are now located in Davis. |
Winter
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The opening focal point of this
section is a dramatic presentation of duck hunting. The
goal will be to recreate the sights, sounds, and smells of an
early morning winter hunt scene on the marshes of Core Sound.
Guiding traditions, decoy making, and the migratory patterns
of wildfowl will be interpreted. References to hunt camps along
the Banks and the customs and rituals
of hunting will be explored. Duck hunting stories (old and new),
references to the old hunt club traditions and the sounds of
ducks and geese will immediately capture the visitors' attention
upon entering this opening exhibit. Turn of the century Core
Sound market hunting will be presented through historic photographs,
artifacts, and text panels. The ongoing sport hunting tradition,
which has grown in popularity since the early decades of the
20th century, will be interpreted through a presentation of
hunting clubs and camps, hunting guides and guiding lore, and
an exhibit of hunting equipment, both historical and contemporary.
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Core Sounders who have engaged
in subsistence hunting and guiding have also fished for food
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An
employee of local netshop "Harvey & Sons, demonstrated
the technique of crab pot making at the 2001 CSWM Waterfowl
Weekend Educational Tent.
photo: CSWM |
and for financial income. The techniques and
knowledge associated with scalloping, a wintertime activity,
will be presented in this section. Also, highlighting the seasonal
preparation theme, the craft of making crab pots, which
are employed later in the spring and summer, will be featured.
The exhibit will emphasize how the feeding and mating habits
of crabs have influenced the design of the pots and how crab
pot makers continue to adapt their pots in order to keep costs
down and take advantage of better building materials.
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The Core Sound boat building
tradition is the creative response of people who live in coastal
communities. Over generations, boat builders who constructed
vessels for the waters of Core
 |
Bernie
Davis, son Gary and grandsons Ramsey and Zack along with
friends, build a 17' pole skiff in 3 days each year at
the CSWM Waterfowl Weekend, representing three generations
of boatbuilders. Their knowledge of the trade was passed
down from Bernie's father, boatbuilder Ray Davis of Marshallberg.
photo: Frances Eubanks |
and Pamlico Sounds developed and perfected design
features such as flared bows, rounded sterns and dead-rise hulls.
Boat builders from Down East communities continue to rank among
the finest on the East coast. (One example is NC Folk Heritage
Award recipient Julian Guthrie.)
Boat building is an integral part of local hunting as well as
fishing traditions and this exhibit will look first at the uses
and adaptations of boats for hunting and guiding. Photographs,
drawings, or models of boats that demonstrate other creative
adaptations by local residents will also be presented. Examples
include sailboats that were converted to power in the early
years of the 20th century and the Mailboat, which was built
as a workboat but adapted by its owner to carry mail and passengers
from Beaufort to Down East communities.
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CSWM
volunteers work year-round on a quilt that is raffled
each December at the CSWM Waterfowl Weekend. Tickets are
on sale now for the 2002 quilt. Email
the Museum for details.
photo: CSWM |
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The domestic traditions of quilting
will reflect women's contributions to the self-reliant
lifestyles of Down East residents. Like decoys
and boats, quilts demonstrate the artistry employed in making
utilitarian objects. This section should feature quilts that
are examples of beauty and outstanding craftsmanship as well
as those that carry special narratives or memories that reveal
the values of the coastal families that preserve them. The voices
and images of local women will be prominent in this exhibit,
reminding visitors of the primary roles that women have always
played in creating and sustaining Down East culture.
Spring
- Estuary life will
be presented in an exhibit that examines Core Sound's ecological
niche as a
 |
| As
part of the educational programming of the CSSWM, children
of several different schools participate in a water quality
study, a collaboration between the Core Sound Waterfowl
Museum, the North Carolina Coastal Federation and the Carteret
County Schools. photo:
CSWM |
critical nursery for fish
and shellfish, and educates visitors about the value of these
shallow, brackish waters for supporting a suite of wild creatures
and the human culture that depends on them. A section on the fish
and crab species of Core Sound, with emphasis on life cycles,
schooling and feeding habits, and migratory patterns, will teach
visitors about these important natural resources. This exhibit
will connect the life cycle of the living creatures of Core Sound-the
crabs, shrimp, spot, bluefish, ducks, and geese-to the living
traditions of fishing and hunting, and to the greater
economic and cultural life of eastern North Carolina.
- The theme of commercial fishing will continue
through an exhibit on channel netting, crabbing, and soft-crabbing.
The
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Young
fisherman Zack Davis demonstrates his net hanging technique.
photo: Frances Eubanks |
exhibit will focus on the knowledge and versatility
required to become a successful fisherman. On Core Sound, this
knowledge is passed down orally from older to younger men as they
work the water together. In the section on channel-netting, visitors
will hear from fisherman as they explain how to "read" the weather,
the night skies, and the water for clues on where and when to
fish and how to set nets. The knowledge required to take care
of equipment, including the process of hanging nets and repairing
tears, will also be presented. The section on crabbing will focus
on baiting and setting pots, removing and culling the catch, and
steaming and picking crabs. The complex and time-consuming process
of catching, peeling and shipping soft crabs will also be included.
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A
contestant in CSWM Loon Day, 1999 competition readies to
throw a decoy "overboard."
photo: Frances Eubanks |
- Loon migrations
will be presented in an exhibit that educates the visitor about
the habits of this bird as well as its cultural significance to
Core Sounders. The exhibit will summarize
the history of hunting loons in the region. Artifacts such as
decoys made to attract loons and fishing lures made from loon
bones will help illustrate this history. Narratives, often humorous,
of shooting loons and evading game wardens will also be included.
The derivation and use of the term "loon-eater" as a description
of Down East residents is of special significance and will be
interpreted as both an insult and a "badge of honor." Visitors
will also be made aware of the loon's status as a non-game species
and the need to protect the bird and its habitat.
- Gardening and canning, both as
means of survival and as statements of self-reliance, will be
explored in an exhibit that features the stories of women in Down
East communities. Women will talk about the reasons for continuing
to grow vegetables, fruits, and flowers and the uses for these
products. The exhibit will present the historical context for
canning but will focus on women's motivations for continuing this
practice today. Gardening and canning present wonderful opportunities
to present family dishes and recipes (such as Conch stew, stewed
hard crabs, etc.; see Island
Born and Bred) that reflect a distinctive regional tradition
and cultural identity.
Summer
- For Down East residents, summer is a time for
fishing rather than hunting. In this section, the
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| CSWM
staff host Historian David Cecelski
and his Duke University class on a tour of historic Cape
Lookout Village. Resident David Yeomans and local storyteller
Sonny Williamson entertain the group with tales of Outer
Banks Life. photo:
CSWM |
focus shifts from ducks and loons to the family
fishing camps that were maintained on Core and Shackleford
Banks. The exhibit will explore the historic connections of Down
East communities to the Banks and the
reasons for migrations to the mainland. The changes caused by
the establishment of Cape Lookout National Seashore will be examined
from a variety of perspectives. The house boats that lie
at anchor just inside the Banks during summer months (and throughout
the year) reveal the depth of the emotional and spiritual ties
that Down East families still have for the old fishing camps.
Powerful expressions of these ties are also heard in the stories
associated with ancestral communities that stood in the vicinity
of Cape Lookout lighthouse; the memories of the July 4th
annual pony pennings; and, most recently, the efforts of
local people who have joined with the National Park Service to
maintain a thriving herd of wild horses on Shackleford Banks.
- This exhibit will look at older fishing traditions
such as haul seining and gill-netting as well
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| photo:
Vision IPD |
as trawling, the method in most common
use today. Shrimping, an important summer fishery, will
be highlighted. As in the previous sections, the emphasis is on
the knowledge required to locate fish, use nets and other equipment,
and navigate in shallow waters. Flounder gigging and clamming,
two other important seasonal fishing activities that do not require
nets, will also be presented. Exhibit will highlight stories told
by local fisherman that focus on the following themes: the dangers
and rewards of the occupation; their respect for the water, the
weather and the seasonal patterns of
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The
wooden trawler "Lady Susan" shrimping in Pamlico
Sound. The Lady Susan was built on Harkers Island by Island
boatbuilder, Clarence Willis.
photo:
CSWM
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fish; and the challenges to the tradition by environmental
degradation, regulations, and over-fishing. The depletion of fish
and other marine populations will be explored through interpretation
of the causes and effects of red tide. The impact of sport
fishing and tourism will be addressed from a historical point
of view, particularly in the ways that these activities have affected
the local culture and economy.
- The boat building theme will be continued though
an examination of juniper or white cedar. The exhibit will begin
by examining the conditions of Core Sound (and other coastal regions)
that have fostered the growth of this species. The exhibit will
look at the uses made of juniper by Down East residents. Cross-stacks
of juniper boards drying in the yards of local
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Boatbuilding
is a family tradition on Core Sound.
photo: Frances Eubanks |
boat builders will be an important image presented
through photography and/or paintings by local artists. The qualities
that make juniper the wood preferred by traditional boat builders
will be expressed in audio or video interviews with local builders.
The builders themselves will also explain construction techniques,
especially those used to build hulls of workboats. These methods
will be compared and contrasted to the newer methods of fiberglass
construction.
- Home traditions will be demonstrated in an exhibit
that focuses on children. Children's games will be conveyed
by music, such as the "Alphabet Song," which teaches children
the alphabet and the parts of a boat at the same time. The exhibit
will also present model boat building
and its origins as a childhood activity. The end of summer and
the start of the school year will provide a context
in which to present the significance of schools both as centers
of community activities and as symbols to Down East residents
of individual opportunity and self development.
- The tradition of building duck blinds
in late summer will carry out both the seasonal theme of preparation
and the waterfowling traditions. This practice, usually carried
out by the younger men, with relay the anticipation of hunting
season as fall approaches.
- Hurricanes
and their impact will constitute an important component of the
exhibit. Hurricanes have created inlets, caused whole populations
to migrate from the Banks, and constitute the watershed events
for both family and local community histories. The Hurricanes
of 1899 and 1933 will be presented through photographs and oral
histories because of their historic significance to current community
development. The economic and environmental impacts of recent
and recurring hurricane cycles will also be acknowledged.
Fall
- Decoys and the
tradition of decoy carving in the Core Sound region
will be explored in this exhibit.
The Native American origins of making decoys will be presented
and the early use of live decoys by local hunters will provide
historical context. The tradition of making decoys will focus
on Core Sound carvers, both deceased and living, through an exhibition
of historically significant North Carolina decoys highlighting
Core Sound carvers such as Mitchell Fulcher and NC Folk Heritage
Award winners Homer Fulcher and Julian Hamilton. By supplementing
these artifacts with information about the community and cultural
contexts in which these carvers worked, visitors will learn about
the utilitarian origins of carving as well as the individual styles
of makers and of particular Core Sound communities. An exhibit
of carvings by contemporary makers, using artifacts along with
audio and video recordings of carvers telling their stories, will
demonstrate how decoy carving has evolved from a utilitarian to
an artistic
 |
Local
decoy carver, Norman Hancock, demonstrates his techniques
at CSWM Heritage Days, May, 2001
photo:CSWM |
tradition in which the decoy has become a prominent
symbol of Down East heritage, i.e. through the establishment of
the Core Sound Decoy Carvers Guild, the popularity of the Core
Sound Decoy Festival, and the development of the Core Sound Waterfowl
Museum. An introduction to the living tradition of decoy making
will enable visitors to better appreciate and understand the carving
demonstrations they will see as they move from the Main Exhibit
into the Living Room.
- Interpretation of fishing traditions will continue
through exhibits on pound netting, long hauling,
and beach seining. The history of pound nets will start
with John White's 17th century drawings and written descriptions
of Native Americans using this fishing method in the sounds. A
presentation of the contemporary tradition will
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Long
Haul Fishing Operation
photo: CSWM |
focus on the design of the pound net and how fishermen
must work together to set, maintain, close, and empty the net.
Long hauling, a seine netting tradition, will again demonstrate
the specialized knowledge, skills, and physical strength needed
to deploy and maneuver over three thousand feet of lead-weighted
fish net. An accompanying section will convey information on the
habits and habitats of the fish that are
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Mullet
Fisherman
photo: Frances Eubanks |
caught in these nets. Special attention may be
paid to mullet blows as an example of the fall migratory
patterns of schools of fish. Local residents'
interpretation of this resource as an example of God's bounty
and the fall mullet roasts as community celebration will
also be explored. This exhibit will also include depiction of
today's fall sport fishing traditions along Core Banks and Cape
Lookout.
- Traditions of home, family and community will
present the traditions of singing, playing musical instruments,
dancing, cooking and the celebrations of Christmas. These
traditions and
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Christmas
at CSWM Waterfowl Weekend
photo: CSWM |
celebrations were particularly evident because
Christmas was the time when the men were home from their end of
season fishing activities. Focusing on this season, which is important
to all of the diverse church congregations found in Down East
communities, will enable the Museum to address sensitive issues
of faith traditions in an inclusive rather than in a potentially
divisive manner. This may be the opportune place to bring in musical
traditions, which are distinctive and important to telling the
story of Core Sound residents. For example, the singing performed
in churches during the Christmas season could be presented in
audio and videotapes. The older tradition of Christmas dances,
both on the Cape and in mainland communities, could be included
though audio recordings of Ivey Scott and others. Foodways associated
with family gatherings could reintroduce the hunting and fishing
themes in the form of distinctive dishes prepared at Christmas.
The strong influence of storytelling during this season would
connect today's customs with historically significant economic
and cultural progress that the Down East communities have experienced
in the last several decades. Most recently, the practice of lavishly
decorating homes with colorful lights transforms Harkers Island
and all Down East into a resplendent holiday destination for families
beginning their own seasonal celebrations. (The specific community
holiday traditions would be explored on a revolving schedule through
the individual community exhibits.)
updated
Jan.
9, 2006
by Vision IPD
Original designer: Vanda
Lewis &
Casey Amspacher
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