Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 7, 1994 TAG: 9407070234
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
And school pupils beyond the Roanoke Valley and Southwest Virginia will benefit.
Modified versions of the kit are headed for the Charlottesville and Tidewater areas.
Additionally, a more generalized version is being assembled in Richmond for statewide distribution.
The beneficiaries of this project will be children studying American Indian culture in Virginia.
It was in 1990 that Klatka and his wife, Gerri Lockhart, came up with the idea of a teaching kit that would show American Indians in their Roanoke and Southwest Virginia settings, and not just as a small part of a national American Indian culture.
Klatka had the resources at hand to put together such a kit because of his position as an archaeologist with the Roanoke Regional Preservation Office of the Virginia Division of Historic Landmarks.
It would be right in line with the work he was doing - identifying significant historic areas and cultures that merited preservation.
He began assembling the kit in 1990 and completed it a year later.
Since then the kit has been promoted throughout Roanoke and Southwest Virginia as an unusual textbook of the best known information on how American Indians lived in this area.
Klatka's kit, contained in a foot-square box - contains reproductions of artifacts, a videotape, a filmstrip with audio cassette, exercises that can be adapted to individual classes and more than a dozen books and other publications.
"This can be used for a hands-on experience," Klatka said.
The reproduction of the epoxy artifacts, which Klatka described as "extremely well made," is the handiwork of Jim Childs of Bassett, a retired master furniture maker.
Much of the video, Klatka said, shows scenes at an archaeological dig at what is now the James I. Moyer Sports Complex in Salem.
"The sports complex is built on what was the site of a Native American village," he said.
The video not only shows evidences of the ancient village but also explains what an archaeologist looks for in a dig and how artifacts can teach about old communities and cultures.
Klatka explained that American Indian life in Roanoke and Southwest Virginia was not documented well because settlers here did not keep records as complete as those of settlers in Jamestown and Williamsburg.
This is where Klatka's teaching kit picks up - to fill in what long-ago settlers failed to record.
"We can learn about Native Americans in this area only through archeology," he said.
On this his teaching kit was born.
Klatka estimates that about 800 pupils in second grade through middle school have used the kit. It has been used primarily in the Roanoke Valley, he said, but also in schools in Montgomery, Bedford, Appomattox, Smyth and Washington counties.
Klatka said it is important not only to learn about peoples in their native areas but to compare them with people in other areas. Recognition of cultural diversity will be one of the purposes of the statewide kit which is expected to be completed later this year.
Klatka's work is only one function of the historic preservation office.
The office was opened in 1989 and is the only regional office of the department of historic resources. Its purpose is to help localities identify historic areas and buildings that should be preserved, plan how to reach that goal and file grant applications.
Members of the office also aid local groups in educating the public about what is involved with a historic designation to a building or neighborhood. Historical designations lead to listings in the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.
A large part of the job is education, said John Kern, director of the office.
On the staff besides Kern and Klatka are Leslie Giles, architectural historian; and Darlene Coulson, office manager. They work from the department's office in the Buena Vista Community Center in Jackson Park in Southeast Roanoke.
Many people don't understand the historic landmark designation and think it will prevent modernization of property, Kern said. But improvements can be made within certain guidelines, he said.
However, owners will be encouraged to retain the architecture of the past.
The greatest historical preservation success in the area, Kern said, is the Roanoke City Market area. It looks basically the same as it did when the market was created 100 or so years ago.
"It is a place we can take our friends and point to with pride," he said.
Another success story is the Old Southwest area in Roanoke, which Kern said is a neighborhood with considerable community pride and a lot of concern for its buildings and parks.
Kern said his office has assisted with historical preservation planning in other areas throughout Southwest Virginia.
In addition to identifying historic areas and aiding communities in preserving their heritage, Kern's staff conducts historical preservation workshops for teachers and educational programs in schools and community meetings.
They also work with historical groups and local governments in developing historical sites as tourist attractions.
by CNB