consensual design process, through which Cardinal
asks for input from elders and other representatives
of Native communities.
Although Cardinal is given the title chief de-
signer, he is asked to work with the Philadelphia
architecture firm GBQC. Over the next five years,
Cardinal’s relationship with GBQC and the Smith-
sonian will sour. His main complaint will be that
his contract with GBQC does not adequately com-
pensate him for his time, bringing him and his
firm to the brink of bankruptcy. Unable to resolve
the dispute, the Smithsonian will fire both Cardi-
nal and GBQC in 1998, after Cardinal’s design
has been approved. Aside from minor changes, the
museum will be built largely according to Cardi-
nal’s original vision, although, in part because of
his dismissal, the museum’s opening will be delayed
for two years. (See also entry for SEPTEMBER 21,
2004.)
February
Actor Kevin Costner unveils plans for a
Black Hills resort.
Announcing what is projected to be the largest
private building project in South Dakota history,
non-Indian actor Kevin Costner and his brother
Dan plan to open Dunbar, a $95 million resort,
in the town of Deadwood. Located in the Black
Hills, an area sacred to the Lakota Sioux, the resort
complex is to feature 430,000-square-foot hotel
and recreation facilities, including golf courses, bil-
liard halls, squash and tennis courses, and movie
theaters.
The resort is named after Costner’s character in
Dances with Wolves, a film he directed and starred in
(see entry for 1990). Winner of the Academy Award
for Best Picture, the enormously successful movie
addressed the Lakota’s battles for their land in the
late 19th century. Although the tribe largely en-
dorsed Costner’s film, most Lakota are outraged by
his plans to develop their sacred lands into a tourist
attraction for non-Indians. Echoing the sentiment
of many tribal members, Madonna Thunder Hawk
of the Black Hills Protection Committee later says,
“Kevin Costner only likes his romantic idea of the
Indians. He’s not interested in real Indians and our
modern problems.”
Early in the next decade, Costner will abandon
his plans for the Dunbar Resort, when he is unable
to secure the needed financial backing.February 6The first First Americans in the Arts (FAITA)
Awards are held.
Created by Creek-Seminole actor Bob Hicks, the First
Americans in the Arts (FAITA) awards are held in Los
Angeles, California. In what will become an annual
event, FAITA awards are given to Indian performers
who have excelled in film, music, and television, and
scholarships are presented to outstanding Indian
students interested in careers in the arts. Among
the evening’s winners are Dakota Sioux actor-
singer John Trudell, Oneida actor Graham Greene
(see entry for 1990), and Kiowa playwright Hanay
Geiogamah.May to JulyThe hantavirus epidemic breaks out on the
Navajo reservation.
A 19-year-old Navajo (Dineh) man is rushed to In-
dian Medical Center in Gallup, New Mexico, with
severe flu symptoms. Soon the patient, unable to
breathe, dies. Learning of several similar cases, area
doctors consult with the Center of Disease Control
(CDC). Within a few days, the CDC identifies
the mysterious illness as hantavirus, a virus that
has never before caused disease in humans in the
Americas.
The disease claims the lives of 16 Navajo be-
fore the virus’s carrier is discovered to be the wild
deer mouse, whose population has exploded after
heavy rains produced an especially large crop of
the pinon nuts on which the animals feed. The
government immediately launches a public infor-
mation campaign in English, Spanish, and Navajo
in the Four Corners area to inform residents how
to avoid contamination.