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A few yards away, in counterpoint, comes the strident chant of a group of Plains Indians, accompanied by throbbing tom-toms and jangling bells. Drops of perspiration trickle down the puffing cheeks of the Freistadt, Wis., Alte Kameraden Band, whose members wear lederhosen, embroidered knee socks and felt hats as they oom-pah-pah through German folk tunes. In a nearby tent a lissome Lebanese girl is cooler than her audience as she moves sensuously in a Smithsonian-approved belly dance, while the appreciative crowds munch m 'jardm (lentils and rice).
Black Culture. One popular section of the festival is the "African Diaspora" which traces black culture from its origins in West Africa to the Caribbean Islands and then to the U.S. Salisu Manama, a Ghanaian, wears his traditional tribal garb as he plays the gonje, a one-stringed instrument. Jamaican Claudia Nelson weaves baskets from the jipijapa plant as she talks in a beguiling lilt about her life. Young blacks stop to have their hair "cornrowed" in African style. There is a model of an early rural black church, a cloth-shaded open marketplace from the Caribbean and a replica of an African grass hut.
In another section, called "Regional America," a minisampler of the Northern Plains states is on display. Minuscule plots of corn, wheat and sorghum are trying to take hold on the currently tropical Mall. An exhibit known as
"Working Americans" displays a freight train complete with five-ton locomotive mockup, a 70,000-lb. caboose and 288 ft. of track, and leaping into the jet age, how airplane seats are made.
The visitors to the Mall are in no danger of starving to death. The exotic victuals available include Portuguese fiesta breads; Norwegian lefse, a cakelike confection of mashed potatoes, whipped cream and flour; Ghanaian bitter-leaf soup; Middle Eastern hummus, a chick-pea puree; Japanese mochi or rice cakes; and calabazitas, a Mexican stew. It is all part of the festival's purpose: to celebrate the diversity of U.S. culture and give those who come a chance to rediscover the varied roots of the American heritage.