Cultural Artifact
It turns out that the Indian guy from the Village People--his name is Felipe Rose--really is half Lakota Sioux. Now he's given his gold record for "Y.M.C.A." to the National Museum of the American Indian. Hank Stuever's WaPost account starts out funny--the story sounds ridiculous, after all--but includes enough detail to subtly convey a serious point. Strange as it is, Rose's story is a great example of the unpredictable ways in which American culture actually evolves. Any true representation of that culture, including the lives of American Indians, has to include just such quirky stories, and the artifacts that represent them.