Piracy is a criminal act, such as robbery, committed at sea by private parties.  Piracy should be distinguished from privateering, which was authorized by their government and considered a legitimate activity.  The Golden Age of Piracy, from the 1650s to 1720s, gets much of the attention from media and movies, but piracy has existed in all areas of the world for as long as ships have sailed the oceans, and continues today.  The first pirates to reach our shores were the Vikings, warriors and looters from Scandinavia who raided from about 783 to 1066, during the Early Middle Ages.  The largest dragon-headed longships could carry more than 60 warriors.  Vikings spread trade from Russia to Constantinople, Arabia to the Near East. They brought new agricultural techniques to their settlements in Northern France and England, and they explored far and wide to establish settlements in Iceland, Greenland and briefly, North America.

Long-time resident and local artist, Kit Brooks, will talk about her friend and mentor, Noah Purifoy.  Noah was an internationally known artist, sometimes called the "Father of Assemblage."  One of the founding members of the California Arts Council appointed by Governor Jerry Brown, and co-founder of the Watts Towers Art Center in Los Angeles, Noah lived and created an art legacy in Joshua Tree in the early 1990s.  Well known for an art project he created with six other artists using debris from the Watts Riots, called "66 Signs of Neon," he garnered awards and recognition from such prestigious institutions as the Pollock Krasner Foundation, the Gottlieb Foundation and Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.  His work has toured across the United States showing in galleries and university campuses and is in art collections all over the world.  Working as his apprentice, Kit had a rare insight into his unique personality and art process.  She will share her personal anecdotes and stories about this local, little known superstar. 
 

Wednesday, February 2, starting at 5:30 p.m.

$5 donation to the MBHS at the door

* Pirates were a democratic organization.  Each pirate was allowed to vote on where the ship was to go or if a ship should be attacked.  If the crew felt the captain was not succeeding they would vote him out and elect a new captain.

* Each pirate signed an agreement - called "articles" - before joining a crew.  For breaking the rules in the articles, a pirate would be marooned with a flagon of water and a pistol, to survive or die.

* Clothing was acquired from plundered ships, which resulted in pirates often wearing some very odd costumes.

* There were up to 80 pirates per ship.  In contrast, most English ships had only 30 men.  Work was evenly distributed among the crew, and so jobs got done faster with less strain than on traditional colonial ships.

* Pirates had the New World's first insurance compensation plan.  A typical award might be 600 pieces of eight for loss of a right arm, 100 pieces of eight for loss of an eye or finger, and 400 pieces of eight for a left leg.

* The Jolly Roger, or skull and crossed bones, we identify as the pirate flag was, in fact, one of many flags.  Each pirate captain created a flag unique to his command.  When pirates wished to show their deadly intent, they flew long blood-red pennants from the yardarms.  This signal was called "No Quarter."