By Don Heckman
Some unique Jimi Hendrix items have arrived at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. for the exhibition “Up Where We Belong: Native Musicians in Popular Culture,” opening July 1. Hendrix’s grandmother was a Cherokee Indian. The items, which were accompanied by his sister, Janie Hendrix, consist of a full-length coat made of multi-colored leather patchwork, a leather necklace and a leather pouch.
According to the Museum, the coat must have been a 
Hendrix favorite, “as seen from the deep creases around the elbows, dark demarcation sweat lines and well-worn hem.” The garment hasn’t been displayed before, and photographs have not previously been published.
Other Hendrix items scheduled to be in the exhibition include a reproduction of the Fender Stratocaster he performed with at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, and a reproduction of a Gibson Flying V guitar with artwork that appeared on the original – two of the dozens of guitars that Hendrix reportedly possessed at the time of his untimely death in September, 1970.
For more information about the exhibition, click here: National Museum of the American Indian.
Photos by Katherine Fogden, Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.
The International Review of Music 
“The items, which were accompanied by his sister, Janie Hendrix..” Janie Hendrix was actually Jimi Hendrix’s adopted step-sister. Her mother married Jimi Hendrix’s father AFTER Jimi Hendrix had left home and it’s been said that she had only met him TWICE before he died.
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