Unit Author: Angela Neller (Native Hawaiian), Curator Wanapum Heritage Center
Collaboration of Tribes and Museums
Description
Museums can be place of collaboration and inclusion for Native Americans. They hold important cultural object and knowledge. This module explores the ways tribes have forged relationships with museums to create collaborative partnerships for the creation of knowledge. Objects found in museums are not only important touchstones to the past but also pathways to the future.
Learning Goals
- Learn about collaborative partnerships which have provided valuable knowledge to tribal communities.
- Understand the important role that museums have in perpetuating tribal identity.
Terms and Concepts
- Agency
- I-Thou Relationships
- Relativism
- Knowledge Production
- Collaborative Partnership
- Animacy
- Museum Access
Readings
Patricia Capone, “Amending Wonder: Museums and Twenty Years of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act” In Accomplishing NAGPRA: Perspectives on the Intent, Impact, and Future of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 2013) pp. 115-134.
Clayton W. Dumont, Jr., “Navigating a Colonial Quagmire: Affirming Native Lives In the Struggle to Defend Our Dead” In Accomplishing NAGPRA: Perspectives on the Intent, Impact, and Future of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 2013) pp. 239-264.
Kelley Hays-Gilpin and RamsonLomatewama, “Curating Communities at the Museum of Northern Arizona” In Reassembling the Collection: Ethnographic Museums and Indigenous Agency (School for Advanced Research Press 2013) pp. 259-283.
Documentary: What Was Ours (2017)
Adam Dudding. "Te Papa returns artifacts to Hawaii in moving ceremony." (18 March 2016) Stuff [video imbedded in article]
Video: Native American Museum Studies Institute 2017 Recap
Morris, Cathy. (10 July 2017). "The Angyaaq sets sail once again." The Burke Museum [video imbedded in article]
Video: "Coming Home: The Return of the Alutiiq Masks "
Exhibition: "Making Faces: the Pinart Collection and Alutiiq Artists." Alutiiq Museum.
Activity and Assessment Ideas
- How has anthropological relativism lead to a more inclusive production of knowledge?
- What are some examples of research and teaching partnerships that have resulted from NAGPRA work?
- What qualities contribute to collaborative partnerships and creation of knowledge?
- How can we get to a more genuine collaboration between museums and tribes that provide value to both?
- What changes do the Hopi want to see in collections care?
- What is “social agency” and how does it impact tribal views of museum objects?