Native American Museums

624 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Native americans in the native american indian museum

knowledge of cultures or peoples can be based on false stereotypes and notions. Museums have always been based on displaying things, educating the public through exhibiting materials and the false notions from the public are one thing that museums refuse to propagate.15 However, refusing to display these well-known, popular yet false data sometimes can hinder the feedback on a specific exhibit, displaying accurate but not the popular expectation of the specific subject. Museums carry a great impact on society’s understanding of native cultures through their displayed information and most museums are history museums with a considerable majority being Native American materials.16 In 1897-99 museum exhibits of native cultures were defined in …show more content…

Ibid., 36. their provenience.
One common theme throughout every Native American display is the portrayal that Indians are only present in the past and do not exist in the present day world. In the end of the 19th century, it was widely believed that Native Americans would disappear. To the public, and the unsuccessful way museums have been exhibiting native cultures materials, represents these cultures in only one dimension, in the past and illustrates that real Indians are gone. In the past, museum displays including works of art such as pottery, basket weaving, or spears never included the names of the people who made them. They rarely listed and identified the makers. This added another negative notch to the presentation of art or crafts made by anonymous, no name, background, or meaning to object thus the culture itself. It displays an object with a simple description with no place in the current world.18 The Indian culture, by the way, the materials and exhibits have been laid out in museums for years, demonstrates Indians do not live among us, they have all disappeared, their materials are less meaningful and non-existent, and no progression or evolution in the American Indian history. Museums have had to work to meet expectations along with providing new interpretations and perspectives on objects even if it isn’t the popular outlook that has been portrayed from past years and

Show More
Related

  • The Manitou Stone: A Sacred Object in the Wrong Place

    1674 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Royal Alberta Museum holds a sacred object of the First Nations groups of Alberta and Saskatchewan, the Manitou Stone. This sacred object has a vast history to the Aboriginals but also has much controversy that surrounds it. Hundreds of years ago the object was removed from its original spot and was moved back and forth across the Canada, eventually ending up in Edmonton at the Royal Alberta Museum. This sacred object was said to have many powers for the First Nations people and when it was taken it brought great hardship to the First Nations groups that believed in the power of the Manitou Stone. This is only the beginning of the issues that surround this sacred object. Many different Aboriginal groups claim to own the piece but no decision has been made as to where the object should be placed. With the Manitou Stone now in the Royal Alberta Museum issues arise about the proper housing of the item and whether or not it should be retained in a museum or if it should be on First Nations land. Where the Manitou Stone is placed brings many complications and struggles for the Aboriginal people that claim ownership of the sacred object. When researching this object I was initially unaware of the significance that a museum could have to groups of people and the struggles that this could bring to these groups. This paper will explore the significance of the stone, the various viewpoints on why the object was moved originally from Iron Creek, who claims ownership to the object, and whether or not a museum is the proper place for sacred objects like the Manitou Stone to be kept.

    Read More

  • Skeletons In The Closet Rhetorical Analysis

    930 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Skeletons in the Closet”, written by Clara Spotted Elk, is a well-built argument, but it can be enhanced to become immensely effective. Firstly, Elk’s position is effective in obtaining her purpose and connecting her audience to it, because she includes a broad scope and background of the problem in the first few paragraphs. She describes the amount of Indian skeletons preserved and contained by American museums, through the use of data and statistics. For instance, Elk states: “we found that 18,500 Indian remains…are unceremoniously stored in the Smithsonian’s nooks and crannies” (13-15). By using this data, the background of the argument is illustrated to assist the audience in understanding her argument. Now, by knowing this statistic, readers can connect with Elk and her assertion, since we realize that there are plenty of skeletons that

    Read More

  • Bowers Museum Essay

    852 Words  | 2 Pages

    The display that I will be focusing my research on is called First Californians. The display encompasses many of the different artifacts pertaining to the first Native Americans of California. All artifacts are displayed behind glass cases with brief description of how the items were used. Artifacts from many tribes are displayed. However, the two most prominent tribes displayed are the Chumash Natives of the Northern Channel Islands and the Gabreilino (Tongva) natives of modern day LA and Orange County Regions. In the center of the room lay...

    Read More

  • Symbolism In Thomas King's 'Totem'

    340 Words  | 1 Pages

    Thomas King’s “Totem” is a highly symbolic story that utilizes an art museum and a totem pole to discuss society’s lack of tolerance for native people and the presence of their ancient culture today. In the story, the staff at an art museum find a totem pole making noise in the gallery’s basement and do everything within their power to get rid of it. The museum staff’s reaction to the totem pole symbolizes majority groups’ refusal to tolerate native people. Despite their history on the land, which the totem pole’s extension deep into the ground represents, natives are frequently oppressed and mistreated. Walter Hooton, the museum director, says, “‘…this totem pole is not part of the show, and we need to move it someplace else.’” This quotation

    Read More

  • First Peoples: A Documentary Survey Of The First People By Colin Calloway

    771 Words  | 2 Pages

    The depiction of Native Americans to the current day youth in the United States is a colorful fantasy used to cover up an unwarranted past. Native people are dressed from head to toe in feathers and paint while dancing around fires. They attempt to make good relations with European settlers but were then taken advantage of their “hippie” ways. However, this dramatized view is particularly portrayed through media and mainstream culture. It is also the one perspective every person remembers because they grew up being taught these views. Yet, Colin Calloway the author of First Peoples: A Documentary Survey of American Indian History, wishes to bring forth contradicting ideas. He doesn’t wish to disprove history; he only wishes to rewrite it.

    Read More

  • Northwest Coast Tribal Art

    1375 Words  | 3 Pages

    In order to study and understand American Indian art, one must also be familiar with their customs and beliefs. Many of the artworks have fabulous stories behind them that were crucial in forming the Native American culture. For these people, culture and art go hand in hand and is therefore impossible to know one without the other. The same is true for almost any other kind of artwork. In order to really appreciate a work of art one must have background knowledge of the society who formed and shaped it.

    Read More

  • Native American Museum

    1581 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...due to the external forces such as other settlers e.g. the Navajos, new settlers along with the Spanish conquerors entered their world. As a result the Pueblo Indians were imposed by these external forces especially through military power that changed their ways completely; having minimal cultural practices of their ancestors before them. The museum may seem like it’s very limited to what’s on exhibit mostly because not all of the building is in use. However the few exhibits they have is substantial in sparking an interest or even beginning to understand the cultures of Native Americans.

    Read More

  • african art

    1789 Words  | 4 Pages

    Baxandall, Michael. "Exhibiting intention: Some preconditions of the visual display of culturally purposeful objects." Exhibiting cultures: The poetics and politics of museum display (1991): 33-41.

    Read More

  • Comparison Of Cultural Imperialism In Art Museums And The Ritual Of Citizenship?

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Art Museums and the Ritual of Citizenship.” in Exhibiting Cultures. Eds. Ivan Karp and Steven Lavine. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991. Print.

    Read More

  • Native American Repartition

    1574 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act established Indian nations as the owners of Native American cultural objects, including human remains, which were found on Federal land. It requires that the American Indians provide substantial amounts of information to validate their claims. However, only federally recognized tribes are recognized under this act, so if you are an unrecognized tribe good luck claiming anything that belongs to you. After this, the existing anthropological literature will be consulted. In some instances, Indians will disagree with the literature and take steps to correct it. Indians are also likely to provide additional information that had not yet been documented. The interpretations will be written from the perspective of the claiming tribe, how they view the world, and their perception of significance of objects in religious ceremonial rites. While some might raise the question of scientific objectivity, no one will deny that this perspective had often been lacking in the literature. These interpretations are bound to bring about new insights which will challenge earlier assumptions (5).

    Read More

  • Analyzing Native American History Through Museum Artifacts

    1295 Words  | 3 Pages

    The museum I attended was “National Museum of the American Indian” (The George Gustav Heye Center.) This historical center offered a superlative perspective of the social legacy of the Native Americas. There were displays that present famous items chose for their aesthetic quality and power as emblems of Native beliefs. My experience in this museum was very quiet and lonely, but I made the best out of it. When first entering the museum, I was lost as to how I would be able to connect any of the information to this class. It took me a while to get an understanding of how the information I collected could be relevant to this class. The concepts and theories I will be using to analyze my museum visit is race and ethnicity, commodification, theory of domination, and hegemony. The authors I will be using are Stephen Steinberg, Vine Deloria, Jr., Charles Fruehling Springwood, C Richard King, Harry Kitano, Nathan Glazer and Ronald Takaki.

    Read More

  • Mardi Gras Made In China Analysis

    1523 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Stephen Weil’s essay, he argues “the museum’s role has transformed from one of mastery to one of service” (Weil, 196). According to him, museums have changed their mission from one that cultures the public to one that serves

    Read More

  • The Navajo or Diné

    1385 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...e to preserve traditional culture as well as be a part of modern culture is discussed within the exhibit. We can see this struggle in a scene depicted in the exhibit of women weaving in a modern home with a traditional room, while the men sit on the couch and read comic books. We see the melding together of tradition and modernization. Traditions like weaving and pastoral life in the Diné home serve as a teaching tool to remind young people where they come from and who they are as Diné people. It shows them how to be Diné in a colonized world. While maintaining tradition had become difficult at points in their journey, Diné persevered and adapted to change while maintaining tradition. They remain one of the largest groups of indigenous peoples in the Southwest today.

    Read More

  • A Time For Gathering Analysis

    895 Words  | 2 Pages

    The 1989 exhibition ‘A Time For Gathering: Native Heritage in Washington State’ marked a turning point in the Burke’s relationship with local tribes. Thirty five tribes were consulted and the formation of a Native Advisory board gave tribal members agency to determine how their histories, stories and cultures would be presented and displayed. However, it must be noted that ‘A Time For Gathering’ displayed various indigenous objects on loan from overseas institutions that were not repatriated to tribal communities after use. Native Americans are often portrayed in historical, rather than contemporary contexts.The exhibition gave “serious attention to contemporary native voices,” challenging the narrative of Native Americans as a dying race. From the early days of collecting Native art and objects, an emphasis was placed on the importance of traditional items as the most authentic. Contemporary art was often ignored by early collectors and the belief that Native American cultures were ‘dying out’ resulted in an ‘urgency’ in collecting. The Burke’s emphasis on the contemporary through inclusion and collaboration with local tribes served to challenge the preconceived notions that are held towards Native communities. The 1997 permanent exhibition Pacific Voices saw Burke museum staff make a “conscious decision to abandon the notion that museum curatorial authority is absolute,” instead relying on consultation with communities to create an ambitious exhibit that uses indigenous voices to tell their own histories, empowering themselves in the process. Today, the Burke continues a process of consultation with indigenous staff members, the Native American advisory board and holds permanent and temporary exhibitions presenting indigenous history and culture built from partnerships with indigenous

    Read More

  • Poetics And The Politics Of Exhibiting Other Culture, By Gayatri Chaeravorty Spivak

    1988 Words  | 4 Pages

    A museum gives us insight on the culture from an out standing point of view, and the things we are shown are supposed to be looked at from the outside. The people who decided what things to exhibit did not belong to that community saw it, and decided what they considered is different to what we are used to, and what we would be interested in learning from that. The display of things in a Museum are things that we look at as something that is outside from normal. In contrast to the movie or movies, where scenes substantially show how the person felt and dealt with situations and tools from their own perspective, with their own knowledge and experience and through different means such as real images, sounds, language and others produces a different knowledge on the racial discourse. When looking at exhibitions in museums the other culture is unknown, and almost uncomfortable to us, but in movies we can be standing in their

    Read More

More about Native American Museums

Open Document