National Museum Of The American Indian Research Articles

Ousley—Repatriation and the Smithsonian

The repatriation of Native American human remains has been a significant issue at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History for the past 40 years. Following the requirements of the National Museum of the American Indian Act of 1989, which mandated the use of the best available scientific and historical documentation to trace tribal origins, the Museum created the Repatriation Osteology Laboratory, which Stephen Ousley directed for the majority of his career at the Smithsonian. For nearly a decade, Ousley led exemplary osteological research in the service of repatriation, applying techniques of forensic anthropology, innovating craniometric and statistical analyses, and working collaboratively with the museum’s Native American partners. His high standards for the research and objective treatment of osteological evidence requiring critical thinking have served as a model for the Repatriation Office, students, and Native and non-Native researchers he worked with during his time at the Smithsonian and beyond.

Untangling Indian Hemp: Identifying Woodlands Bast Fibers in Collections

ABSTRACT Many textiles produced by Native American Woodlands cultures are made from bast (phloem) fibers from North American plants. While bast fibers are easy to identify with microscopy, determining the exact species has long been a challenge. Historically, bast fibers from Native American communities have been referred to as “Indian hemp,” a confusing term at best. This project undertaken as part of an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) focused on a combined approach by working with both community members and scientists to provide a cultural background for these important fibers as well as useful diagnostic tools for identification. Both macroscopic and microscopic characteristics were examined including color, feel, microfibrillar orientation, crystal species, and cross section analysis. A physical and digital reference collection was created for comparison. Eight fiber samples taken from six historic objects in NMAI’s collection were then examined to test effectiveness of bast fiber identification protocol. Results from this study confirm there continues to be limited success when identifying the exact bast fiber species in historic artifacts because of small sample size and aging characteristics.

Toward Centering Indigenous Knowledge in Museum Collections Management Systems

Museums still struggle with colonial data legacies within collections management systems, building mechanisms to be “inclusive” but challenged by how to model more expansive post-colonial ways of thinking. Although it anticipated a need to be “inclusive” of Native knowledge in the original design of its CMS, the National Museum of the American Indian is still challenged by the processes for how knowledge is entered into the system and by which information is seemingly “centered” within the system. Following on the release of the Smithsonian’s new Shared Stewardship and Ethical Returns policy, the NMAI is rethinking documentation structures within its CMS based on its dialogue with Native communities, conversations with other Smithsonian museums, and discussions with CMS colleagues. The museum is questioning why certain knowledge seems prioritized over others. Is this a fault of the system classification methods or our own practices? Can we re-envision CMS relationships to center Native knowledge?

Museums and Anthropology in the Age of Engagement By Christina F. Kreps, New York:Routledge, 2020

Museum AnthropologyEarly View BOOK REVIEW Museums and Anthropology in the Age of Engagement By Christina F. Kreps, New York:Routledge, 2020 Scarlett Engle, Corresponding Author Scarlett Engle [email protected] orcid.org/0000-0003-1791-9147 University of Colorado Boulder Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author Scarlett Engle, Corresponding Author Scarlett Engle caitrin.eng[email protected] orcid.org/0000-0003-1791-9147 University of Colorado Boulder Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author First published: 03 May 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/muan.12273Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL No abstract is available for this article. REFERENCES Ames, Michael. 1992. Cannibal Tours and Glass Boxes: the Anthropology of Museums. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. Brown, Alison, and Laura Peers. 2013. “ The Blackfoot Shirts Project: ‘Our Ancestors Have Come to Visit.’” In The International Handbooks of Museum Studies, edited by Sharon Macdonald and Helen Rees Leahy, 1– 21. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Karp, Ivan, Corinne Kratz, Lynn Szwaja, and Tomas Ybarra-Frausto. 2006. Museum Frictions: Public Cultures/Global Transformations. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Kreps, Christina F. 2020. Museums and Anthropology in the Age of Engagement. New York: Routledge, 2020. Krmpotich, Cara, and Laura Peers. 2014. This Is Our Life: Haida Material Heritage and Changing Museum. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. Lonetree, Amy. 2013. Decolonizing Museums: Representing Native America in National and Tribal Museums. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Marsh, Diana. 2019. Extinct Monsters to Deep Time: Conflict, Compromise, and the Making of Smithsonian's Fossil Halls. Oxford: Berghahn Books. Morphy, Howard. 2019. Museums, Infinity and the Culture of Protocols: Ethnographic Collections and Source Communities. London: Routledge. Phillips, Ruth B. 2011. Museum Pieces: Toward the Indigenization of Canadian Museums. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. Shannon, Jennifer A. 2014. Our Lives: Collaboration, Native Voice, and the Making of the National Museum of the American Indian. Santa Fe, NM: SAR Press. Sleeper-Smith, Susan. 2009. Contesting Knowledge: Museums and Indigenous Perspectives. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Early ViewOnline Version of Record before inclusion in an issue ReferencesRelatedInformation

WINIKO: Life of an Object, First Americans Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

<i>WINIKO: Life of an Object</i>, First Americans Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Reclaiming the Other: Tribal Museums as Postcolonial Spaces

In this article I locate myself within the scholarly conversation on museum decolonisation through an investigation of existing literature concerning contemporary Native American museums, both mainstream and tribal. Orienting my research within the historiography of museums’ entanglement with colonialism, I examine decolonisation efforts in the United States by analysing the role of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), a collaborative mainstream museum, together with smaller tribal museums and centres across the country, positing the latter group as complementary yet radical alternatives. Primarily drawing on the works of Susan Sleeper-Smith, Amy Lonetree, Amanda Cobb and Jennifer Shannon, I closely examine the histories, actors and epistemologies of contrasting approaches to Native American museology, and ultimately maintain that tribal museums come the closest to radically postcolonial spaces and are thus imperative to the wider agenda of museum decolonisation.

Review: Curating America’s Painful Past: Memory, Museums, and the National Imagination, by Tim Gruenewald

Review: <i>Curating America’s Painful Past: Memory, Museums, and the National Imagination</i>, by Tim Gruenewald

Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces by Alexandra N. Harris and Mark G. Hirsch

Reviewed by: Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces by Alexandra N. Harris and Mark G. Hirsch Joseph G. Hiller (bio) Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces by Alexandra N. Harris and Mark G. Hirsch National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, 2020 THIS COLLECTION-QUALITY BOOK broadly pursues a somewhat familiar question. There is no short or simple answer, however, to such an apparently simple inquiry. This rich book explains why the question is asked and relates in detail the many varied answers. Well-chosen illustrations and photographs, along with an attention-grabbing book cover, help make this book a sought-after collector's item. Since the question cannot be directly answered by our long-gone ancestors, the authors carefully describe the historical involvement of Natives in warfare. Several historical vignettes present captivating stories revealing comprehensive data and narratives that in a circumstantial way begin to answer the "why" question. When the "why" was asked of contemporary veterans and their families, however, a pattern of responses began to emerge. Why We Serve justifies the original reason for the question and continues to provide numerous authentic, thoughtful, and elegant answers laid out by testimony, stories, illustrations, and historical notes. Several themes align along a timeline that organizes this book. The first theme asks the question and establishes context. In view of both the historical and the contemporary relationship between Natives and the United States, how can Natives possibly sign up and support the federal sovereign in times of war? The question is perplexing and cumbersome to many; but the book reveals why it is not such a dichotomy to be Native and to serve in the military. The second theme explores warfare in a Native context—the reasons it occurs and how/why alliances between tribes were beneficial—albeit often temporary—for family and tribal homelands protection. Next comes the relationship with Europeans and the nuances they brought as third parties to existing alliances. In many cases members or clans of the same tribe aligned themselves with opposing European forces. Finally, major conflicts involving the U.S. dating from the early Indian Wars to the current Global War on Terrorism are one-by-one briefly addressed and accompanied by anecdotes, notable quotes, and illustrations addressing the central [End Page 145] "why" question. Stories are carefully told—by veterans, including Native Hawai'ian, Alaska Native, and American Indian—of the Native experience and singular sacrifice of service members, their families, and communities. Today with an all-volunteer military force, we find a mix of contemporary, traditional, and familial reasons to serve, ranging from the practical (the G.I. Bill, salary and benefits, job training, adventure and respect) to the more personal and tribal notions of doing greater good by serving society honorably and being from "a family that served" (157). Whatever the reason, Native military service is made known and honored in this book. Why We Serve is unique; it brings together in one place an authoritative, well-researched text that tells the collective story of Natives in military service to the United States. It presents an impressive collection of artwork and photographs and is footnoted extensively for further reference and reading. The book cover is perfectly eye-catching for this topic. Why We Serve is well worth the read and serves as an excellent reference on the topics of Natives and military service. [End Page 146] Joseph G. Hiller JOSEPH G. HILLER, Ph.D. (Oglala), LTC(R) U.S. Army Special Forces, is professor emeritus at the University of Arizona. Copyright © 2022 Regents of the University of Minnesota

Branding Indigeneity: Corporate Patronage of the Arts

Although corporate giving is an important source of support for initiatives related to indigenous cultures, it is less clear how companies gain advantages from patronage. This paper develops the concept of branding indigeneity to describe how companies benefit from philanthropy and sponsorships related to indigenous cultures. More specifically, I argue that corporate patronage related to indigenous cultures is a practice through which companies shape perceptions that they respect and value indigenous peoples. I draw on the case of corporate patronage at the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) to empirically illustrate branding indigeneity in the United States.

Meaning Well Is Not the Same as Doing Good: The Fraught Circumstances of Allyship With Indigenous Groups

Meaning Well Is Not the Same as Doing Good: The Fraught Circumstances of Allyship With Indigenous Groups

Decolonizing Museums, Memorials, and Monuments

Decolonizing Museums, Memorials, and Monuments

Whose Museum Is It? Jewish Museums and Indigenous Theory

AbstractAre museums places about a community or for the community? This article addresses this question by bringing into conversation Jewish museums and Indigenous museum theory, with special attention paid to two major institutions: the Jewish Museum Berlin and the National Museum of the American Indian. The JMB’s exhibitions and the controversies surrounding them, I contend, allow us to see the limits of rhetorical sovereignty, namely the ability and right of a community to determine the narrative. The comparison between Indigenous and Jewish museal practices is grounded in the idea of multidirectional memory. Stories of origins in museums, foundational to a community’s self-understanding, are analyzed as expressions of rhetorical sovereignty. The last section expands the discussion to the public sphere by looking at the debates that led to the resignation of Peter Schäfer, the JMB’s former director, following a series of events that were construed as anti-Israeli and hence, so was the argument, anti-Jewish. These claims are based on two narrow conceptions: First, that of the source community that makes a claim for the museum. Second, on the equation of Jewishness with a pro-Israeli stance. Taken together, the presentation of origins and the public debate show the limits of rhetorical sovereignty by exposing the contested dynamics of community claims. Ultimately, I suggest, museums should be seen not only as a site for contestation about communal voice, but as a space for constituting the community.

Casting a Wide Net: The Value of Collaboration and Outreach with Source Communities in the Analysis of Historic Native American Fishing Nets

The Lenape Tribe of Delaware is one of two recognized tribes within the state of Delaware. Having only gained state recognition in 2016, the group is actively working to regain the lifeways of their ancestors that have been lost in the aftermath of colonization and systemic oppression. This paper discusses collaborative research between the author, a student in Art Conservation, and the Lenape Tribe of Delaware on the once-crucial practice of net-tying. It addresses the impetus for the project and its role in object-based decolonization and Indigenous knowledge reclamation. The research was inspired by the last known Lenape netmaker, Clem Carney, whose work was collected by anthropologists in the early 1900s but since forgotten. The project was completed in collaboration with the Tribe from initial proposal onward and included three main stages: examination of fishing nets from Native Mid-Atlantic groups at the National Museum of the American Indian and the American Museum of Natural History; the compilation of an inventory of Native Mid-Atlantic nets and associated tools from institutions throughout North America; and outreach. Outreach efforts included a Tribal Delegation to the National Museum of the American Indian Cultural Resources Center, presentations to both the Native and non-Native community, and net-making workshops held at the Biggs Museum of American Art in Dover, DE. Through these events and a range of media posts and articles, it is estimated that 7,000 people learned about this collaboration. The project has prompted subsequent collaborations and serves as a model for community-driven research.

The Tira of Don Martín

This article follows the history of the Tira of don Martín, also known as the Codex Saville, from its creation to its preservation in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. A document concerning migration, altepetl (polity) foundation, and rulership, it provided a living record of Nahua chronology from 1402 to 1545, through the arrival of Europeans on horseback, the conquest of Tenochtitlan in 1521, and the foundation of a local Christian church. Little studied since the 1920s when acquired by the Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation, it is a completely Nahua document with older pictographic text as well as Nahuatl written in Latin characters. The very form of the tira suggests continuity rather than rupture in the course of European colonization and evangelization. New approaches to Mesoamerican history and materiality at the conquest’s quincentenary mean the time is ripe for a new touchstone analysis of this document that emphasizes specificity, locality, and continuity rather than rupture driven by European invasion. This article integrates diagnostic imaging, scientific and ethnohistorical analyses, and provenance research with a renewed focus on the Nahuatl language and pictographic communication.

A dual beam SEM-based EDS and micro-XRF method for the analysis of large-scale Mesoamerican obsidian tablets

X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) is commonly used as a non-destructive method to identify the geochemical source of obsidian artifacts. We examine in detail three decimeter-scale, polished obsidian “mirrors” housed in the Smithsonian Institution’s (SI) National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) collections that have previously had minor and trace element components analyzed by portable XRF. Two of the tablets have raw material provenance to the Ucareo source in Michoacán, Mexico, a location within the Los Azufres volcanic complex, while the source for the third tablet, made of mahogany (or meca) obsidian, remained unassigned. We provide a complete analysis of the major, minor, and trace element compositions for each tablet using co-located SEM-based energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry and micro-XRF spectrometry with fundamental parameters quantification. Source assignments for the tablets were made by comparing minor and trace element ratios to obsidian reference samples using canonical discriminant analysis. The reference specimens analyzed expand upon archaeological sources in Central Mexico relevant during Colonial times and include new data for obsidian locations within the Los Azufres complex. Our analyses confirm the previous source assignment for Ucareo for the black tablets and indicate a geochemical match for the mahogany obsidian from a nearby location within the Los Azufres complex that has not previously been associated with archaeological artifacts. Finally, we provide a detailed comparison of the portable and micro-XRF methods and discuss disparities in data and their implications.

Casting a Wide Net: The Value of Collaboration and Outreach with Source Communities in the Analysis of Historic Native American Fishing Nets

The Lenape Tribe of Delaware is one of two recognized tribes within the state of Delaware. Having only gained state recognition in 2016, the group is actively working to regain the lifeways of their ancestors that have been lost in the aftermath of colonization and systemic oppression. This paper discusses collaborative research between the author, a student in Art Conservation, and the Lenape Tribe of Delaware into the once-crucial practice of net-tying. It addresses the impetus for the project and its role in object-based decolonization and Indigenous knowledge reclamation. The research was inspired by the last known Lenape netmaker, Clem Carney, whose work was collected by anthropologists in the early 1900s but since forgotten. The project was completed in collaboration with the Tribe from initial proposal onward and included three main stages: examination of fishing nets from Native Mid-Atlantic groups at the National Museum of the American Indian and the American Museum of Natural History, the compilation of an inventory of Native Mid-Atlantic nets and associated tools from institutions throughout North America, and outreach. Outreach efforts included a Tribal Delegation to the National Museum of the American Indian Cultural Resources Center, presentations to both the Native and non-Native community, and net-making workshops held at the Biggs Museum of American Art in Dover, DE. Through these events and a range of media posts and articles, it is estimated that 7,000 people learned about this collaboration. The project has prompted subsequent collaborations and serves as a model for community-driven research.

Duas leis, um museu

A legislação patrimonial norte-americana possui diversas especificidades. Uma lei de grande importância e relevância no cenário nacional tratou, em 1989, da instalação de um museu voltado para a divulgação e pesquisa da história de comunidades nativo-americanas, o National Museum of the American Indian, que faz parte da Smithsonian Institution. A lei de criação do museu também estabelece os critérios para a repatriação de remanescentes humanos e objetos funerários presentes nas coleções adquiridas para a formação do museu. Com base no NMAIA (National Museum of the American Indian Act), uma segunda lei foi aprovada no ano seguinte, o NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act). De abrangência nacional, o NAGPRA tornou-se uma das legislações patrimoniais mais importantes e conhecidas do mundo.

Native Americans in Popular and Commercial Culture: An Interview with Paul Chaat Smith from the National Museum of the American Indian

Abstract: Paul Chaat Smith talks about his work as a curator at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) in Washington, DC. He also covers how his Comanche heritage has influenced his personal and professional journey as a writer, curator, and critic of art and culture. Smith discusses other important topics: the history and early reception of the NMAI, his work as a curator, what the NMAI collects, the use of various terms of identity (e.g. American Indian, Native American, Indigenous), the diversity of Indian cultures and experiences, the American Indian Movement (AIM), activism today among American Indians, the Americans exhibit featuring images of Native Americans in popular and commercial culture throughout American history, the perpetuation of fantasy images of American Indians, cancel culture, Keep America Beautiful's 1971 "Crying Indian" public service announcement, who can represent and speak for Native Americans, the need to recognize positive elements in Native history, and advice for professors and students.

Virtual Colloquium: Smithsonian Curators Reflect on Documenting the Representations of Race/Ethnicity/Diversity in Advertising

Abstract: Advertising &amp; Society Quarterly held its fourth annual Colloquium on December 3–4, 2020. During this virtual event, three panels took different perspectives on race/ethnicity/diversity in advertising. This article presents the colloquium's first panel featuring Smithsonian curators discussing how they document the story of representing race/ethnicity/diversity in advertising. The National Museum of the American Indian's Paul Chaat Smith explains how fantasized images of American Indians are seen everywhere in American life, but such visibility actually masks Americans' obsession with, and erasure of, a small population in the United States. Fath Davis Ruffins describes how the National Museum of American History acquired significant collections over the years that reflect advertising's treatments of various ethnic and racial groups throughout US history. She also details her work with the Advertising Educational Foundation on the Race &amp; Ethnicity Project. Kathleen Franz explains how she helped build the National Museum of American History's collections which are focused on Latinx and Hispanic advertising.

Identifying VOCs in exhibition cases and efflorescence on museum objects exhibited at Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of the American Indian-New York

Two mass spectrometry (MS) methods, solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography (SPME–GC–MS) and direct analysis in real time (DART-MS), have been explored to investigate widespread efflorescence observed on exhibited objects at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in New York (NMAI-NY). Both methods show great potential, in terms of speed of analysis and level of information, for identifying the organic component of the efflorescence as 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidinol (TMP-ol) emitted by the structural adhesive (Terostat MS 937) used for exhibit case construction. The utility of DART-MS was proven by detecting the presence of TMP-ol in construction materials in a fraction of the time and effort required for SPME–GC–MS analysis. In parallel, an unobtrusive SPME sampling strategy was used to detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) accumulated in the exhibition cases. This sampling technique can be performed by collections and conservation staff at the museum and shipped to an off-site laboratory for analysis. This broadens the accessibility of MS techniques to museums without access to instrumentation or in-house analysis capabilities.