The National Museum of the American Indian: Critical Conversations

by Lonetree, Amy; Cobb, Amanda J.

• ISBN13: 9780803211117
• ISBN10: 0803211112
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-11-01
• Publisher: Univ of Nebraska Pr

Summary

The first American national museum designed and run by indigenous peoples, the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC opened in 2004. It represents both the United States as a singular nation and the myriad indigenous nations within its borders. Constructed with materials closely connected to Native communities across the continent, the museum contains more than 800,000 objects and three permanent galleries and routinely holds workshops and seminar series.This first comprehensive look at the National Museum of the American Indian encompasses a variety of perspectives, including those of Natives and non-Natives, museum employees, and outside scholars across disciplines such as cultural studies and criticism, art history, history, museum studies, anthropology, ethnic studies, and Native American studies. The contributors engage in critical dialogue about key aspects of the museum's origin, exhibits, significance, and the relationship between Native Americans and other related museums.

Author Biography

Amy Lonetree (Ho-Chunk) is an assistant professor of American studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She has conducted research on the representation of Indigenous peoples in both national and tribal museums and published articles in the American Indian Quarterly and the Public Historian.

 

Amanda J. Cobb (Chickasaw) is an associate professor of American studies at the University of New Mexico, oversees the Chickasaw Nation’s division of history and culture, and serves as the editor of American Indian Quarterly. Cobb’s book, Listening to Our Grandmothers’ Stories: The Bloomfield Academy for Chickasaw Females, 1852–1949, won the North American Indian Prose Award and the American Book Award, and is available in a Bison Books edition.

Contributors: Elizabeth Archuleta, Sonya Atalay, Janet Berlo, Mario Caro, Myla Vicenti Carpio, Cynthia Chavez, Amanda J. Cobb, Robin Maria Delugan, Patricia Pierce Erikson, Gwyneira Isaac, Ira Jacknis, Aldona Jonaitis, Amy Lonetree, Judith Ostrowitz, Ruth B. Phillips, Beverly Singer, Paul Chaat Smith, and Pauline Wakeham.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. x
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction	p. xiii
History and Development
A New Thing?: The National Museum of the American Indian in Historical and Institutional Context	p. 3
Decolonizing the "Nation's Attic": The National Museum of the American Indian and the Politics of Knowledge-Making in a National Space	p. 43
Concourse and Periphery: Planning the National Museum of the American Indian	p. 84
Indigenous Methodology and Community Collaboration
Critical Reflections on the Our Peoples Exhibit: A Curator's Perspective	p. 131
Collaborative Exhibit Development at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian	p. 144
The Making of Who We Are: Now Showing at the National Museum of the American Indian Lelawi Theater	p. 165
Interpretations and Response
Gym Shoes, Maps, and Passports, Oh My!: Creating Community or Creating Chaos at the National Museum of the American Indian?	p. 181
"Indian Country" on the National Mall: The Mainstream Press versus the National Museum of the American Indian	p. 208
What Are Our Expectations Telling Us?: Encounters with the National Museum of the American Indian	p. 241
No Sense of the Struggle: Creating a Context for Survivance at the National Museum of the American Indian	p. 267
(Un)disturbing Exhibitions: Indigenous Historical Memory at the National Museum of the American Indian	p. 290
"Acknowledging the Truth of History": Missed Opportunities at the National Museum of the American Indian	p. 305
Questions of Nation and Identity
The National Museum of the American Indian as Cultural Sovereignty	p. 331
Performing Reconciliation at the National Museum of the American Indian: Postcolonial Rapprochement and the Politics of Historical Closure	p. 353
"South of the Border" at the National Museum of the American Indian	p. 384
Inside Out and Outside In: Re-presenting Native North America at the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the National Museum of the American Indian	p. 405
The National Museum of the American Indian and the Siting of Identity	p. 431
The Contributors	p. 449
Index	p. 455
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