The changing presentation of the American Indian : museums and native cultures.

Format:

Book

Government document

Contributor:

National Museum of the American Indian (U.S.)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Indians of North America--Museums--Congresses.

Indians of North America.

Intercultural communication--Congresses.

Intercultural communication.

Museum techniques--Congresses.

Museum techniques.

Indians in popular culture--Congresses.

Indians in popular culture.

Indians of North America--Public opinion--Congresses.

Indians of North America--Public opinion.

Indians of North America--Museums.

Genre:

Conference papers and proceedings.

Physical Description:

118 pages : illustrations, map ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : National Museum of the American Indian ; Seattle : In association with University of Washington Press, [2000]

Summary:

Museums -- along with books, newspapers, and Wild West shows in the 19th century, movies and television in the 20th -- have shaped our perceptions of American Indians. This book brings together six prominent museum professionals -- Native and non-Native -- to examine the ways in which Indians and their cultures have been represented by museums in North America and to present new directions museums are already taking.

Traditional museum exhibitions of Native American art and culture often represented only the past, ignoring the living Native voice. Today, museums have begun to incorporate Native perspectives in their displays. Even more dramatic is the growth in the number of Indian-run museums. These essays explore the relationships being forged between museums and Native communities to create new techniques for presenting Native American culture. This publication will serve to stimulate the discussions and analyses that can lead to new partnerships and collaborations.

Contents:

Introduction: A New Idea of Ourselves: The Changing Presentation of the American Indian / W. Richard West 7

Chapter 1 Presenting the American Indian: From Europe to America / Evan M. Maurer 15

Chapter 2 "Our" Indians: The Unidimensional Indian in the Disembodied Local Past / James D. Nason 29

Chapter 3 The Poetics of Museum Representations: Tropes of Recent American Indian Art Exhibitions / David W. Penney 47

Chapter 4 The Integration of Traditional Indian Beliefs into the Museum at Warm Springs / Janice Clements 67

Chapter 5 Are Changing Representations of First Peoples in Canadian Museums and Galleries Challenging the Curatorial Prerogative? / Michael M. Ames 73

Chapter 6 Learn About Our Past to Understand Our Future: The Story of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe / Joycelyn Wedll 89.

Notes:

Based on papers presented at a symposium called The Changing Presentation of the American Indian, held Oct. 8, 1995, George Gustav Heye Center, National Museum of the American Indian, New York.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0295977817

OCLC:

41641415