Why’d They Put That In A Museum?
Show Notes
Artist: unknown
Item: Red Jacket Peace Medal, c. 1794
Details: silver, 7 in. high. Onöhsagwë:de’ Cultural Center (Seneca Iroquois National Museum), Salamanca, New York
Why’d They Take That Out of a Museum:
NAGPRA, Museum Ethics, and Returning Indigenous Cultural Heritage
The way we think about works in museums today is very different from the way archaeologists and colonialists did in the past. Because of that, many institutions hold items that were looted or taken from cultures without their consent. Other items don’t belong in museums because they are sacred, or are human remains. Museums are working actively to remove these items from their collections.
Hosts Sarah Lees and Beth Bacon invited Brady Wolf, curator of Indigenous Collections at the Missouri History Museum, to explain how this works. They discuss restitution and repatriation in museums with a focus on NAGPRA, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.
They talk about efforts to return Zuni Ahayuda (War Gods). These wooden objects were meant to weather naturally outdoors, not be preserved in museums. They also discuss the repatriation of a peace medal that George Washington gave to Haudenosaunee (Seneca) leader Red Jacket.
Repatriation is challenging for museums because of incomplete provenance records. But on the bright side, NAGPRA has helped museums improve communications with Native American communities and can foster new collections of contemporary Indigenous art.
Contact Us
Say helloAbout the Podcasters
Sarah Lees
Sarah is a museum curator and researcher who has worked in organizations both large and small, and who remembers her first assignment for an art history class – to look into Rembrandt’s eyes and describe what she saw there. She believes everyone can find those kinds of connections to some form of creative expression, whether it’s a painting, a grandmother’s quilt, or a perfectly formed pen-stroke in a manuscript.
Beth Bacon
In addition to being an avid museum-goer, Beth Bacon is an author for young readers. Her books empower today’s kids to learn about themselves and the world through reading. She is also a teacher and branding consultant and a volunteer at the Missouri History Museum. Beth holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, an MA in Communication Arts from NYU, and a BA in Literature from Harvard University.
Music Credit
The music you hear in the intro and outro was composed by Edward Whelan. We appreciate his contribution to our podcast.
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