Native American Artifacts: The Dilemma of Historic Artifacts

The Dilemma of Artifact Collection and Display

These artifacts are man-made objects such as statues, sculptures, and other man-made objects that have survived from the past and are of historical interest. Over the years, other cultures have evolved and different materials have become available, and the skills of the Indians have increased to produce the Indian artifacts that are so highly valued today. This diverse and fascinating topic is of great interest to many people, not only to the Indian community but also to the whole world. Indigenous and European settlers committed brutal violence, thousands of indigenous tribes were forcibly driven from their ancestral homelands, ravaged by disease and afflicted by the disease. An example of this was the Spanish invasion of the Pueblo Culture in New Mexico. These Puebloans, descendants of the People of Chaco Canyon, were brutalized at the hands of the Spanish invaders. Displacement arose when settlers claimed the items left behind. These objects included items sacred to the local culture, such as food, water, medicines, clothing, medicines, food, tools, and other items.

Human Bones Stolen

Over more than seven decades, Miller has unearthed hundreds of thousands of these artifacts, as well as thousands more from other parts of the world. FBI agents searched an Indiana home in 2014 and discovered 2,000 human bones believed to have been stolen from an Indian tomb. The bizarre discovery, announced by the bureau in February 2019, estimated that the bones were those of 500 people. Far from being an isolated case, the discovery is the latest in a long line of aboriginal remains stolen from their graves by collectors and museums. By treating the remains as collectibles, museums have in the past failed to take into account the identity of the deceased and the context of their death. Native American advocacy groups, however, have protested their continued presence in U.S. museums. These efforts have called museum practice into question and in recent decades have led to increasing pressure on museums to address this difficult history and to make their relationship with the Indians and their history more transparent.

Museums and Exhibits

The practice of historicizing Native Americans has long been an issue for major U.S. museums. Dutch settlers and Lenape natives who interact with them can now be seen as an interpretative overlay on the back of the American Museum of Natural History. The museum welcomes millions of visitors each year, and the display gives visitors the impression that tribal society is a relic of the past, while vibrant indigenous communities across the American continent still live today. For example, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History once housed an exhibition on Plains Indians that featured a deerskin mannequin with an arrowhead that fell into the same category of misrepresentations exhibited at the American Museum of Natural History. The last time I visited a natural history museum, I saw a display case full of photos of Native Americans still living in the Northwest, such as the Cheyenne, Chippewa, and Cherokee, and driven as far away as Lake Mead. It is said that the objects are placed behind glass, but in life, they take the place of people, like a mannequin, a woman, or even a child in a cave. The 16 objects will be on display in the brand new Burke Museum, which will open next year after being returned from Europe. The woven baskets were collected by William Olsen, an Episcopal minister, who bought them from penniless tribesmen in the 1870s and sold them to colleagues. Olsen met with the elders of the local tribes, and they collected the baskets that his son-in-law and his wife had woven. It also includes basketwork by Dr. Andrew Kershaw, who worked on the reserve in the 1890s, as well as other Native American artworks from the time.

Save the American Indian Program

Together, the two collections are part of the Grand Ronde's efforts to process and explore its history for future generations - a mission that mirrors the efforts of other tribes in the United States. In 2007, the museum received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities' Save the American Indian Program, financed by private donations. Over the course of two years, technicians Tina Koeppe and Jessica Waite stabilized, rehoused, and cataloged hundreds of artifacts, including those from the Bristol Collection. The tribe has only been living in the Plymouth area for a few years, but its identity is a living piece of city history. You can read an excerpt from Koeppe's article here or contact Landmark Stores to request the Winter 2009 issue of Nebraska History. The association is actively seeking a little-known piece of historical information that can be incorporated into its museum at 115 Gaylord Avenue in Plymouth. The cry "Shawnee World" echoes through the Plymouth area, but also through the rest of the state of Nebraska and the United States of America. American history, and acknowledge that few Native American artifacts had to be found. The nickname Shawnee Indian has been used in the US for more than 1,000 years, according to the National Museum of Natural History.