With funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Natural History Museum of Utah (NHMU) is working to center Indigenous knowledge in its collections.
“Specifically, our ethnographic collections, and to a lesser extent, the archaeological ones, by bringing in experts, tribal elders, artists who can speak about the deep cultural knowledge that accompanies some of the objects we have,” said Alexandra Greenwald, curator of ethnography at the NHMU.
Greenwald said another goal of the initiative was to be able to fairly compensate experts who shared their insights with the museum.
“So often in the past ethnographic work, or work with living indigenous communities, …has been based on the assumption that people are just generously giving their time to anthropologists to provide insights into their culture. But it's a lot of work,” Greenwald said.
Sam Minkler, a member of the Navajo Nation and professor of photography at Northern Arizona University, visited the NHMU with his 99-year-old aunt, Navajo weaver Rena Lane, for the initiative.
“We visited the archival areas for artifacts, including rugs. So we went there to collaborate with information in history and technique and about Navajo rugs,” Minkler said.
Minkler says there has been a tremendous suppression of Indigenous cultures in the past, and he would like to see the establishment of libraries or museums on each reservation where people can learn about the tribes.
“Some type of initiative to support the development of knowledge, and exchange, and retention. And I'm really happy with what the museum in Utah did. We don't get that from many museums, you know. So, I think that's important,” Minkler said.
