American Indian Cultural Museum Analysis

When I read Museum Indians I thought that the simile most important to the story was “She is so tall, a true Dakota woman; she rises against the sun like a skyscraper...” This part from the text means that when the author describes her mother she is different from any other woman that she has met and encountered in her life. She holds her mom on an invisible pedestal that is even higher than needing the sun to live. The effect this has on the text is that the reader is fully able to understand that she thinks so greatly of her mother. As the reader gets farther in the text they will also come to the know how little she thinks of herself. The tone of this quote that you take in is joyful because it make you think of the bright sun and how her

Museums serve as a way to connect with the public on a large scale, and the knowledge held within exhibits can be a fruitful experience for those who choose to visit these institutions. Experiencing all that a museum has to offer, no matter how well intentioned, can at times be confusing and overwhelming to the individuals visiting the site. The Smithsonian’s Museum of the American Indian dedicates itself to Native Americans in North and South America, and worked tirelessly with varying tribes to create a new standard. Some visitors and scholars found their work to be successful in design and approach while others found it to be lacking in execution. This institution does not approach Native American history in a familiar fashion; however it does cover an expansive period of time, and produces a great amount of detail while generating powerful emotions.

Given that this “visit” was more like a virtual experience, I was still able to access a couple of my senses, just as if I was at the actual exhibition. Through the use of anecdotes and detailed images, I am able to see all of the personal experiences an individual had while practicing a particular dance and what it meant to them. In this exhibition, there are ten different dances displayed, including the: Yup´ik Yurapiaq and the Quyana (Thank You) Song Dance, Yakama Girl’s Fancy Shawl Dance, Cubeo Óyne Dance, Yoreme Pajko’ora Dance, Mapuche Mütrüm Purun, Tlingit Ku.éex ' Entrance Dance, Lakota Men’s Northern Traditional Dance, Seminole Stomp Dance, Hopi Butterfly Dance, and finally, Quechua Danza de Tijeras (Scissor Dance). All parts of the exhibit were insightful, but the two that sparked my interest the most were the Yup´ik Yurapiaq and the Quyana (Thank You) Song Dance and the Quechua Danza de Tijeras (Scissor Dance).

Human beings, desire to maintain a connection with the past is achieved through the languages spoken, the various cultures practiced, and sadly through acquiring of cultural property by the means of grave robbing. Native Americans wanted justice for these past mistreatments and control over their history. According to Chip Colwell, campaigning, repatriation of indigenous artifacts began in the 1960s by indigenous activism. Finally, on November 16, 1990, The United States Government passed The Native American Graves Protection and Reparation Act. NAGPRA summarizes that museums must conduct an inventory of all native American cultural artifacts and remains. (Native) In addition, Museums send the inventories to federally recognized tribes, in

George Gustav Heye Center - The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian is a fascinating building at the Bowling Green area of Lower Manhattan. It’s close to Battery Park that displays an elegant view of the water. You can see ferries floating by headed towards Staten Island, since South Ferry Terminal is nearby. It allows you to appreciate the hidden gems of the city located in the outskirts Manhattan. One of those very treasures is the museum mentioned previously.

The Barona Tribal Museum presents several interesting exhibits that showcased different aspects of Native Indian culture and lifestyle such as their sciences, athletics and the planning/architecture of the Barona Indian Reservations.

Many textbooks attribute modern day democracy to the Europeans who landed on and colonized North America. It’s often taken for granted that the Native American people had systems of social and political organizations established long before first contact. The Iroquois Confederacy is an example of such an organization; one of such great significance that its’ extent and impact can be observed in present-day American democracy. On Wednesday September 16, 1987 Congress passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 76 which acknowledged “the contribution of the Iroquois Confederacy of Nations to the development of the U.S. Constitution.” In the book The American Heritage Book of Indians an introduction from John F. Kennedy states that “When we forget great contributors to our American history-when we neglect the heroic past of the American Indian-we thereby weaken our own heritage. We need to remember the contribution our forefathers found here and from which they borrowed liberally. When Indians controlled the balance of power…the pioneers found that Indians had developed a high civilization with safeguards for ensuring the peace. The League of the Iroquois, inspired Benjamin Franklin to copy it in planning the federation of States.” The following thesis will explain what contributions the Iroquois and their Confederacy made to the American form of government in existence today.

Upon arrival, I was informed that the museum is divided by Tribes and the regions in which each tribe was located. The museum is divided into Alaska/Canada, Northwest Coast, Southwest, Plains, and Woodlands. The reason I think it is divided this way is so that every person who visits has the ability to learn about each region of tribes separately. It is easy to make assumptions that Native Americans were all the same, but the truth is that they were all unique. Each tribe has their own customs, clothing, food, and ways of life. Another captivating aspect of the museum are their display cases, filled with pottery and artifacts of each tribe.

I arrived around noon at the Marin Museum of American Indian which was located In Miwok Park. The Museum was a small two story building surrounded by lots of tall, beautiful trees. Thousand years ago this area was an Indian village composed of circular homes, a sweat lodge and a larger ceremonial house. On the right side of the park there was a creek which made this area Ideal location for Native Americans to live because attracted fish and ducks and other foods such as seeds and acorns, deer and rabbits available. The Coast Miwok Indians were hunters and gatherers whose ancestors had occupied the area for thousands of years. About 600 village sites have been identified in the area. They were also considered skillful craftsmen in basketry,

I came the Japanese American National Museum on a Saturday afternoon and the admission was 10 dollar. First of all, I am not Japanese, but I felt a connection when I was browsing around the museum. So start from Left to Right to see everything in chronological order. There are a few rooms full of photo, costumes, and Objects. The exhibit that was on display was focused on World War II internment camps. It was fun to see pictures of Los Angeles and Hawaii from the 1930-1960’s. The black and whites photos told such a wonderful story. I gained a new understanding of the hurt and discrimination that was inflicted upon the Japanese Americans and other Asians living in the United States at the time of World War II by the United States Government.

I’ve learned over the years that my mother, sister, and I are all American Cherokee Indian. My “Greatest” great-grandmother, what i like to call her, followed the culture of Cherokee Indians. She believed in magic, spirits, and veneration of her ancestors, Although I didn’t get to speak to her much about her history and culture often, I tell how much she wanted my mother and her children to embrace and never forget where we come from. To be exact from my knowledge my ancestors move up to New York and continued their lives here. This is where my mother was born and raised. Unfortunately I’ve never met my grandmother, my mother’s mom but I’ve heard she was a heartwarming lively woman about who she was. My mother doesn’t follow right after my

The fourth way the state manipulates space and place to contain and control brown illegalized migrant bodies is, “…in deadly hostile environs in desert treks that all too often become death marches when immigrants lose their way and die from exposure to the elements” (Fowler, 1).

The Florence Griswold Museum is located at 96 Lyme Street in Old Lyme, CT. Florence Griswold was the youngest child of a sea captain. Her father lost the family fortune by investing in boats at the time when Connecticut was losing the boating community. This made them broke and in debt. Mr. Griswold went and took out multiple mortgages on the house. Mr. Griswold passed away and Florence Griswold outlived her siblings. She inherited the family home, and along with that home came all of the debts also. Miss. Griswold had to figure out how to keep her home. She opened her home to boarders, which was common in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. In 1899, Henry Ward Ranger boarded at The Griswold home and wanted to set up an art colony in New England. He loved the

We encounter representations of Native Americans everyday and often times are not even aware of the encounters. Native Americans and images that represent them have become somewhat lost within our culture because we do not actively seek them in our observations. I have discovered through my active observations that there are representations of Native peoples all around us that can be discovered if we just pay attention and look a little closer.

Most people know about how the Europeans took land form the Native American Indians when they first arrived off the ships. This engraving is a representation of what that was like through the eyes of a European. The title of the engraving is William Penn's treaty with the Indians, when he founded the province of Pennsylvania in North America 1681, and was painted by Benjamin West and engraved by John Hall. Later on it was published by a London man by the name of John Boydell in 1775. Looking at all the faces in this engraving, one can determine that they were unhappy with the arrangement of the peace treaty.