Ancient Americas Museum

The long history between Native American and Europeans are a strained and bloody one. For the time of Columbus’s subsequent visits to the new world, native culture has

“Last Rights for Indian Dead” by Suzan Shown Harjo is an essay written that describes the desecration of Native American artifacts and remains and the call for action to put an end it. Harjo touches on the effects that the harboring and selling of these items causes. She speaks about the universities and the museums and their role in the problem; housing thousands of remains. One museum she speaks of houses over 19,000 remains. She also describes the desecration brought on by thieves digging up burial sites and taking what is not theirs.

Archaeologists can’t just possess any Native American material on their own for research purposes without the consultation of the Native American tribes. To the Native Americans, the past is connected to present. Rebecca Tsosie, a law professor from the Arizona State University mentioned that “The past is very real to contemporary Indian people ans is preserved in oral histories and ongoing ceremonial practices and beliefs.”(66). The native people feel that they’re obligated to take care of their past, they have to honor their ancestors no matter how long ago they have passed away. They believe that they should have the right to stop any behaviors that might desecrate their ancestors. It is very understandable that one might not appreciate someone digging up their grandparents and perform research without permission. Especially to people who practices a religion, this action may be interpreted as the archaeologists trying to disturb the spirits of their ancestors. Not only the remains and objects are important to the Natives, but also their land. Land was considered to be a gift given from the Creator. Just like the ancestral remains the descendants are responsible for their sacred land. It is believed that “The land is complete with sacred teachings, marked by tribal history, and places of interrelations to the powerful beings of the nature-spirit world.” (Champagne). The Native Americans do not have the need to know the truth, all they care is to ensure spiritual peace to their ancestors and to pass on the legacy of their own

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).

The walls vibrated with colors and the strokes of pencil danced across the pages. Twist and turns of materials displayed in tall glasses cases for all eyes to see. The exhibit for all to see especially the students interested in learning additional information about Latino background. This is how I felt as I walked through Musel del Barrio. I was quite excited to go to the Museo del Barrio because it was one of the museums in New York City that I have not been to. During this semester, my interest in the Nuyorican movement has grown. I was interested in learning more about the movements and the impact the museum had on the community.

On September 2nd I took a trip to the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory in Atlanta. The museum included many art exhibits from ancient cultures around the world. Including pieces from South America, Greece, and Egypt with larger exhibits as well as African and Asian cultures with smaller exhibits.

The fascination with Native Americans has been a constant with outsiders since explorers first “discovered” the New World. The biggest surge in this fascination came in the mid-19th century when the Indian Wars were starting to come to an end and the belief that Native Americans were disappearing, walking into the sunset never to be seen again. This led to an increase in the collecting of anything Native American, from artifacts to stories to portraits. The inevitable outcome of this was that Native Americans, who were never considered very highly to begin with, where now moved into a category of scientific interest to be study. This scientific interest in Native Americans is what many museums and other institutions based their collections and exhibits on and is one of the issues that many Native Americans have with how both their people and their culture were, and to some extent still are, represented in these places.

Upon entering Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore, I was instantly mesmerized by the vibrantly colored walls that are painted with Aztec inspired architectural designs, patterns, and colors. My first impression of these bold designs instantly gave me the feeling that I had entered a miniature version of an Aztec temple. While I waited for the other members to arrive for the workshop, I explored the numerous shelves that held

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

Time Exposures: Picturing a History of Isleta Pueblo in the 19th Century exhibit was reflected everything that was covered in anthropology class, such as the influence of imperialism taking over Native American culture and society. “This exhibition, organized by the Pueblo of Isleta, tells the story of life on the Isleta Indian Reservation in the 19th century and its lasting effects on life today.” The Smithsonian press release explain that “In 1881, the railroad companies forcibly took land in the center of Isleta Pueblo in the Rio Grande Valley and the rail lines built there brought scores of tourists.” Overall, the Time Exposures portray the Isleta Pueblo Native American lives before the arrival of other visitors. Furthermore, the changes imposed on the Natives in the subsequent years, along with the ways in which the people of Isleta Pueblo attempted to preserve their way of life. “’Time Exposures’ is divided into three parts. In the first section, the cycle of the Isleta traditional year as it was observed in the mid-19th century is detailed. The second section describes the arrival of the Americans and the how this disrupted the Isleta way of living. In the third section, the exhibit examines the photos themselves as products of an outside culture. While exploring the underlying ideas and values of the photos, the exhibition questions their portrayal of Isleta people and ways.”

To start off, a Natural History Museum is usually a place where the public can visit to obtain knowledge on the history of the earth and its inhabitants. Much about people’s culture and customs is found in a Natural History museum, especially people that have made a difference or played a role in history that we learn today. Therefore, the Indigenous peoples are represented in these precise museums. The indigenous people have various amount of customs that are even used today, however, the fact that many of their descriptions are led by the word “histor” or “ancient” almost makes the guests at museums believe that these indigenous people are no longer alive, and that is incorrect. The key objective for a Natural History museum is to simply help connect the understanding of human beings, connections based on culture, communities, to the earth and to each other. Precisely, The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles does not fully represent in depth the qualities that made the indigenous people so innovative, intelligent, and powerful; Therefore, the importance of the indigenous people is almost overshadowed by everything else that is presented at the museum. Overall, the indigenous people are represented here because of their

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 enjoy all kinds of art. When I was a kid, I went to multiple art exhibits (unfortunately, I do not have much time to do that anymore). On the other hand, I am not good at making art. In addition to enjoying art, I also enjoy history. I watch T.V. shows relating to history as much as I can. I have always excelled in history classes. In this essay, I will compare and contrast Tenochtitlan and the figurehead of Andrew Jackson. These two artifacts are very much unlike each other.

My reactions to the historic declaration were mixed. On the one hand, I felt that the historic declaration was reasonable and essential. The Declaration endows the indigenous peoples with basic human rights as other people. It ends suffering of indigenous peoples and justifies their rights to self-determination, identity, ownership of land, culture, and many other issues. I am happy for indigenous peoples and grateful for the United Nations’ efforts. On the other hand, I felt sorry for our behaviors and words. Indigenous peoples are the same with other peoples, such as Americans, Canadians, and Australians. However, they have been discriminated and unfairly treated for a long time and the discrimination still exists after the Declaration was

This webpage outlines the discussion of the 2014 United Nations (UN) world conference on indigenous peoples. It brings together in succinct detail the outcomes and objectives, promoting the implementation and advancement of Indigenous peoples rights. The Human Rights Commission mentions only the UN which could suggest bias. However, the UN is made up of a multitude of organisations and governing bodies that give the source authority.