Imai Culture

Quoted by Handler and Gable, critic Ada Louise Huxtable declares the newly constructed reproduction of Colonial Williamsburg as “too clean,” arguing that it “does not include the filth and stench that would have been commonplace.” (Source E) This sanitation of the truth completely misrepresents history, and the educational value greatly suffers. Conversely, the National Museum of the American Indian hopes to avoid this lack of judgment by dedicating itself to the “preservation, study, and exhibition of the life, languages, literature, history, and Arts of Native Americans.” (Source C) The main goal of the museum is to “span all major cultural areas” (C) and educate the public about and preserve the rich history of such a vast culture. The authenticity and significance of artifacts are important to representing culture and history, and the ability of these artifacts to educate should be a key factor of the selection process.

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.

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

The University of Washington, Seattle is a renowned institution with an extensive research facility placed at the disposal in conjunction with the Burke memorial museum. The imperative scientific “necessity” for further research of the remains has placed the museum as an institution in the wake of a highly controversial set of issues. The university has the initiative to perpetuate the sciences conducive to the study of anthropology, providing educational biases. The requests made on the behalf of the Native communities has a true claim to the respectful treatment of said human remains that is directly conflicting with the claims the scientific community has proclaimed. The definitions of respectful treatment are disputant amongst the two groups and continue to place the Burke Museum in the middle ground of a severe conflict. The university and the museum have taken the situation as an opportunity to educate the public to a degree, launching a section on the museum’s web cite that chronicles the displacement of “Kennewick Man”.

In the early 1990’s the Smithsonian Institution and its National Museum of the American Indian committed to the returning of human remains, burial artifacts, sacred objects, and other articles of cultural patrimony to Indian tribes. (“IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY”). Moreover, members are active in court cases involving land claims. Dating back to a treaty during George Washington’s administration, the Indian Nations and all members of the Iroquois confederation, have demanded the return of vast swaths of land, which is back up by the federal government. Chen

Interestingly, the building is similar to a tepee in that there was a small window on the top of the rounded celling. Even the elevator was spacious and adorned with tribal symbols. Therefore, before one even enters the exhibit, it is clear that the narrative is one that celebrates culture. Even Atalay, a Native American author recognizes that “… the NMAI aims to ‘recognize and affirm’… Native cultures… and [advance] knowledge and understanding of those cultures” (Atalay 600). Thus creating a sharp contrast from that of the Holocaust. Despite the hardships and the genocide which befell the Native Americans, this museum has a different narrative to preserve, one rich with culture, rather than brutality. The differences displayed in architecture and design help effectively deliver each narrative because they visually and psychologically affect each visitor, adding a deeper layer to the story, effectively conveying each

What I learned most through Albany field trip is about history. First, we went to Iroquois Indian Museum. I haven’t studied Native American in my home country. One of the tribes is called Iriquois Indian. When I looked around the museum, I thought its culture has some similarities with Japanese culture for the following reasons. First, I was surprised that there were a lot of ornaments of turtle or woman in the museum and there is a tale about woman and turtle. Japanese also respect the turtle because it regards as a symbol of longevity. The ornament of woman represents for fertility. In the tale that Iriquois people believe, they think the turtle helps skywoman, who fell from the sky, and made the Earth. So women are powerful than men. As

Before the establishment of the NMAI there had been no American or Canadian national institution strictly dedicated to native cultures. Native Americans from all the major tribes of North America collaborated with the museum community in building design, landscaping and

Archaeologists recover and study the early history of societies and their culture. They uncover evidence left by people from the past. During my search on the web I found an article called Scientists Have Mapped All of the Otzi the Iceman’s 61 Tattoos. This article is about Otzi a prehistoric man discovered in Sep. 1991. Two tourists found his remains in a glacier in the Italian Alps. Since than scientist and researchers have analyzed him to paint a picture of what life was like during his life 5,300 years ago. He suffered from degenerative diseases or deterioration and loss of function in the organs or tissues, but he eventually died from a wound in the shoulder caused by an arrow. Early studies show he had 49 to 57 tattoos, but later it

Museum is the place for people and researchers to go to learn more about almost any artifacts of Nimrud. Sir Layard sent them to this specific location for that reason, to be able to be preserved in the best possible care, yet still can be cherished by the public. Some artifacts cannot be transported, such as the Northwest

This paper will attempt to illustrate the relationship between museums and First Nations peoples in regards to the issue of repatriation. Using the example of the Haida Gwaii First Nations and their successful and on-going campaign towards repatriation within Canada, this paper will address the discussions and perspectives of both the anthropologists (archaeologists) and First Nations people in the academic and non-academic fields. The division of views on the issue of repatriation are loosely categorised into three groups: archaeologists, anthropologists and scientists that value scientific knowledge over the humanity of the remains, the return of ancestors that are believed by First Nations to have been stolen and stripped of their humanity and therefore should be returned, and finally the middle ground in which there are Indigenous academics and non-Indigenous academics that strive to return human remains and in cases where it is not possible, treat them in a more respectful and culturally sensitive manner.

One of the examples of Japanese ancient culture that is familiar to Europeans is a book of Sei Senagon, which was written during the 990s and early 11th century. It describes events of everyday life, poetry and personal thoughts about different things. For me it is interesting to touch upon the description of «beautiful things». Among others she lists sparrows, doll furniture,

Most well known civilizations are fairly young in their life spans. The United Kingdom, France, Italy; all these cultures as they are known today have only existed for approximately 400 years. The Māori, an indigenous culture of New Zealand, have existed for a millennia. Specialized in nautical exploits, the Māori thrived off of the island 's bountiful seas and developed a unique, rich identity as a people. Yet rather than being regarded as a national treasure, most of New Zealand 's citizens and the rest of the world treat the aboriginal population as a novelty. Most top search results for “Māori Culture” are for attractions, guided tours, and similar spectacles. This culture, which has persisted for nearly a thousand years, is gradually withering into little more than a side show attraction. Rather than scholarly journals, articles, and history text, is instead an encroaching investment of the Māori as capital, and how businesses may benefit from them (Rigby, Mueller, & Baker, 2011, 121). This plight of exoticism is not exclusive to the Maori; aboriginal and indigenous societies all over the world are forced into a unique cultural adaption in order to survive in Western capitalist climates. Companies assume a guise of social interest, but “there is one and only one social responsibility of business - to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game” (Rigby, Mueller, & Baker, 2011, 118).

Document 4b.5 in Strange Visitors was created by Harry Assu an elected chief of the We Wai Kai Nation of the Lekwiltok (Smith, 107). After reading the document the reader can see the injustices Indigenous people faced because the federal government implemented restrictive policies which prevented Indigenous people from participating in important cultural events, most notably the potlatch. Assu wrote the document to share his experiences of the loss of the potlatch, to highlight the severe consequences Indigenous people face if they participated in a potlatch and why it was so important for the community to have the artifacts returned. Assu’s source is useful to historians because it shows the strength and determination that Indigenous people had as they were eventually able to reacquire some of their stolen potlatch artifacts; they created a museum owned and operated by Indigenous people which demonstrates courage, commitment and strong leadership within the Indigenous community.

The Japanese culture has developed many traditions dating back thousands of years and are still commonly used in modern times. Their historical monuments, cultural entertainment and unforgettable Japanese cuisine draws attention from all over the world. According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, 24.03 million travelers visited Japan in 2016 and is expected to achieve 29 million tourists in 2017. Although this country is a popular destination to visit,