Decolonising the museum: the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC.

Decolonising the museum: the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC. The development of national institutions such as museums and artgalleries coincided with the emergence of colonialism and imperialism,and consequently such institutions were saturated with notions of racialdifference and human classification popular at the time (Foley 2000).Colonialism was inextricably in��ex��tri��ca��ble?adj.1. a. So intricate or entangled as to make escape impossible: an inextricable maze; an inextricable web of deceit.b. intertwined with the notion of researchingexotic lands and their populations and establishing what Said (1978)calls the 'positional superiority' of the colonisers. Each newcollection of objects evoked the conceptualisation (artificial intelligence) conceptualisation - The collection of objects, concepts and other entities that are assumed to exist in some area of interest and the relationships that hold among them. of a place and apeople previously unknown to Europeans. Placed in museums, these objectswere 'transformed by their context into something that could beseen both as exotic and as typifying a place or people' (Fox 1992),their very existence symbolising the ability of Europeans to obtaincontrol over uncharted worlds. This occurred at both the centres andperipheries of colonial worlds. As Linda Tuhiwai Smith notes: ... research became institutionalised in the colonies, not just through academic disciplines, but through learned and scientific societies and scholarly networks. The transplanting of research institutions, including universities, from the imperial centres of Europe enabled local scientific interests to be organized and embedded in the colonial system. (Smith 1999: 8) The discourse of colonialism informs the design of museum exhibitsin a number of specific ways, and can be identified with three governingconcepts: the boundary, the label, and the meta-narrative. The'boundary' is important because it allows the classificationof collections according to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. time and space as well as the dichotommiesessential to colonialism such as that of 'self' and'other'. The 'label' is important because itdemonstrates that the unknown is known, and that the world can beordered. The 'metanarrative' is important because itestablishes the authority of the institution as well as the positionalsuperiority of the colonisers. Taken together, these three conceptsshape the exhibits of the colonial museum, normalising the powerrelations inherent in cultural hegemony Cultural hegemony is a concept coined by Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci. It means that a diverse culture can be ruled or dominated by one group or class, that everyday practices and shared beliefs provide the foundation for complex systems of domination. . Challenging these concepts isan essential step in the decolonisation n. 1. same as decolonization.Noun 1. decolonisation - the action of changing from colonial to independent statusdecolonizationgroup action - action taken by a group of people of the museum. The challenges faced by the designers of the National Museum of theAmerican Indian have been great. Located at the interface betweenIndigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, the over-riding hurdle was thatof shaping what is essentially a Western medium (and one which can beinterpreted as the epitome of the Western penchant to order and controlboth past and present), to convey Native history in such a way that itis guided by Native philosophies, but aimed at a primarily non Nativeaudience. The touchstone guiding the Museum through these challenges hasbeen its mission statement: The National Museum of the American Indian shall recognize and affirm to Native communities and the non-Native public the historical and contemporary cultural achievements of the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere by advancing, in consultation, collaboration, and cooperation with Native people, knowledge and understanding of Native cultures, including art, history, and language, and by recognizing the museum's special responsibility, through innovative public programming, research, and collections, to protect, support, and enhance the development, maintenance, and perpetuation of Native culture and community. Director W. Richard West, Jr, a Southern Cheyenne and former Chairof the American Association of Museums, saw the shaping of the NMAI NMAI National Museum of the American Indian (Smithsonian)NMAI National Museum of American Illustration (Newport Rhode, Island)as achoice between a 'temple' where interpretations are determinedby a disciplinary elite and a 'forum' for the sharing ofknowledge between Native and non-Native groups (West 2002). Embedded inthe concept of forum is the notion of a living heritage as a fundamentalreality that must be represented, as the NMAI takes on a specialresponsibility to protect, support and enhance the development,maintenance and perpetuation of Native culture and community. Inpursuing this aim, a museum was created that was shaped by the voicesand worldviews of Native peoples. The installations were underpinned byfive principles (West 2002): Community: our tribes are sovereign nations. Locality: this is Indian land. Vitality: we are here now. Viewpoint: we know the world differently. Voice: these are our stories. This scheme of knowledge is given material substance in the mannerthat objects in the collections are arranged and described. Derivingfrom Indigenous conceptual readings of the world, the classificatorysystems of the NMAI reveal a holistic concern with the relationshipsbetween plants, animals, humans and places as well as between past andpresent. This is contrary to non-Indigenous classification systems,being based on neither the Linnean system of linking similarities offeatures, nor the tradition of Cutter's system of locating items inplace, preferably adjacent to other items which share similar features(see Mathe 1998; Chanda 2001). Constructed with the conscious aim of transforming relationsbetween Native and non-Native people, the establishment of the NMAI hadthe potential to transform the organisation of knowledge in a number ofways--by changing the sense of historical memory and, in the case ofnational museums, the sense of national identity. This meant challengingthe authority of existing institutions. Shaped within contemporarypostcolonial discourse, the very notion of a National Museum of theAmerican Indian had the potential to allow visitors to rethink thehistory of Native peoples and, since history is written by victors, toestablish the triumph of Native peoples over the adversities ofcolonialism. Why, then, are some people disappointed, confused or angry? Creation of the NMAI The NMAI is the first national museum dedicated to thepreservation, study, and exhibition of the life, languages, literature,history and arts of Native Americans. It was originally established in1989 with the collections of the former Museum of the American Indian,Heye Foundation Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation:see National Museum of the American Indian. , in New York New York, state, United StatesNew York,Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . However, its centrepiece facility, themuseum on the National Mall in Washington, DC did not open until 21September 2004. This $200 million institution also incorporates aresearch centre in Suitland, Maryland, where tribal visitors can holdceremonies as part of a shared stewardship of the objects (see Sides2004); and the George Gustav Heye Center, located in New York City New York City:see New York, city. New York CityCity (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. .Taken together, these facilities hold responsibility for the managementand interpretation of the world's largest collection of NativeAmerican artefacts. The celebrations surrounding the opening of the new museum on theMall attracted extensive national media attention, an importantoccurrence in a country where the injurious in��ju��ri��ous?adj.1. Causing or tending to cause injury; harmful: eating habits that are injurious to one's health.2. effects of colonialism onIndigenous peoples have been over-shadowed by that other travesty ofhuman rights, slavery. The feeling of empowerment that Native Americansfelt during these celebrations was almost tangible. More than 17 000people registered for the Native Nations Procession along the Mall,which started symbolically at the National Museum of Natural History,the Smithsonian institution Smithsonian Institution,research and education center, at Washington, D.C.; founded 1846 under terms of the will of James Smithson of London, who in 1829 bequeathed his fortune to the United States to create an establishment for the "increase and diffusion of most clearly impacted by the new NMAI. Theexpectations of Indigenous peoples were high and the NMAI expected tofulfil them: Set against the dramatic backdrop of the U.S. Capitol building on the National Mall, the museum's location symbolizes a deeper understanding and reconciliation between America's first citizens and those who have come to make these shores their home. The opening of NMAI on the National Mall marks an unprecedented cultural achievement as Native Americans from North, Central, and South America realize a long-awaited dream to share and honor their vibrant cultures with visitors from throughout the world. (http://www.nmai.si.edu/) The opening ceremonies were followed by the First AmericansFestival, a 6-day celebration that included more than 300 prominentNative American musicians, dancers, and storytellers, representing 30-40Native communities in North, South and Central America Central America,narrow, southernmost region (c.202,200 sq mi/523,698 sq km) of North America, linked to South America at Colombia. It separates the Caribbean from the Pacific. . With ananticipated attendance of more than 600 000 visitors from throughout theworld, this festival of 'living arts' provided a uniqueopportunity for members of the public to experience Native culturesfirst hand, providing visual confirmation of the NMAI'S commitmentto reaching across the gap between Native and non-Native peoples in theAmericas. The design of the museum, like the choice of exhibits, emerged fromextensive discussions with Native communities and individuals (NMAI2004). Reminiscent of the adobe architectural style of the AmericanSouthwest and with sweeping curves that suggest that the building wasfashioned by the elements, the new museum's landscape reminds usthat this is the land of Indigenous peoples. This landscape includesmore than 33 000 plants of 150 species, a pond with lily pads, awaterfall, tobacco leaves, cornstalks and more than 40 large uncarvedrocks and boulders, called Grandfather Rocks, which symbolise thelongevity of Native peoples' relationships to their lands. It issituated according to the cardinal directions and the entrance isaligned to the Capitol building, giving material substance to the powerrelations that exist between the two institutions. The permanent installations are focused on three themes: OurUniverses, Our Lives, and Our Peoples, augmented by an opening artexhibition called Native Modernism. The manner in which traditionalIndigenous cosmologies, philosophies and worldviews shape thecontemporary world guides the first installation, which has the fulltitle Our Universes: Traditional Knowledge Shapes Our World. Organisedaround the solar year, this exhibit depicts the lives of Indigenouspeoples from throughout the Western Hemisphere Western HemispherePart of Earth comprising North and South America and the surrounding waters. Longitudes 20° W and 160° E are often considered its boundaries. as a living heritageinherited from their ancestors. Community galleries explore these issuesin depth as they inform the lives of eight individual communities, thoseof the Pueblo of Santa Clara (Espanola, NM, USA), Anishinaabe (HollowWater and Sagkeeng Bands, Manitoba, Canada), Lakota (Pine Ridge Pine Ridge is the name of several places in the United States and Canada, including: Pine Ridge (region), of northwestern Nebraska and southwestern South Dakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of southwestern South Dakota Reservation, SD, USA), Quechua (Communidad de Phaqchanta, Cusco, Peru),Hupa (Hoopa Valley, CA, USA), Q'eq'chi' Maya (Coban,Guatemala), Mapuche (Temuco, Chile), and Yup'ik (Yukon-KuskokwimDelta The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta is one of the biggest river deltas in the world, roughly the size of Oregon. It is located where the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers empty into the Bering Sea on the west coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. , AK, USA). Each community gallery showcases the culturalphilosophies that guide that community, and is designed to reflect thatcommunity's particular cosmology. Many of these accounts are notchronological, which contrasts with traditional museum formats but isconsistent with the characteristics of Native histories (see Rappaport1998: 11). The installation also highlights several seasonal events: theNorth American Indigenous Games The North American Indigenous Games is a multi-sport event involving indigenous North American athletes staged intermittently since 1990. The Games are managed by the Native American Sports Council, Inc., a non-profit member organization of the United States Olympic Committee. , the annual Powwow held in Denver,Colorado, and the Christian/Indigenous Day of the Dead festivities fes��tiv��i��ty?n. pl. fes��tiv��i��ties1. A joyous feast, holiday, or celebration; a festival.2. The pleasure, joy, and gaiety of a festival or celebration.3. ofMesoamerica. The last five centuries of Native history are told directly throughNative American voices in the installation entitled Our Peoples: GivingVoice to Our Histories. As they tell their own histories, these peoplenot only offer new insights into their cultures but also challenge thestereotypes that would have them depicted as unchanging. This exhibitconcentrates on the strategies used by Native peoples in their strugglesfor survival when confronted by the impact of new diseases and weapons,a weakening of traditional spirituality, and a seizure of lands bycolonising governments. Our Lives: Contemporary Life and Identities discloses the layers ofIndigenous identity in a contemporary world. It focuses on the lives ofeight Native communities: the Campo Band of Kumeyaay Indians (CA, USA),the urban Indian community of Chicago (IL, USA), Yakama Nation (WA,USA), Igloolik (Nunavut, Canada), Kahnawake (Quebec, Canada),Saint-Laurent Metis (Manitoba, Canada), Kalinago (Carib Territory,Dominica), and the Pamunkey Tribe (VA, USA). Consistent with Indigenousways of teaching (see Nez Denetdale 2004: 138) the stories arepersonalised through being presented by community members. Individuallyand together, they highlight the strategies that Native people employedin order to survive the on-going impact of colonisation, maintaincultural integrity and preserve traditional languages and arts. Thediversity of these Native displays is but a reflection of the diversityof Native communities. The NMAI collections derive from Indigenous groups that span theWestern Hemisphere, from the Yupik of Alaska to the Tapirape of Brazil.The objects range from stone tools, masks and baseball caps to bibles,guns and jewellery. While the NMAI has some 8 000 000 objects to drawupon, as in other museums only around 1 per cent of these can be ondisplay. How to choose the objects to be included in the 1 per cent?With more than 30 per cent of the collection coming from Central andSouth America South America,fourth largest continent (1991 est. pop. 299,150,000), c.6,880,000 sq mi (17,819,000 sq km), the southern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , the NMM NMM National Maritime Museum (Greenwich, England)NMM Network Management ModuleNMM Non Metallic Metal (painting technique)NMM N-MethylmorpholineNMM Naar Mijn Mening has a responsibility to substantively andsensitively represent the depth and diversity of these regions as wellas that of North America North America,third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. . Integrating objects from Indigenous culturesin North, Central and South America into overall narratives ofIndigenous histories and the impact of colonisation takes away from thedivides created by contemporary political borders, focussing attentionon the enduring, though changing, relations between these Indigenousgroups throughout the Western Hemisphere, without the restrictions ofmodern day boundaries. This diversity is perhaps clearest in the openinginstallation of masks and figurines from throughout the Westernhemisphere (Figure 3), a stunning and elegant crystallisation of themultiplicity of Native cultures before contact with Europeans. [FIGURE 3 OMITTED] The visual message is of cultural diversity, reinforced by nothaving the masks labelled or individually provenanced. By failing toprovide easy resolution in the forms of labels and provenance, the mindis directed towards consideration of the links between the objects.Thinking on this installation, for the first time I seriously tried toimagine the cultural diversity of the Western Hemisphere, as it existedbefore contact. The installations also challenge the conventions that inform thedisplay of Indigenous cultures. The usual design of Indigenous exhibitsis shaped by an assumed division between 'art' and'science', between aesthetic experiences and the study ofethnographic objects. As Price (1989: 87) points out, in ethnographicexhibits 'aesthetic experiences and beauty are not joined withethnographic evidence and social curiosity, but opposed to them'.In contrast, the installations at the NMAI are exquisite, more akin tothose of an art gallery than to traditional ethnographic spaces. Ratherthan cram objects and their individual labels into congested con��gest��edadj.Affected with or characterized by congestion.congestedENT adjective Referring to a boggy blood-filled tissue. See Nasal congestion. ethnographic displays, the NMAI carefully arranges the pieces to providethe visitor with an aesthetically pleasing--and memorable--experience.Freed from an over-arching curatorial voice and the distractinglabelling of individual objects, the exhibits convey the 'bigpicture' whilst admitting the possibility of multivalentinterpretations. For example, the display of gold objects (Figure 4) notonly tells of colonial greed and the emergence of global economies, butalso incorporates corncobs as a reminder of traditional forms of wealthin the Western Hemisphere. Released from clutter, these objects movebeyond their traditional roles as icons of cultural difference toengender multi-layered interpretations of Indigenous cultures, and a newidentity as fine art. [FIGURE 4 OMITTED] This approach to ethnographic display is part of an emerging trendwithin muscology that challenges a strict boundary between art andscience, itself ironically an echo of colonial approaches established inregions with small populations during periods of limited funding (e.g.the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery is a museum located in Hobart, Tasmania. The museum was established in , by the Royal Society of Tasmania under the leadership of Sir John Franklin, the oldest Royal Society outside of England. in Hobart, Australia or the GlenbowMuseum The Glenbow Museum in Calgary is Western Canada's largest museum, with over 93,000 square feet (8,600 m2) of exhibition space in more than 20 galleries, showcasing a selection of the Glenbow's collection of over a million objects. in Calgary, Alberta, Canada). A re-conceptualisation of theWestern division between art and science is also apparent in the MuseeDapper, Paris, a museum akin to the NMAI in many critical respects: Breaking with the tradition of Trocadero and Tervuren, it introduced contemporary gallery aesthetics and presentation strategies into the exhibition of African art. Instead of crowding multiple objects into a single case as anthropological artifacts, grouped according to ethnic and 'tribal' origin, the Dapper respectfully showcased each piece. This approach takes advantage of the best aspects of museum and gallery environments. While this absence of anthropological texts might have been a source of concern to Africanist scholars, it enhanced the streamlined aesthetic effect that is integral to the Dapper's style. (Jules-Rosette 2002) The seamless join between archaeology and art is emphasised by theinaugural art exhibition of the new facility, Native Modernism, whichexplores the works of George Morrison and Allan Houser Allan Houser ( June 29 1914 - August 221994) was one of the most renowned Native American painters and Modernist sculptors of the 20th century. Born of the Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache tribe of Oklahoma, U.S. , prominent andinnovative Native American artists Criteria for inclusion is that the artist be of verifiable Native American descent as a tribal member. "Native American" is defined as meeting the requirements established by either state or federal regulations, and meeting the eligibility requirements for artist membership in the Indian who worked from the mid-1930s to thelate 1990s. The museum's over-arching theme of reclaiming the pastis perhaps most evident in Morrison's 'Red Totem 1'.Reminiscent of the carved poles of the Northwest, called totem poles byearly anthropologists, the Red Totem series reclaims the word'totem' for the Chippewa people, for whom it means'family mark'. Taken together, these exhibits highlight thecomplexity and distinction of Native fine arts--a long way from theirtraditional relegation to the category of 'Native arts andcrafts'. Critiques Using Indigenous classification systems in the presentation ofNative histories presents significant difficulties, the most critical ofwhich is that people from outside the cultures concerned may not be ableto read the exhibits adequately. Given the diversity of Native cultures,this can apply to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous viewers. For ajournalist, who has to cover a wide range of topics in which they arenot always expert and writing against deadlines, this can be downrightfrustrating, as is evident in the following quotations from a review byWashington Post journalist Paul Richard Paul Richard was the Mayor of New York from 1735 to 1739.••[ : On the third floor, finally, there are some Indian things to see--a gangiluk (a 19th-century Aleutian hunting hat made of wood and walrus whiskers), a Victorian pincushion and moccasins. All of these have beads on them. One can see no other reason why they're side by side. Indians do beadwork, that's the point. They also chipped at rocks, and for this reason we are shown scores, or perhaps hundreds, of arrowheads and spear points, all swirled into a pattern as if they had just joined a school offish. Who precisely made them? How old are they? From where do they come? By now one understands--because answers aren't provided--that one is not supposed to ask. Eight thousand varied objects, some spectacular, are offered to the eye. What's missing is the glue of thought that might connect one to another. Instead one tends to see totem poles and T-shirts, headdresses and masks, toys and woven baskets, projectile points and gym shoes, things both new and ancient, beautiful and not, all stirred decoratively together in no important order that the viewer can discern. (Richard 2004) Some of the exhibits criticised by Richard are shaped by thepostmodern notion of 'open storage' while others are fashionedaccording to Indigenous, rather than Western, systems of classification,in the process taking Indigenous experiences from the colonial peripheryto the centre. These latter exhibits are based on different assumptionsand have different systems of organisation to those encountered in mostmuseums. For example, some Indigenous tribes in South America have aclassification system for trees that identifies many species thatscience does not, and appears to overlook species that sciencerecognizes (Knowledge, Imagery, Vision and Understanding (KIVU) 2004).Indigenous peoples think more in terms of relationships and linkagesthan partitions (Smith & Burke 2004; see also Zimmerman 1995; Kluth& Munnell 1997; Rappaport 1998). The power, knowledge and authority of the NMAI is asserted throughchallenging the conventions that underlie most museum installations, andthe combination of Indigenous systems of classification, minimallabelling and the absence of meta-narrative can cause confusion forvisitors. Marc Fisher, of the Washington Post comments: The narrator asks visitors to 'view what's offered with respect, but also with skepticism.' That's the right spirit, but the museum fails to give visitors the basic tools needed to ask good, skeptical questions. There's not nearly enough fact or narrative to give us the foundation we need to judge the Indians" version of their story. (Fisher 2004) The NMAI's conscious sharing of authority with its Indigenousconstituency has produced exhibits that have a different shape andcontent to those of conventional museums. This can be troubling for someviewers, who become unsure of why they are seeing what they are seeing.This is evident in the following review by Andrew Ferguson ''For the American journalist, see Andrew Ferguson (journalist)Andrew Ferguson is Secretary of the New South Wales Construction and General Division of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union. for theBloomberg News: Almost all the exhibits have been designed by native peoples themselves, with a minimum of curatorial oversight, and it shows. Thus in the middle of one space sits a 1950s Bombardier snow bus, used by Metis Indians for snow-fishing. Another display shows a front door taken from an Indian community center in downtown Chicago. One entire case is devoted to an annual Indian singing and dance competition--held in Denver every spring since 1973. The 'artifacts' here are a stack of bumper stickers, a plastic cup from a concession stand, and a jean jacket stamped 'Denver March Pow Wow 2004'. (Ferguson 2004) And for some, the diversity, and even the multivocality implied bythe establishment of a National Museum of the American Indian, isdisturbing. Marc Fisher, for example, laments what he describes as'the balkanization of a society that seems ever more ashamed of theunity and purpose that sustained it over two centuries', and yearnsfor a synthesising history that would create social unity: The Holocaust Memorial Museum started us down this troubling path. Its location there [near the National Mall] opened the gate for the deconstruction of American history into ethnically separate stories told in separate buildings. Museums of black and Hispanic history are in the works ... Now, sadly, the Smithsonian, instead of synthesizing our stories, shirks its responsibility to give new generations of Americans the tools with which to ask the questions that could clear a path toward a more perfect union. (Fisher 2004) By contrast, a serious criticism of the museum for both Native andnon-Native people with a political agenda for change, is that it doesnot sufficiently take up the task of unmasking the histories ofcolonialism (see Lebovics 2004). Many people, especially young NativeAmericans, would have the museum take a more overtly political role. Nodoubt, this is related to the current conservative political climate ofthe United States United States,officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , since a large part of the Museum's funding comesdirectly from Congress. An overarching mandate was to use Native voices to tell theirstories. But which stories are to be told? This was another challengefor the new museum. With more than 600 tribes to draw upon in NorthAmerica alone, it was inevitable that there would have to be compromisenot only in terms of whose stories were told but also in terms of thedepth that could be presented. The solution adopted by the museum hastwo prongs: the diversity of cultures is evoked in exhibits in whichartefacts were not provenanced to individual tribes. Depth is providedin the eight community exhibits that exist in each of the Our Universesand Our Lives installations. While it was perhaps inevitable that somecommunities would be concerned that they were insufficientlyrepresented, the community installations were designed with the notionthat the communities represented will change through time, slowlyincreasing both the diversity and depth of the NMAI's exhibits. Counter-critique In a Western, literary way of viewing the world, museology mu��se��ol��o��gy?n.The discipline of museum design, organization, and management.muse��o��log as adiscipline has traditionally sought, and found, discontinuity andboundedness, classifying 'like' with 'like' andopposing this to 'difference' (see Wobst 2005). As a result,the classification systems that inform museum installations normallyseek and identify firm boundaries in time and space (e.g. Chanda 2001),failing to draw upon the more complex and nuanced systems of Indigenouspeoples. This occurs not only at the level of object identification andlabelling but also in the ways that curators design installations andpresent their interpretations. There is order in these displays, but itis not the kind of order--or the kind of 'glue ofthought'--that museum visitors have learned to expect. Objects arenot displayed in chronological sequences or geographical groupings, withneat labels that allow the visitor to provenance each object. Sometimes,as with the opening display of masks and figurines (see Figure 3), thisis because the exhibit is presenting cultural diversity, andprovenancing each object would divert attention from this wider story.At another level, it may be because the Museum wants its visitors tomove beyond the simple resolutions that come with labels. Certainly,people have to work at understanding the exhibits--and perhaps this isthe point. They have been given the power to determine what is importantfor themselves, and this will vary according to each individual, eachhaving their own interpretation. This is an Indigenous, not a Western,route to achieving knowledge. Describing his visit to the museum, anon-Native man with his young son told museum staff: At first we did not understand the order of the museum and we were having a bad time. Then we realized the museum is like a walk in the woods and then it all made sense. You can choose where you want to go and what you want to learn. (C. Rapkievian, email communication, 7 January 2005) Fisher's concern derives not only from his inability tounderstand the system of arrangement being presented but also from theabsence of a meta-narrative that provides clear directions on how tointerpret the material on display. Questions of power differences anddifferentials are integral to the meta-vocabularies normally used incross-cultural communication Cross-cultural communication (also frequently referred to as intercultural communication) is a field of study that looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds endeavour to communicate. (Morphy 2002), and the absence of this inthe NMAI's exhibits derives from its role as forum rather thantemple. The assertion of Indigenous authority imbues every aspect of thedisplays and the NMAI refuses to undermine this by providing anauthoritative curatorial voice against which to assess the validity ofNative peoples' voices. Instead of dictating the story that will betold, the NMAI has guided communities in the presentation of their ownvisions. Visitors such as Fisher who are looking for the'dispassionate', scientific curatorial voice that dominatesand directs the story will be disconcerted dis��con��cert?tr.v. dis��con��cert��ed, dis��con��cert��ing, dis��con��certs1. To upset the self-possession of; ruffle. See Synonyms at embarrass.2. . The museum visitor trained to seek a label for an authoritativeexplanation of the meaning of an object will also encounterdisappointment, and for the same reason. Developed out of the traditionsof natural science and Social Darwinism social DarwinismTheory that persons, groups, and “races” are subject to the same laws of natural selection as Charles Darwin had proposed for plants and animals in nature. , object-labels categorisecultures into the neat 'boxes' essential not only to Westerndiscourse but also to the colonial process itself. Ostensibly os��ten��si��ble?adj.Represented or appearing as such; ostensive: His ostensible purpose was charity, but his real goal was popularity. informative, the underlying purpose of labels is to provide secureresolution to the visitor and to confirm the authority of theinstitution. However, the information contained on labels in museums isusually sparse and often is limited to European, technical descriptors Technical descriptorsVariables that are used to describe the market in terms of patterns in historical data. (see, for example, Hemming 2002). Apparently innocuous descriptivelabels can be full of significant resonances, in the case of Indigenouscultures often carrying implicit messages of cultural hegemony andracial hierarchy. Based on the Western assumption of a right toknowledge, rather than the Indigenous notion that knowledge has to beearned, labels are a way of demonstrating that the unknown is known,that the untamed is tamed and that we live in a world that can becontrolled through order. In his comment above, Ferguson fails to recognise that Nativepeople have expert knowledge in their own cultures, and that the role ofcurator may be one of helping a community to realise its vision, ratherthan that of imposing a narrative upon that community. Ferguson'sconfusion is compounded by his conceptualisation of archaeology as adiscipline that deals solely with ancient artefacts and does not includeobjects of modern material culture, a distinction that was abandoned byarchaeologists during the early 1980s (e.g. Gould & Schiffer 1981).The NMAI takes a more modern view. While Heye's collectionconstitutes the core of the installations, it is augmented with a widerange of objects, many donated by Native American tribes. The eclecticjuxtaposition of ancient and modern objects is a conscious strategy thatasserts that Indigenous peoples have a living heritage and whichprevents them from having their authenticity confined to a static past.These exhibits say, 'Our cultures are in a constant state ofbecoming. Our cultures are being shaped today and our authenticity willnot be assessed in terms of a pristine and unchanging Indigenous past.We are still here and we are still evolving.' In this sense, theseexhibits express the ongoing shaping of Native identities. In deciding not to provide a foundation of 'fact' againstwhich to judge the authority of Native peoples' voices in thedisplays, the NMAI (knowingly, I am certain) left itself open to theaccusation of being 'unscholarly' (e.g. Noah 2004; Rothstein2004). This accusation is both unfair and ill-informed. There are two,not necessarily exclusive, explanations for the NMAI'sinterpretative strategy. The first is that an executive decision to tellIndigenous stories through Indigenous eyes produced a museum thatconcurs elegantly with postcolonial theory, since the postcolonialposition itself is shaped by Indigenous critiques. The second is thatcurators engaged consciously with decolonisation theory in the shapingof their exhibits, that every curatorial decision was considered deeply,and that no practice was adopted simply because this was the usual wayof doing it. Irrespective of irrespective ofprep.Without consideration of; regardless of.irrespective ofpreposition despitethe route, or intersection of routes, theoutcome is a museum that is profoundly scholarly, but with ideas thatare not always easily accessed by the general public or, for thatmatter, traditional anthropologists. This leaves the Museum open to amore valid criticism, of elitism e��lit��ismor ����lit��ism ?n.1. The belief that certain persons or members of certain classes or groups deserve favored treatment by virtue of their perceived superiority, as in intellect, social status, or financial resources. , and this is one that does need to beaddressed. In a postcolonial world, Fisher's view on the'balkanisation" of culture is unrealistic. Such views arebased on an unquestioning acceptance that it is normal for the dominantsociety to portray its own past but such display is radical for minoritygroups, such as Indigenous peoples. The kind of synthesis Fisher desiresis--and always was--unreal, produced by a cultural hegemony that keepsminority groups, and minority voices, in their place. The cultural unityfor which he longs is actually cultural repression. For Indigenouspopulations from the Western hemisphere, this repression is beingredressed by the National Museum of the American Indian. Conclusion Museums have the potential to be sites of 'fierce struggle andimpassioned debate' often centred around questions of whoconstitutes the community and who exercises the power to define itsidentity (Duncan 1995). For postcolonial museums, this process involvesthe unmasking and inversion of power relations. Wobst (2001) refers toartefacts as 'intentions to change something from what it was towhat it should be, or as intentions to prevent change that may takeplace in the absence of such artefacts'. He argues that the termmaterial 'intervention' emphasises that artefacts are placedinto contexts that humans want to change (or that humans expect willchange in undesirable directions if they do not enter artefacts into thesituation). From this viewpoint, it is possible to read the NMAI'sdisplays as a chronology of survival: starting with the pre-contactcultural diversity represented in the opening display of masks, movingto the displays of gold jewellery and artwork which highlight the greedthat drove the colonial enterprise, past the spears, guns and diseasethat was inherent in frontier conflict, to the bibles that symbolise thecolonisation of Indigenous people's minds and ending with thecommunity installations that celebrate the living heritage ofcontemporary Native peoples. The empowerment of new voices can involve a diminution of theauthority of established voices. By widening the concept of authority toinclude the voices of Indigenous peoples, many of whom feel they havebeen silenced for too long (see Deloria 1988, 1992; Zimmerman 1995;Watkins 2000; Shepherd 2002; Isaacson 2003), the NMAI, eitherintentionally or inadvertently, challenges the position ofnon-Indigenous peoples as authorities on Indigenous cultures. This mostclearly impacts upon the Smithsonian's National Museum of NaturalHistory (NMNH NMNH National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; also New Delhi, India; also seen as NMNHI)), which has extensive collections of Native Americanartefacts and human remains, and which often is portrayed as being inconflict with Native peoples, even in its own publications (e.g.Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History 2004). This process is grounded in the rights of Indigenous peoples tocontrol their cultural and intellectual property, a question of currentinterest in international forums (see Blakeney 1999; Janke 1999, 2003;Nicholas & Bannister 2004), archaeological ethics Archaeological ethics refers to a number of moral issues raised through the study of the material past.In common with other academic disciplines, archaeologists are bound to conduct their investigations to a high standard and observe intellectual property laws, Health and (e.g. Zimmerman etal. 2003; Meskell & Pels 2005) and issues relating to relating torelate prep → concernantrelating torelate prep → bez��glich +gen, mit Bezug auf +accthedecolonisation of archaeology generally (see Shepherd 2002; McNiven& Russell in press; Smith & Wobst 2005; Nicholas & Andrews1997). Through widening the concept of authority to recognise the voicesof Native peoples and communities, the NMAI has met the challenge toinvert in��vertv.1. To turn inside out or upside down.2. To reverse the position, order, or condition of.3. To subject to inversion.n.Something inverted. the power relations established by colonialism. As posed byClifford, this process is that of moving from exclusion to inclusion: Until museums do more than consult (often after the curatorial vision is firmly in place), until they bring a wider range of historical experiences and political agendas into the actual planning of exhibits and the control of museums collections, they will be perceived as merely paternalistic by people whose contact history with museums has been one of exclusion and condescension. (Clifford 1997: 448) Moreover, the NMAI has avoided the danger of presenting the historyof colonialism The historical phenomenon of colonisation is one that stretches around the globe and across time, including such disparate peoples as the Hittites, the Incas and the British, although the term colonialism as one of victors and victims, in the processperpetrating the disempowerment of Native peoples. Rather, the Museumhas chosen to look towards the future, emphasising Anishinaabe scholarGerald Vizenor's notion of 'survivance' over the'wrongs of the past': We have lived in these lands and sacred places for thousands of years. We thus are the original part of the cultural heritage of every person hearing these words today, whether you are Native or non-Native. We have felt the cruel and destructive edge of the colonialism that followed contact and lasted for hundreds of years. But, in our mind and in history, we are not its victims. As the Mohawks have counselled us, 'It is hard to see the future with tears in your eyes'. We have survived and, from a cultural standpoint, triumphed against great odds. We are here now--40 000 000 indigenous people throughout the Americas and in hundreds of different cultural communities. And we will insist, as we must, that we remain apart of the cultural future of the Americas, just as we were a part of its past and fought so hard to be apart of its present. (West 2004) In terms of the vocabulary of colonialism outlined by Linda TuhiwaiSmith (1999: 523), the NMAI has moved Indigenous cultures from themargin to the centre. Perhaps the greatest challenge has been that ofusing Native philosophies and worldviews to shape what is essentially aWestern medium for a primarily non-Native audience. Developed on theassumption that Native peoples are the only people able to speak abouttheir heritage values or to convey their ideas on the issues that aresignificant to them, the NMAI is meeting this challenge, but needs toconvey more clearly the philosophy underlying its interpretativestrategy. The challenge now is to make more accessible the Indigenousphilosophies that have shaped the differences embodied in the NMAI. Evena pamphlet containing a statement of intent would be helpful. Thescholarly disciplines normally drawn upon to understand culturaldifferences include art, history, anthropology and archaeology, but thetraditional manifestations of these disciplines have been rejected bythe NMAI as tools to be used in presenting Native cultures, so will beof little assistance in understanding the exhibits. Given the departurefrom traditional museum practices, more guidance is needed to help thevisitor successfully navigate these newly charted Indigenousterritories. The task now becomes that of providing that guidance insuch a way that it does not undercut the Indigenous shaping of theinstitution. As a National Museum charting new territory, the NMAI is leading anation down a path of understanding and reconciliation. Museums shapeour sense of historical memory, and national museums shape our sense ofnational identity. A cultural and spiritual emblem on the National Mallof Washington, DC, the Smithsonian's National Museum of theAmerican Indian exemplifies decolonisation in practice. Through beingconsciously shaped by the classification systems, worldviews andphilosophies of its Indigenous constituency, this new national museum isclaiming moral territory for Indigenous peoples, in the processreversing the impact of colonialism and asserting the unique place ofNative peoples in the past, present and future of the Americas. Note. Following the increasing practice of Indigenous authorsconcerned with decolonisation I capitalise the term'Indigenous', emphasising the sovereignty of Indigenous groups(see Craven 1996; Smith 1999:114-5). Acknowledgements This review would not have been written if I had not attended theopening of the NMAI in the company of Dorothy Lippert, Sonia Atalay andAmy Lonetree. The paper arose out of discussions in which we feltsimultaneously exhilarated ex��hil��a��rate?tr.v. ex��hil��a��rat��ed, ex��hil��a��rat��ing, ex��hil��a��rates1. To cause to feel happily refreshed and energetic; elate: We were exhilarated by the cool, pine-scented air. , and disappointed, confused and angry. Iwrote this review as my means of working through our responses. Allkindly gave detailed and thoughtful comments on a draft of this paper,and I am grateful to each for both the similarities and differences inour views. My ideas on decolonisation have developed collaborativelywith Gary Jackson over 15 years of working closely with theBarunga-Wugularr community of the Northern Territory, Australia, underthe teaching and guidance of Phyllis Wiynjorroc, Peter Manabaru, JimmyWesan and other, now deceased, Elders of the community. Figure 1 wasprovided by the NMAI. All other photos are by the author. References BLAKENEY, M. 1999. Intellectual property in the Dreamtime dream��timealso Dream��time ?n.The time of the creation of the world in Australian Aboriginal mythology: "Aboriginal myths tell of the legendary totemic beings who wandered across the country in the Dreamtime . . . :protecting the cultural creativity of Indigenous Peoples. WP 11/99.Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre (OIPRC) Electronic Journalof Intellectual Property Rights. http://www.oiprc.ox.ac.uk/EJWP1199.html(accessed 10 November 2004). CHANDA, T. 2001. 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