This week we had speakers Nancy Mithlo and Tom Jones discuss their experiences and professional work with museums. Nancy’s background is in anthropology and she has studied and worked all over the country. She spoke about Native American art and museums in relation to education and awareness. She described to us her experiences with the National Museum of the American Indian, her impressions and the controversy surrounding
the museum. Also, she spoke of Native American imagery and we viewed a short film by Erica Lord entitled “Redman” that depicts the brutality of racism through rather simple, but stark imagery and dialouge. Nancy also mentioned her new book Our Indian Princess which discusses imagery as communication, issues surrounding causation of racial stereotypes, and how imagery can form the framework for discussion of Native American issues. She gave the names of many artists, intellectuals, books and concpets- below are some links to topics mentioned in the lecture and during lunch following the talk.
Links
Institute of American Indian Arts
The National Museum of the American Indian: Critical Conversations
Andrea Smith, author of Conquest
Kevin Grover apology from the BIA
Amy Lonetree, Assistant Professor of American Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz
Native American Studies Association
Aboriginal Curatorial Collective
The Forward Foundation
Institute of Museum and Library Services, Grants Applicants, contact Alison Freese
more information about the Native American Video Tape Collection, 1976-Pres.
Tom showed us his work and discussed his various projects, (link above). He also shared with us his experience as an artist featured in the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian. Two collections that he shared
with us were “Encountering Cultures” and “‘Native’ Commondity.” These two collections are an example of the range of Tom’s interest and the depth of his work.
This was an inspiring presentation by both Nancy and Tom that stimulated much thought and discussion within the group. Their expertise and willingness to share experience and knowledge was greatly appreciated.