Museums and Indigenous Peoples: Reclaiming Culture and Identity

Catalog description

Three lecture. 0 Introduction to museum anthropology, museology, and current developments in tribal and non-tribal museums, with special attention to ideology of colonial and tribal display, preservation, and the politics of repatriation. Students will be able to: 1. critically analyze the relations between Native Nations (American Indigenous communities), federal, state, and museum entities; 2. critique why museums were created and how anthropologists understood Salvage Anthropology; 3. explain the rich diversity of Indigenous cultural expression in Arizona, the United States, and the world in relation to museum settings; 4. compare and contrast global challenges within museums and their collections of human remains and artifacts of cultural significance; 5. gain basic understanding of Federal Indian Law and legislation and rationalization on repatriation, namely the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and the lack of international laws governing Indigenous cultural artifacts; 6. investigate historical and contemporary museum collections and display methodologies and practices; 7. identify ways in which museum practices and cross-cultural respect have evolved, particularly as social, cultural, and political systems. 8. analyze multiple perspectives and experiences to understand and address significant social/human issues regarding Indigenous peoples and museum relations. 9. explain the historic and modern theories, definitions, and practices of Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination, and how they relate to museum practices. 10. compare modern mueums’ and tribal-centered mueums’ practices and the events which led to greater cultural agency and control for Indigenous representation and voice. 11. determine the most important efforts of Indigenous people and museums today to build relationships and greater autonomy. General Education: Institutions in the Americas