Cataloguing Culture

This work is a book review considering the title Cataloguing Culture: Legacies of Colonialism in Museum Documentation by Hannah Turner.

Reuniting Archaeology and Archives through the Smithsonian Institution’s Ralph S. and Rose L. Solecki Papers and Artifacts Project

The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History recently conducted a two-year project to process and connect the archives and artifacts of archaeologists Ralph and Rose Solecki, most famous for their work at the sites of Shanidar Cave and Zawi Chemi Shanidar in northern Iraq. Through a collaboration between the archivally-focused National Anthropological Archives and the object-focused Department of Anthropology collections management group, the Ralph S. and Rose L. Solecki Papers and Artifacts Project sought to set an example for archaeological collections and archives stewardship by preserving the association between archaeological specimens and archival records through an integrative methodology of archival processing and specimen cataloging to increase their value to future researchers. Further, the project provides a case study intended to contribute to interdisciplinary conversations about the enduring legacy of archaeologists and their collections within archives and museums through collaborative collections and archives management.

Exploring Heritage Archaeology at Indiana University

This article is an overview of a collaborative Indiana University (IU) Bicentennial Project designed to explore and raise awareness of the cultural heritage on IU’s historic Bloomington campus, protect the university’s archaeological resources, contribute to its teaching and research mission, and enhance documentation and interpretation of its historic house museum. The primary project partners were IU’s Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology and the Wylie House Museum, a unit of IU Libraries. Using state-of-the art remote sensing methods and traditional archaeological excavations, the project sought to locate the buried subterranean greenhouses at the home of first university president, Andrew Wylie. Historical research focused on the position of the Wylies and IU in the development of the city of Bloomington, particularly on the transition from subsistence farming in the mid-19th century to the development of leisurely gardening and floriculture later in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Through campus archaeological field school opportunities, internships, talks, exhibits, presentations on campus, and outreach opportunities throughout the university and Bloomington communities, the project contributed to the IU curriculum and promoted a better understanding of IU’s cultural heritage. Importantly, this campus archaeology project provided a unique opportunity to pursue place-based education and experiential learning that connected students, university, and community stakeholders to their local heritage.

International Forum on ICH Education and Formation as a Scholarily Discipline held at Beijing Normal University

This project report describes the International Forum on ICH Education and Formation as a Scholarily Discipline held at Beijing Normal University on December 5-6, 2020. The author reviews the key topics and themes explored during the forum, which was focused on the development of educational programs and curriculum related to intangible cultural heritage (ICH).

Objects of Survivance

The work is a book review considering the title Objects of Survivance: A Material History of the American Indian School Experience by Lindsay M. Montgomery and Chip Colwell.

Annotating Colonialism

This exhibition review essay compares three recent interventions into historic cultural representations at the American Museum of Natural History: the Digital Totem that was placed in the Northwest Coast Hall in 2016 to partially modernize its content, the 2018 reconsideration of the Old New York Diorama, which attempts to correct its stereotypical representations of Native North American peoples, and the 2019 exhibition Addressing the Statue providing context for the Theodore Roosevelt statue. Paying attention to visual and textual strategies, I characterize these three interventions as temporary annotations to what have been remarkably static, long-term cultural representations. I argue that, through these annotations, the museum acknowledges the misrepresentations but does not resolve them. The case studies show varying degrees of critical historical reflection expressing the complexities of negotiating different approaches and agendas to engaging with the museum’s past. I also comment on the pervasiveness of a digital aesthetics in all three projects, even though only the Digital Totem was produced as a digital, interactive intervention into the museum space. The invocation of a digital design vocabulary enhances the impression of annotation.

Seventh Forum on China-US Folklore and Intangible Cultural Heritage

A project report chronicles the Seventh Forum on China US Folklore and Intangible Cultural Heritage held on May 19–22, 2019 in Being, China. Organized within a binational cooperation project of the American Folklore Society and the China Folklore Society, the theme of the forum was Collaborative Work in Museum Folklore and Heritage Studies. In the report, some contexts for the gathering are noted, participants and organizations represented are discussed, and some general themes emerging from the conference are identified.

A Language Fair, a Community and a Museum

Founded in 2003 the Oklahoma Native American Youth Language Fair (ONAYLF) has become one of the largest gatherings of Native American language learners in the United States. The Fair is unquestionably the most significant and sustained interaction with Native American communities in the history of the Sam Noble Museum, quickly becoming a signature event that contributes to the museum’s reputation and stature. As the Fair gained increased prominence and importance in the Native American communities of Oklahoma and the surrounding regions it was consistently marginalized within the institutional culture of the museum. Over the course of our respective leadership of the ONAYLF we encountered the continued need for anthropological intervention to “re-institutionalize” a very successful program. In this report we focus on specific impacts of this failed ownership and the anthropological methods employed to address them. We conclude with an assessment of the ONAYLF in terms of on-going efforts to decolonize museum practice.

Mehandi in the Marketplace

Henna has been an essential part of women’s traditional body art in many North Indian communities. In recent decades, professional henna artists have expanded their businesses to offer “walk-in” service along the sidewalks of urban market areas in addition to private at-home bookings. This study examines the skills acquisition and execution of Jaipur market henna artists in order to understand how they satisfy a large customer base that demands convenience, application speed, motif variety, and overall design excellence. In addition to conducting interviews with artists and customers, the author received training from and worked alongside a closed sample of artists. Collected market designs were compared to surveyed design booklets and magazines in order to identify elements of continuity and change in designs since 1948. The data revealed that customer demands require artist training that promotes constant innovation that in turn increases popular appeal and vitalizes the tradition of henna application.

A Different, Different Direction

In an editorial, Museum Anthropology Review editor Jason Baird Jackson discusses new developments for the journal, highlighting its new status as a publication of the Indiana University Press. The move of the journal’s publishing home from the Mathers Museum of World Cultures to the Indiana University Press necessitates reversing an editorial plan previously announced. As has been true for all but the past year of its history, the journal welcomes scholarly and practitioner contributions from across the full breadth of the fields of museum anthropology, museum-based folklore studies, and material culture studies.