Pennsylvania has no federally recognized tribal land that is habitable, so for many people in the Pittsburgh region—especially younger children—their first introduction to Native American culture is Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
Kristina Gaugler, anthropology collection manager at the museum, grew up in Pittsburgh and recalls going there as a child. Many of its halls have not changed since she was young, including Alcoa Foundation Hall of American Indians, which now contains outdated signage, terminology, and displays.
“The idea of decolonizing the institution has been at the forefront of our minds,” Gaugler says. “Those conversations are difficult, but we want to know the story from the perspective of the descendants and the people who created these cultural materials—not ours.”
During the early 1900s, museum collections were amassed under the assumption that Native Americans were disappearing, and their objects and ways of life needed to be preserved and documented, describes Gaugler. “They sent collectors out to have as robust a museum as they could.”
This version of history did not consider that Indigenous tribes would survive colonization.
“Obviously, that is not the case and groups are thriving across the Americas,” says Gaugler. “Museums in general are not doing a good job of pulling these exhibits out of the past.”
There are approximately 1.4 million anthropological objects in Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s collection, built through purchases and donations from around the world. Of that, about 300 items ranging from war shields to day-to-day objects are attributed to the Apsáalooke people.
The first Apsáalooke objects came into the Carnegie collection in 1904, purchased from the Fred Harvey Company, which had a large holding of objects from Plains Indian tribes and was actively selling Indigenous objects to art institutions around the country. Harvey, an English transplant, built an empire through operating dining cars on several railroad lines and restaurants from Chicago to California, as well as hotels in the Southwest and on the Great Plains. He was active in developing tourist attractions along railroad lines with collections of Native American art and artifacts and had a heavy hand in shaping the aesthetics of the Southwest based on the artifacts of the people of the region.
In the 1990s, the museum purchased additional Apsáalooke items during the creation of Hall of American Indians. At the time, tribal members were asked to assist the museum on identifying, describing, and displaying items that were collected from their communities, including Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow, historian and war chief of the Apsáalooke Nation. The Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center, which promotes the socio-economic development of the Native American community in western Pennsylvania, was also involved in the creation of Hall of American Indians.
“I think it’s important to recognize that there are different ways of knowing and honoring tribal ways of seeing and relating with their cultural materials,” says Amy Covell-Murthy, archaeology collection manager for the museum. “Not going in immediately thinking that we are right is usually how I approach consultations.”
Many challenges in a natural history museum can be addressed with consultation, but the process also requires a drastic shift in how history is presented. Natural history museums are tasked with preserving the past, which can be at odds with showcasing history as part of the present and future.
Twenty-five years have passed since Hall of American Indians opened—described as innovative at the time for its portrayal of Native Americans as contemporary peoples.
Gaugler says she hopes to update the cultural halls in the future to share people’s stories from their perspective, while also working to connect viewers to a larger context.
“Instead of being cultures behind glass, it could connect people to Pittsburgh, to water, to land, and hopefully make the natural history part of the museum feel a lot more cohesive,” she says.
One of Gaugler’s goals is to identify how objects were obtained. With each object, the context is valuable, including the reasons why the object was sold, if it was stolen, traded, or obtained through other means. “Even objects purchased from people were purchased during a time when they were facing really big changes to their way of life,” she says.
The museum is also working to acquire contemporary objects to tell cultural stories that connect the past to the present. This also includes handling, storing, and displaying culturally sensitive materials in appropriate ways, depending on tribal customs.
“The objects that we are caring for should be taken care of in the way that descendent communities want,” Gaugler says.
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