Hi Rick,

On 10/15/06, Richard Fields <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Deb,
> I could be wrong here, and I haven't made it there yet, but as I understand
> it, they rotate the features on tribes.

Ah. I must have missed that blurb in the exhibit.

> It will take a long time to get to
> all of them, and isn't better not to have a lot of little junk (here is a
> basket from the Utes, here is an arrow from the Apache) and focus on
> individual tribes? As I understand it, tribes have input on displays, so
> what you may want (such as refuting Disney's stereotypes) may not be what
> the tribes wanted.

Good point and I remember seeing info on the "tribal curators" but
there wasn't anything about the choice of tribes or material in
exhibits.

> As to it being disjointed, how do you have a common theme on over 500 tribes on two continents?

You can link them through trade or through history and how they were
affected by Europeans or maybe there is some other link but not
getting the whole picture makes it hard to draw parallels or
conclusions. The "Our Universe" exhibit probably came the closest with
the exibit on celestial imagery.

> I have talked to the museum store
> people, and they are trying to buy from Indian artists across the country,
> and I know artist who are represented there. So it is an opportunity to buy
> authenticate art as well as shameless commerce.

The problem is that the art is way overpriced for the average tourist.
Not pandering to the common denominator but I overheard several
visitors commenting on how they just wanted t-shirts. I also had to
hunt for something that wouldn't break the bank. Even little wooden
ornaments which were made by Native Americans but certainly not true
Native American crafts because I used to make similar things in Bible
School, were like $12.

The first floor museum stores are filled with really expensive art and
jewelry. If I was pressed for time and that is all I saw, I wouldn't
bother trying to explore the 2nd floor gift shop because I would
assume it was all expensive art and jewelry too. And to give people an
idea of what the prices are like, we're talking $800 silver bracelets,
carved walrus tusks for a couple thousand dollars and the like. This
really puzzles me because you know museum shops make more money on
postcards, t-shirts, trinkets than they do on the expensive stuff so
why make it look like all you have is expensive stuff?

> Where they do excel is when
> they bring in folks from around the country to share cultural activities. I
> had a hand in arranging to send potters and stomp dancers to D.C., and I
> know others who have been asked to go.

That's interesting because I struck up a conversation with a local
tour guide over lunch and he said that he thinks the performance space
was sorely underused and hasn't done much as of late. It was used a
lot when the musuem first opened but they don't have a lot going on
now. And a new co-worker was disappointed that the dance performance
he saw looked really fakey with Hollywood-esq costumes and the
drummers dressing like cowboys. I explained that modern Native
Americans pretty much wear modern clothing and that dance costumes
have gotten really elaborate with modern materals but I thought it was
an interesting reaction.

I'll have to keep an eye out on their calendar to see what is going on.

Thanks for the response!

Deb

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