Native American art is being covered up in museums across the country

a reply to: 5thHead

Canada is very progressive in working with native populations, they have a lot of corporate and federal representation nowadays, and alot of art and artifacts have been restored or returned to their ancestral areas.

Then again, both the US and Canada can't realistically take the high road on how both nations treated past native populations.
Either way, I still don't see how this is erasing history, if anything it's putting it in the right context.

a reply to: 5thHead

As noted in the article from years ago, there have been complaints by tribes for not being consulted as they are supposed to be. They also note in this one about the MET, that they have items mislabeled as American art, when they should be labeled Tribal art.

In a press release, the AAIA urges the museum to “remove items of Native American cultural heritage, including sacred items, cultural patrimony and funerary objects from its exhibition” until “affiliated tribal government representatives are consulted”.

The Met has a panel of tribal advisors who regrettably did not connect with the tribes and determine whether it was appropriated to show these works”.
She invokes the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, a law passed in 1990 that obligates museums receiving federal funds to have their holdings of Native American objects and human remains inventoried and to allow Native American tribes the right to repatriation.

Link

If the museums were following the law, this wouldn't even be an issue. From all the articles I can find, this isn't a situation where every museum is covering items, just those who have not complied with the law.

Quote from the article:

"That includes large objects, like the birchbark canoe of Menominee origin in the Hall of Eastern Woodlands, and smaller ones, including darts that date as far back as 10,000 B.C. and a Hopi Katsina doll from what is now Arizona. Field trips for students to the Hall of Eastern Woodlands are being rethought now that they will not have access to those galleries"

10,000 BC !!!! How do you get permission for that? Who do you ask? Who stole something 10,000 years ago?

I bet that canoe was pretty cool though. I guess the kids can learn about Robert Mapplethorpe instead.

a reply to: 5thHead

The colonialists wanted to wipe out all traces of these people.

Nonsense. You need to read " The Royal Proclamation 1763 " which amongst others, states:-

the Royal Proclamation explicitly states that Aboriginal title has existed and continues to exist, and that all land would be considered Aboriginal land until ceded by treaty.
The Proclamation forbade settlers from claiming land from the Aboriginal occupants, unless it has been first bought by the Crown and then sold to the settlers.
The Royal Proclamation further sets out that only the Crown can buy land from First Nations.

Most Indigenous and legal scholars recognize the Royal Proclamation as an important first step toward the recognition of existing Aboriginal rights and title, including the right to self-determination. In this regard, the Royal Proclamation is sometimes called “the Indian Magna Carta.” The Royal Proclamation set a foundation for the process of establishing treaties. For example, treaty-making typically involved presence of both parties — the First Nation and the government, for there to be some form of consent between the two, and for the First Nation to be compensated for any lands or resources taken.

indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca...

a reply to: alldaylong

Yeah, well in Alabama the natives were pushed out and even speaking their language was illegal.

In central America the Spanish didn't just take over they destroyed every trace of the culture that they could.

This is why we know so little about these people. Their culture was systematically erased.

Seems ironic to me that the Biden administration claims to be anti racist but their actions continue the trend of getting rid of any trace of non white cultures. Same old thing...

originally posted by: strongfp
a reply to: 5thHead
... Either way, I still don't see how this is erasing history, if anything it's putting it in the right context.

Yes, on a reservation. /s

a reply to: 5thHead

They WANT reservations. Just not in the ones they were forced in and here in Canada indigenous groups have bought back, legally, thousands of square kms of land from the crown itself.

Quote from the article:
[Quote]"There have been concerns among some tribal officials that the new rules will result in a deluge of requests from museums that may be beyond their capacities and could create a financial burden."

Much of the article talks about repatriating human remains. If they want human remains I'm more than ok with that. Plus as the article states it's illegal to display most of that anyway so this stuff is just kept in storage.

But what will they do with it? It sounds nice until you start thinking about the details.




Edits were to try and get the quote from the article in a little box like most people do. Can't get it to work though lol. I guess I'm ignorant 😕

originally posted by: strongfp
a reply to: 5thHead

They WANT reservations. Just not in the ones they were forced in and here in Canada indigenous groups have bought back, legally, thousands of square kms of land from the crown itself.

If we close down the exhibits and send the stuff to reservations no one will see it. Effectively erasing it

Every city in America has native American displays in their local museums. America is a big place and you expect kids from inner city Cleveland to travel to New Mexico on a field trip? It ain't gonna happen. You're just erasing it from sight.

a reply to: 5thHead

Are you kidding me?! The article says it's returning stolen property! You think indigenous people omg can't even finish my sentence. Your OP is highly hypocritical.

originally posted by: sendhelp
a reply to: 5thHead

Are you kidding me?! The article says it's returning stolen property! You think indigenous people omg can't even finish my sentence. Your OP is highly hypocritical.

Well you should try a little harder then.

And read where they are talking about removing items that are 12,000 years old. As I said in another post, who stole 12,000 year old darts? Who had their darts stolen 12,000 years ago? Who claims to know?

a reply to: frogs453

Because most of the Indigenous artifacts were used in ceremonial events and/or were sacred. They are essentially spiritual items.

Stolen totem pole returned to B.C. from Scotland In a statement, the Nisga'a said the pole "represents a chapter of the Peoples' cultural sovereignty and is a living constitutional and visual record."

www.cbc.ca...



Resuming ceremonies

They were determined. Bundles are considered to be living things that gain strength from use and which connect their owners to their creation myths.

The objects started coming home. And, as soon as they did, the ceremonies and societies that depended on them resumed.

In 1992, a thunder medicine pipe bundle was used for the first time in 30 years. A decade or so later, the Blackfoot had possession of and were using all 25 bundles associated with the Horn society.

"I don't think (that society) has been complete since about 1923," wrote the late Kainai elder Frank Weasel Head in a recent book on repatriation titled "We Are Coming Home." www.cbc.ca...


Belongings represent lineage and thousands of years of history, says Haida woman www.cbc.ca... ndigenous-peoples-1.6272889

The first paragraph from the article:

"The American Museum of Natural History will close two major halls exhibiting Native American objects, its leaders said on Friday, in a dramatic response to new federal regulations that require museums to obtain consent from tribes before displaying or performing research on cultural items."

Performing research? You have to have permission to do research?

We live in crazy town.

Thank you Biden. When I think of all those signs in all those yards saying "we believe in science" I will always think of you.

originally posted by: AdultMaleHumanUK
European colonist institutions basically stole their lands, so reading the article, it seems a reasonable request about returning artifacts if requested by tribes today.

I got no dog in this fight though, I didn't steal anyone's lands, and neither did any of my ancestors

Where are you from?

originally posted by: BukkaWukka
a reply to: frogs453

Because most of the Indigenous artifacts were used in ceremonial events and/or were sacred. They are essentially spiritual items.

Stolen totem pole returned to B.C. from Scotland In a statement, the Nisga'a said the pole "represents a chapter of the Peoples' cultural sovereignty and is a living constitutional and visual record."

www.cbc.ca...

For realz? If they use something in their religious ceremonies that is over 2,000 years old then by your own logic it is stolen and should be considered cultural appropriation. Lol.

Edit.
Ok I see now you mean BC as British Columbia and not Before Christ.

You also added some stuff soo...

I don't have a problem with any of that. Infact I agree with it. If something has been stolen then it should be returned. It literally has nothing to do with my point.

To be clear I agree with you on those points 100

a reply to: 5thHead

Really? You are so ignorant. They are part of their ancestral stories, so yes, can be 2000 years old.

P.S. Calling you ignorant is this: ignorant /ĭg′nər-ənt/
adjective
Lacking education or knowledge.
Showing or arising from a lack of education or knowledge.
"an ignorant mistake."
Unaware or uninformed.
"was ignorant of the drug's harmful effects."

a reply to: 5thHead

Oh! Got it. Ha ha. Thanks! All is good.

originally posted by: BukkaWukka
a reply to: 5thHead

Really? You are so ignorant. They are part of their ancestral stories, so yes, can be 2000 years old.

P.S. Calling you ignorant is this: ignorant /ĭg′nər-ənt/
adjective
Lacking education or knowledge.
Showing or arising from a lack of education or knowledge.
"an ignorant mistake."
Unaware or uninformed.
"was ignorant of the drug's harmful effects."

I know it's a code word/ dog whistle liberals use to call you the n word. Thanx

a reply to: BukkaWukka

I'm in the U.S. one thing that I noticed as I was watching The Amazing Race Canada and Australia(don't judge me) is that when they were doing challenges in land originally inhabited and still inhabited by indigenous people, they always do a land acknowledgement disclaimer. I don't know whether it's a bit of tokenism or that indigenous people appreciate it. I can't imagine that being done in the US. Unfortunately there would be outrage, claims of "woke" and screeches to cancel the show or station. Personally, I don't see any issue with it. That land was stolen, the source of food was wiped out, they were given deadly diseases on purpose to wipe them out among other terrible things. They were still sterilizing indigenous women without their knowledge well into the 1970s. It's horrific what was done.

If they want dignity and a say in their artifacts, they should have it.

a reply to: Xtrozero

Where are you from?

SW England, family recorded genealogy history back to 1543, all my ancestors were farm labourers and tin miners.
They may have supported the general economy with backbreaking labour as peasants, but no war heroes of colonial conquests lol

Why do you ask?