UC-Denver students make a video statement about the use of Indian mascots for school athletics.
I Am Not A Mascot
Monday, July 12, 2010
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Sherman Alexie on Colbert: the threat of digitizing books
Native Americans...the strength of disaffection and alienation...
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Sherman Alexie | ||||
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Friday, November 6, 2009
TALMs 2009: not just for entertainment purposes...
I had the great pleasure to attend the Tribal Archives, Libraries & Museums conference in Portland this past October. What a great event! Malissa Minthorn Winks, TALMS planning committee, and all the folks at IMLS did a great job in pulling together interesting sessions, delicious lunches, nice events, and great guest speakers, all of which was relevant to the needs of tribal librarians/archivists/museologists/language specialists. I told my advisor, jokingly, 'I want to quit taking classes at the U and do all my coursework here!' She told me not jinx things up that way...
So I won't. But I will say this for those who aren't in the know: tribal archives, libraries and museums have a very different purpose guiding the work than mainstream American libraries, archives and museums. Don't be fooled: the practices may be similar, the processes, tools, and desires for technology and materials may look familiar, but here is the huge difference. Tribal libraries, archives, and museums are first about cultural perpetuation. Access to information, literacy, education, entertainment, knowledge preservation, artefact acquisition, all these are great. But ultimately, cultural perpetuation is THE VEHICLE that guides all these other activities.
And I don't mean cultural perpetuation as in the 'preservation of this important part of American history,' or 'preservation of our Native language, memories, and lifeways.' No, what we're talking about is cultural perpetuation instead of preservation. Our Native communities are not like dried fruit, that needs to be preserved in a jar, saved for next winter, or until the grandchildren ask for it. No, perpetuation refers to making daily use of the inherent knowledge that us tribal peoples have within our communities. Sometimes non-Native people visit tribal-run libraries/archives/museums and think they are pretty nice. Interesting information. Entertaining. A peek into the 'authentic.' But for us, cultural centers are simply another means for organizing, safeguarding, and sharing knowledge. They are edifices and institutions that serve as tools in the process of our becoming as tribal nations. Our search is not for remnants of the 'authentic,' as one guest speaker described during the conference, but rather are actions toward the fortification of tribal sovereignty.
*An extra special thanks to Maria & Kereti Rautangata--inspirational!*
So I won't. But I will say this for those who aren't in the know: tribal archives, libraries and museums have a very different purpose guiding the work than mainstream American libraries, archives and museums. Don't be fooled: the practices may be similar, the processes, tools, and desires for technology and materials may look familiar, but here is the huge difference. Tribal libraries, archives, and museums are first about cultural perpetuation. Access to information, literacy, education, entertainment, knowledge preservation, artefact acquisition, all these are great. But ultimately, cultural perpetuation is THE VEHICLE that guides all these other activities.
And I don't mean cultural perpetuation as in the 'preservation of this important part of American history,' or 'preservation of our Native language, memories, and lifeways.' No, what we're talking about is cultural perpetuation instead of preservation. Our Native communities are not like dried fruit, that needs to be preserved in a jar, saved for next winter, or until the grandchildren ask for it. No, perpetuation refers to making daily use of the inherent knowledge that us tribal peoples have within our communities. Sometimes non-Native people visit tribal-run libraries/archives/museums and think they are pretty nice. Interesting information. Entertaining. A peek into the 'authentic.' But for us, cultural centers are simply another means for organizing, safeguarding, and sharing knowledge. They are edifices and institutions that serve as tools in the process of our becoming as tribal nations. Our search is not for remnants of the 'authentic,' as one guest speaker described during the conference, but rather are actions toward the fortification of tribal sovereignty.
*An extra special thanks to Maria & Kereti Rautangata--inspirational!*
Saturday, October 17, 2009
NAGPRA: erasing the treatment of humans as objects
I just spoke with relatives back home and heard news of a trip to the National Museum of the American Indian to 'repatriate' remains of Yoeme ancestors back home to Sonora, Mexico. The news made me recall the first time I had the pleasure to visit NMAI's Cultural Resource Center located in Suitland, Maryland. Walking into that impressive edifice was like walking into a church: the sense of presence was strong. Rationalists might say, 'Well, a lot of busy people work at the CRC, organizing artifacts, conserving, researching, and preparing exhibits,' or, kindly, 'Well there is a lot of history there.'
But to me, knowing that on those shelves, in those drawers, lay the bones, masks, and other personal items of thousands of people whose graves or homes had been dug through by entrepreneuring archeologists was what caused the great sense of pressure, presence, silence, and quietude.
Quietude, because at the time, I didn't give myself permission to speak about or even really think about the enormity of that knowing.
But the body knows. The heart knows.
Prayers to my family working hard to hold strong and bring the ancestors back to a proper resting place.
And for those of us who continue our work in tribal libraries, museums, and archives: let's think real hard about what we need to do to change prevailing use of the secular term 'burial site' in place of cemetery.
But to me, knowing that on those shelves, in those drawers, lay the bones, masks, and other personal items of thousands of people whose graves or homes had been dug through by entrepreneuring archeologists was what caused the great sense of pressure, presence, silence, and quietude.
Quietude, because at the time, I didn't give myself permission to speak about or even really think about the enormity of that knowing.
But the body knows. The heart knows.
Prayers to my family working hard to hold strong and bring the ancestors back to a proper resting place.
And for those of us who continue our work in tribal libraries, museums, and archives: let's think real hard about what we need to do to change prevailing use of the secular term 'burial site' in place of cemetery.
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