The Affective Response in the Exhibit at National Museum of American Indians
Read the ppt, and answer the following questions
Background:
The foundations of the holdings at NMAI were the artifacts/objects from George Gustav Heye’s Museum of the American Indian. Heye aggressively collected artifacts for his museum throughout his life (beginning in 1897 until his death in 1957) which amounted to over 700,000 individual items. Heye created the Museum of the American Indian as: “a museum for the collection, preservation, study, and exhibition of all things connected with the anthropology of the aboriginal people of the North, Central, and South Americas, and containing objects of artistic, historic, literary, and scientific interest.” The items from Heye’s MAI represent 85% of the NMAI’s current holdings. Of the MAI’s collection are items deemed “sensitive” including: human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony. According to NMAI, there are “fewer than 300 catalogued human remains.” These objects are NOT on display. In accordance with Federal law, these objects are eligible for repatriation.
Is there an order/organization in which the artifacts are presented? Consider why the objects are organized in such a way, especially during Heye’s lifetime. Does the order of the objects tell a story?
Who were/are the visitors/attendees? Consider: Who is the audience?
Affect/What is the affective response to the exhibit?
Instructor
Course
Date
National Museum of American Indians (NMAI)
Question 1
During Heye’s time, artefacts/ objects from the National Museum of American Indians (NMAI) were classified and presented in specific categories. Based on the 1989 NMAI act, NMAI artefacts are categorized under cultural materials, and American human remains. Under the act, items under repatriations were subject to return for individual or native community (NMAI, 2020). The decision came upon when Heye’s artefacts for MAI were transferred to Smithsonian museums to classify collected objects.
Repatriations are the procedure by which American Indian cultural items in a museum are subject to return to their origin. The four categorized items for repatriations included; sacred objects, funerary objects, human remains, and objects of cultural patrimony. However, Heye had a collection of 15000 pieces of modern and contemporary art which led to the expansion of Indian made art (NMAI, 2020). For instance, Heye was subject to return a medicine bundle that was essenti...
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