Defrosting Native Peoples of the Americas

Before I get to the assigned prompt of this post, I feel that it is important to announce that I have slightly shifted the topic of my thesis work.  Again.  I believe this is either the third or fourth time I have done this since I began to work on this project, but as I conduct more research, I keep finding myself forced to further refine and alter my topic.  To review, I had originally intended the focus of my project to be on the ways in which the Rochester Museum and Science Center (RMSC) could alter or redesign its Native Peoples of the Americas exhibit to conform to the museum’s mission and visitor expectations, and ultimately whether or not the exhibit belonged in the museum at all, or if its contents should be deaccessioned and transferred to another, more appropriate institution.  However, it has been pointed out to me that, given the nature and history of the Native American collections held by the RMSC, this exhibit will, at least for the foreseeable future, be a part of the museum, and deaccessioning its contents and the rest of the collection is not a viable option at this time.  Between this revelation and points raised within my sources, I now intend to focus on how the RMSC can “unfreeze” Native Peoples of the Americas and modernize it to make it better match the other exhibits at the RMSC, rather than trying to force it to conform with the mission, present or future, of the institution.

This brings me to my research, which has not so much taught me anything new as it has confirmed my prior knowledge regarding the origins and methods of display of Native Americans in science and natural history museums.  18th, 19th, and early 20th century European and white American ethnocentrism and perceived racial superiority resulted in the placement of Native American remains and artifacts into science and natural history museums so they could be preserved for later study.  However, the anthropologists and scientists who did this were only interested in preserving native cultures at a point of pre-European contact, thus essentially (and in most cases, inaccurately) “freezing” Native American cultures at a given point in time, making it seem as if members of those cultures were not still alive, well, and adapting to a rapidly evolving world.

While the authors of most of my sources rightly call for the “unfreezing” of exhibits on Native Americans and greater inclusion of Native American voices in the exhibition design and redesign process, they offer no practical suggestions for museums and exhibition designers who would like to move forward with defrosting their Native American exhibits.  No mention is made of ways to rewrite wall text, or integrate modern examples of native cultures alongside static presentations of their predecessors.  What this means for my research moving forward is that I will have to devise my own methods for the RMSC to use to unfreeze Native Peoples of the Americas, based on input from museum staff, members of local Native American organizations, and visitors to the exhibit, as well as my own knowledge of exhibition design and visitor engagement techniques.  I would also like to include a possible exhibit layout or some other visual form of proposal for changes to the exhibit, in addition to just a list of recommendations of what to do to the exhibit.