Review of Everything You Know About Indians Is Wrong

Everything You Know about Indians Is Wrong (Indigenous Americas Series)In this sweeping work of memoir and commentary, leading cultural critic Paul Chaat Smith illustrates with dry wit and brutal honesty the contradictions of life in “the Indian business.”

Raised in suburban Maryland and Oklahoma, Smith dove head first into the political radicalism of the 1970s, working with the American Indian Movement until it dissolved into dysfunction and infighting. Afterward he lived in New York, the city of choice for political exiles, and eventually arrived in Washington, D.C., at the newly minted National Museum of the American Indian (“a bad idea whose time has come”) as a curator. In his journey from fighting activist to federal employee, Smith tells us he has discovered at least two things: there is no one true representation of the American Indian experience, and even the best of intentions sometimes ends in catastrophe. Everything You Know about Indians Is Wrong is a highly entertaining and, at times, searing critique of the deeply disputed role of American Indians in the United States. In “A Place Called Irony,” Smith whizzes through his early life, showing us the ironic pop culture signposts that marked this Native American’s coming of age in suburbia: “We would order Chinese food and slap a favorite video into the machine—the Grammy Awards or a Reagan press conference—and argue about Cyndi Lauper or who should coach the Knicks.” In “Lost in Translation,” Smith explores why American Indians are so often misunderstood and misrepresented in today’s media: “We’re lousy television.” In “Every Picture Tells a Story,” Smith remembers his Comanche grandfather as he muses on the images of American Indians as “a half-remembered presence, both comforting and dangerous, lurking just below the surface.”

Smith walks this tightrope between comforting and dangerous, offering unrepentant skepticism and, ultimately, empathy. “This book is called Everything You Know about Indians Is Wrong, but it’s a book title, folks, not to be taken literally. Of course I don’t mean everything, just most things. And ‘you’ really means we, as in all of us.”Some glowing reviews:

Everything You Know About Indians Is Wrong, by Paul Chaat Smith

Paul Chaat Smith and His Pal Irony Offer a Dose of Indian Reality

A Review of Everything You Know About Indians is Wrong by Paul Chaat Smith

Everything You Know about Indians Is Wrong (review)



Comments echo my thoughts

Some Goodreads comments give a more realistic picture of the book:Found this weeding the library's collection and its title cried out to be read. Another hidden gem. A collection of disparate essays on being Indian and about their place in the world. I enjoyed the first third of the book more than the remainder which discussed art and Indian artists. Smith is witty, cheeky and is all over issues, debunking stereotypes, endorsing stereotypes. You never quite know what he's thinking or where he stands as his views have evolved over time. We have the Indian as: drunk, noble savage, victim, etc. Great writing and insight from a guy who never graduated from college. A really witty essay on irony. Smith grew up as a suburban Indian, was involved with AIM, and then becomes a curator at the NMAI. Go figure.

I didn't have my mind blown by this book, but it was an interesting look into the mind and identity conflict of modern Native Americans. I especially liked the parts where they talk about within the Indian community, classification by tribe enrollment and blood percentage.

Parts I wanted to enlarge and hang on the wall or send to friends and family, they were so spot-on and funny and provocative. Others I found myself skimming. Maybe because it's a collection of previously released essays so there was some repetition, and also because some were written for museum exhibits. The great parts made it worth it, though.

Unfortunately, this book turned out to be a series of essays and lectures from the curator of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American Indians. Although parts of it were indeed about the incorrect portrayal of American Indians in history books and movies, much of it was about current Indian artists. I was hoping to be educated about real American Indians but was not.

I was least compelled by the middle of the book, where each chapter was clearly originally written as an introduction to an art show with which Smith was connected (as writer or curator). There's a fair bit of repetition between the essay, and the words would be stronger if they ran alongside more examples of the art Smith's referencing. Still, there are some wonderful gems of insight, mockery, and politics in these essays too--very well worth the read.Comment:  I agree that Everything You Know is too much about the art world to be of general interest. The ideal reader is probably a museum-going, art-loving Indian like Smith.

"Nation to Nation" treaty exhibit

NMAI To Open New Exhibit Exploring Native and U.S. Relations

By Madeline McGillSince its opening, the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) has dedicated itself to the promotion of native identity and cultural understanding. Now celebrating the 10th anniversary of the D.C. museum, it is launching an ambitious exhibit this September that seeks to highlight the role of treaties between the United States and Native Nations.

Upon opening September 21, 2014, the exhibit “Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations,” will explore the Native diplomats and leaders who crafted some of the earliest agreements with the Founding Fathers.

Amongst the many artifacts expected to be on display, the exhibit will feature 8 prominent National Archive treaties from the approximately 374 ratified between the United States and Native Nations. These treaties will trace a timeline of diplomacy from first meetings to present, touching at the core of how U.S. and Native relations have impacted culture and development.

On September 8th, the NMAI welcomed the arrival of the Treaty of Canandaigua from the National Archives and Records Administration. Enacted between the Haudenosaunee (also known as the Six Nations or the Iroquois Confederacy) and the U.S., this treaty was signed by George Washington in 1794 to establish peace, friendship, and affirm land rights to the Haudenosaunee in modern day New York State.Treaties Exhibit Ushers in 10 Years of American Indian Museum

By Bridget BowmanThe National Museum of the American Indian will open its first exhibit exploring the contentious issue of treaties between the U.S. government and Indian Nations next week.

“This exhibit is a tangible reminder of the federal government’s relationship with sovereign tribal nations of this country,” Senate Indian Affairs Chairman Jon Tester, D-Mont., said Thursday. “It’s also a reminder of the moral and legal obligations that the United States has to honor and uphold our treaties with Indian country.”

Tester addressed a group gathered at a day-long symposium at the museum discussing the exhibit. “Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations” opens Sept. 21, which is the 10th anniversary of the opening of the museum. The exhibit will continue until the fall of 2018.

Museum Director Kevin Gover said during a preview Tuesday that the display was years in the making and came at the request of a number of tribes and members of Congress.Comment:  Some people live-tweeted comments during the day-long symposium discussing the exhibit. Here are the ones I retweeted:

Senator Jon Tester @SenatorTester · Sep 18
This exhibit is a tangible reminder of the federal government's relationship with the sovereign tribal nations. #NationToNation

Debbie Reese @debreese · Sep 18
Clinton: Early treaties re friendship became vehicles for land dispossession. #HonorTheTreaties #NationToNation

Mark Trahant @TrahantReports · Sep 18
Clinton: 1868 Ft Laramie, Lakota had won, US suing for peace. "If conquest" brings rights "we should be speaking Lakota."

Mark Trahant @TrahantReports · Sep 18
Clinton: IRA spurred "sovereign to sovereign" relationship req'g consent and negotiation. "Treatymaking is back." #HonorTheTreaties

Debbie Reese @debreese · Sep 18
Gover: Want to put concept of Native sovereignty into American's knowledge of American Indians. #NationToNation #HonorTheTreaties

Debbie Reese @debreese · Sep 18
Harjo: American's don't realize treaties are AMERICAN, too, made by American govt with Native Nations. #HonorTheTreaties #NationToNation

Debbie Reese @debreese · Sep 18
Gover: With tribes managing resources themselves, resources (salmon) are making comebacks. Good for all. #NationToNation #HonorTheTreaties

Debbie Reese @debreese · Sep 18
Listening to Macarro highlights (for me) how disgusting it is that California schools focus on missions. #NationToNation #HonorTheTreaties

Debbie Reese @debreese · Sep 18
Deloria: Task is to teach students that history matters to the present and future. #NationToNation

Debbie Reese @debreese · Sep 18
Cladoosby: Has US kept its word? George Washington made promises he didn't keep. #NationToNation #HonorTheTreaties

Debbie Reese @debreese · Sep 18
Cladoosby: "Sometimes I think we are more patriotic, maybe because we were on this land first, we love her more" #NationToNation

Mark Trahant @TrahantReports · Sep 18
"We can love this country despite the incredible, painful history ... despite promises not kept," Brian Cladoosby. #HonorTheTreaties

Debbie Reese @debreese · Sep 18
Gover: Congress apology to Am Indians, sponsored by Brownback, was buried, but signaled US beginning to acknowledge history

Mark Trahant @TrahantReports · Sep 18
Kevin Gover: NMAI act is an apology; yes US did these things. Thus the oppty to tell Native story and for US to listen. #HonorTheTreaties

Debbie Reese @debreese · Sep 18
Gover: History is being mis-taught in formal education systems in US. All of us have to un-learn those things. #NationToNation

Debbie Reese @debreese · Sep 18
Gover: Justice is achievable because Indians never give up. We always insist on a just outcome. #NationToNation

Debbie Reese @debreese · Sep 18
Harjo: Arguments that 'too much time has passed, therefore, move on' is bogus argument. Treaties matter. No end date. #NationToNation

You can see all the tweets on the symposium by searching the #NationToNation and #HonorTheTreaties hashtags in Twitter.

For more on treaties, see Myth of the Level Playing Field and Tamara Johnson Ad Sparks Outrage.

Autry, Eiteljorg reinvent themselves

A Museum Works to Reinvent Itself, as Well as the American West

At Autry National Center in Los Angeles, Histories ConvergeThe old celebratory themes invoked on the museum’s mural—“Discovery, Opportunity, Conquest, Community, Cowboy, Romance, Imagination”—have been attacked by a generation of historians, first because of the fates of American Indians, then for their implicit ethnic and social homogeneity. And now the Autry, along with a few other major museums, like the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyo., is trying to reshape that national mythology.Eiteljorg lures visitors with wide-ranging exhibits"We started brainstorming," said Chris Katterjohn, a board member since the mid-1990s who recently wrapped up a two-year stint as board chair, "and we came up with a strategy we called 'the unexpected west.' When most people thought of the Eiteljorg they were thinking of Indian pottery, western paintings, and we understand the audience for that niche is somewhat limited. So we came up with topics we thought would be related to the west that would attract different audiences."Comment:  For more on museums, see Wounded Knee Museum Rises from Ashes and Museum Closes Sand Creek Exhibit.

Below:  "A 1948 Indian Chief motorcycle and the painting War Music II, by Mateo Romero (2008)." (Stephanie Diani for the New York Times)

Wounded Knee museum rises from ashes

Wounded Knee museum rises from the ashes

By Andrea J. CookJust one year after a fire destroyed the Wounded Knee Museum in Wall, it has reopened in a new location with new stories to share.

It was on the night of Sept. 2, 2012, when museum co-founder Steve Wyant saw a dream that had lived on for 10 years go up in flames. An electrical malfunction was blamed for the fire that also took 30 exhibits linked to the Wounded Knee massacre on Dec. 29, 1890.

"Insurance never even came close," Wyant said of the daunting task of bringing the museum back to life.

But there were precious items that did survive the blaze that today fill a new museum in downtown Wall. They also instill a sense of awe in Wyant, who marvels that they survived a fire that spared so few items.

"I'm always touched by the thought of it," he said of the collection of nearly 300 simulated eagle feathers suspended from a Lakota Medicine Wheel. Each feather represents a one of the 300 men, women and children killed by Seventh Calvary soldiers on that day.Comment:  Apparently Wyant gave no thought to moving his museum closer to Rapid City, Pine Ridge, or Wounded Knee. I.e., the places anyone interested in Wounded Knee would go to first. Too bad.

For more on the Wounded Knee Museum, see Fire Totals Wounded Knee Museum.

Below:  "Last September, an electrical fire destroyed most of the artifacts and collection in the Wounded Knee museum in Wall. A year later, owner Steve Wyant has rebuilt his museum in a new space in downtown Wall."

Museum closes Sand Creek exhibit

Denver museum closes Indian massacre display

By Associated PressColorado's new state history museum has closed an exhibit on the Sand Creek Indian massacre, one of the state's darkest chapters, after descendants of the slaughter's survivors demanded changes in how it is portrayed and complained that they weren't consulted about the display.

A U.S. Army force led by Col. John M. Chivington (SHIV'-ing-tin) swept into a sleeping Indian village along Sand Creek in southeastern Colorado on Nov. 29, 1864. Troops killed more than 160 Cheyenne and Arapaho, most of them women, children and the elderly. Officials at the time insisted the attack was to avenge Native American raids on white settlers and kidnappings of women and children.

Dale Hamilton, a descendant of Chief Sand Hill, one of the survivors, said curators of the History Colorado Center museum in Denver didn't consult tribes about the display, which opened in April 2012. The exhibit was closed in June.

Tribal historians found some dates were wrong, excerpts from letters left out crucial details, and the exhibit attempted to explain Native American-white settler conflicts as a "collision of cultures," claimed Hamilton, of Concho, Okla., where he lives with Cheyenne and Southern Arapahoe tribes.

"This wasn't a clash of cultures. This was a straight-up massacre. All we are looking for is respect for our relatives who were murdered," said Hamilton.Right call (but late) on Sand Creek Massacre exhibit

By The Denver Post Editorial BoardHistory Colorado has made the right decision by closing, temporarily at least, its exhibit on the Sand Creek Massacre while officials consult with the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes. We're just sorry it had to come to this.

The clear lesson from this episode is that museum officials should have reached out earlier to the tribes and given them fuller opportunities to voice their concerns.

And their concerns, outlined in reporting by Westword's Patricia Calhoun over the last several months, were many.

First, the very name of the exhibit, "Collision: The Sand Creek Massacre," was offensive to many tribal members, who believed the event was being portrayed as an inevitable clash of cultures rather than an indefensible massacre.Comment:  For more on the Sand Creek Massacre, see Sand Creek Descendants Sue for Reparations and Sand Creek Called "Collision of Cultures."

Andy Warhol: Cowboys & Indians

Warhol exhibit to open at E. Ore. reservation

By Associated PressAndy Warhol's work will be featured at a museum on the Umatilla Indian Reservation near Pendleton.

The exhibit--Andy Warhol: Cowboys & Indians--opens Friday at the Tamßstslikt Cultural Institute. It coincides with the museum's 15th anniversary.

Museum curator Randall Melton says Warhol's work is rarely seen in places like Eastern Oregon, and the exhibit will enhance the tribal museum's reputation.

"Cowboys and Indians" is a suite of prints published a year before Warhol's 1987 death.

Warhol drew from familiar icons of popular western culture, such as Annie Oakley and John Wayne, and set them against American Indian images and artifacts.Comment:  For more on Andy Warhol, see Warhol Respected Indians and Warhol and Lichtenstein on Display.

Canadian museum won't use "genocide"

Human rights museum sparks debate over term ‘genocide’

Aboriginal leaders seek ‘genocide’ designation for past injustices by Canadian governmentThe debate over whether or not the word “genocide” should be used to describe the federal government’s treatment of aboriginal people is heating up in Winnipeg.

The yet-to-open Canadian Museum for Human Rights is embroiled in a controversy over how they will represent Canada’s past treatment of aboriginal people.

Fred Kelly is a residential school survivor and is among a group of First Nations people who believe the residential school system and other similar atrocities should be referred to as genocide.

“These [events] did happen, and the other five genocides that are recognized by Canada and the international community did happen, and the residential school history, the history of our people did happen--that’s a fact,” he said. “We can go on and on reciting the litany of atrocities that took place that constitute the categories of genocide.”

Kelly survived the residential school system and nutritional experiments conducted on aboriginal people without their knowledge in the 1940s and 1950s in Canada.

“That is genocide. That was an attempt at extermination based on hatred, based on racism, based on all of these negative factors that human beings exercise on other human beings,” said Kelly.

But the Canadian Museum for Human Rights says it’s not in a position to determine what constitutes a genocide and it doesn’t plan to use the term to title the exhibit.

“We are not a court. We are not an academic institution. We rely on those sources for information to inform our exhibits,” said Angela Cassie, a spokesperson for the museum.

Cassie said the museum will use the word when they discuss the aboriginal community’s current fight to get recognition for the term.Dueling views

New museum slammed for not using the term ‘genocide’ to describe aboriginal relations exhibit

By Andy RadiaThe decision is not sitting well with academics and First Nation leaders who strongly feel that federal policies such as the residential school system and the forced relocation of thousands of aboriginals should be considered genocide.

"It's a shame. I think the museum needs to be a leader, not a follower on this," University of Manitoba Proffesor Adam Muller, a genocide expert, told the Free Press.

"You look at colonial activity in the Americas and it seems clear to me, at the end of the day, they were trying to destroy a group and way of life."

Pam Palmater, a Mi'kmaq lawyer and Chair of the Centre for Indigenous Governance at Ryerson University, argues the credibility of the museum is at stake here.

"I don’t think there is much point in having a “museum” if it is a political museum which only presents the censored pictures, displays, histories and terminology that is government approved. This is more like an international propaganda machine than a legitimate museum. Canada is supposed to be a “liberal democracy” not the dictatorship Prime Minister Harper has turned it into," she told Yahoo! Canada News in an email exchange.Versus:Ernie Crey, however, disagrees.

The policy adviser for the Stó:lō Tribal Council doesn't dispute the many failed government policies of the past but suggests the term genocide isn't accurate because, for most people, it means the utter destruction of a people.

"I am hard pressed to point to one such case [in Canada]. It would be far easier to point to genocidal policies towards Indians in the U.S., Central and South America," Crey told Yahoo! Canada News, adding that the term 'genocide' doesn't help First Nations move forward today.

"In the Canadian context, one might more accurately speak of 'cultural genocide', as opposed to the annihilation of a people. But even here, we must be ever aware of the context in which government and church groups sought to transform traditional Aboriginal societies into something more closely resembling Euro-Canadian societies.

"And many Aboriginal people overlook the fact that both church and government inoculated Aboriginal people against a host of communicable diseases like smallpox, measles and so forth. Hardly the actions of people intent on genocide."
Comment:  The second article explains that genocide means more than "the utter destruction of a people," Mr. Crey. Maybe a truth-seeking museum should report what the word actually means, not what people think it means.

For more on genocide denial, see Genocide Denial in Guatemala and Sand Creek Called "Collision of Cultures."

Holocaust museum at Wounded Knee?

Native Sun News: Wounded Knee descendants speak out

Many see museum at Wounded Knee as positive thing

By Brandon EcoffeyMargo Iron Hawk, a Mnicoujou elder who is also a descendant of Wounded Knee, supports the erection of a memorial at Wounded Knee.

“It would be good to have a memorial, for our youth to be proud of. To tell why our ancestors died and how we survived. We can see it in our youth; they need to be given something to be proud of and shown where they come from,” she said.

Support for a possible memorial, although not unanimous, has significant backing from Lakota people throughout reservations in South Dakota. Craig Dillon, Oglala Sioux tribal councilman, recently told the British Publication The Guardian that he was in favor of a museum and a place where vendors could sell what they produce.

Retired owner of Native Sun News, Tim Giago (Oglala Lakota), has recently proposed an idea to build a Native American Holocaust Museum at Wounded Knee where an accurate depiction of the plight of Native people could be told, and tribal members on social media have expressed support for a monument to those who have passed away there, if it is done in a respectful way. Joe Brings Plenty feels that it could be a chance for the Mnicoujou to show the world what really happened at Wounded Knee.

“I would support a memorial park erected at the location, with walkways and monuments showing where the teepees and events occurred. There needs to be more information available to educate the public. The American public at this point has been misled by naming this a battle; it was never a battle. It was a massacre that ended tragically with many innocent lives taken and changed forever. The historical trauma our relatives, as well as ourselves, have faced in the past years is fatal to our Nation’s health. A memorial park would assist in retelling a history and honorable struggle of our nations will to live. This would give us an opportunity to honor our relatives in a good way, to remember them and allow them to be remembered in the way we know they deserved to be remembered, with the greatness they lived and passed on through the traditional culture we continue to practice today” he said.Holocaust Museum of the Indigenous People should be built at Wounded KneeWounded Knee may have been the final chapter on this holocaust of indigenous people. It is only right that the Oglala Lakota build a Holocaust Museum of the Indigenous People right here on the grounds where the massacre of the Lakota took place on Dec. 29, 1890.

The museum could house the history of the millions who died from the tip of South America to the top of North America. Every indigenous tribe has its stories of the death and destruction that was visited upon their people. A museum of this nature would draw visitors from around the world and it would inform and educate the masses as to the true history of the Natives of this Hemisphere. But more than that, the museum would serve as a stark reminder that the hands of the invaders were not clean, but they were the hands of a people who tried in vain to destroy a culture and a people.

Whether that destruction came in the form of forced religions or in the quest for gold, indigenous people died in its wake. There are hundreds of stories to be told and hundreds of photos and artifacts to substantiate the holocaust of the Native people. It should be a priority venture for the Oglala Sioux Tribe and there should be many wealthy people and the United States government itself that would contribute money and the expertise to make the Holocaust Museum of the Indigenous People a reality.

It is time to stop talking about the genocide foisted upon us and to do something about it. This idea is one that is achievable. We now need the Lakota people of vision to cease upon it and make it happen. It is time to tell the true history of the invasion of the Americas and about the millions of deaths that ensued.

And the Lakota People should be the leaders in this endeavor because for all intent and purposes, the holocaust of the indigenous people ended on the Sacred Grounds at Wounded Knee.Comment:  There is, or was, a Wounded Knee Museum already. I'm not sure how the proposed museum would be different. I guess it might focus more on the centuries of conquest and genocide.

For more on the subject, see Pine Ridge Needs Tourism and Fire Totals Wounded Knee Museum.

Where Are the Tipis?

Tomahawks and Tipis: Native American Representations in Commercial Culture

By Ruth Nolan"Are there still Indians here in Palm Springs?" Yes. "So, where are all the tipis?"

According to the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum's Executive Director, Dr. Michael Hammond, inquiries about the Palm Springs area Indians, who are mostly of historical Cahuilla origins, and how to find tipis in Palm Springs, are the two most frequently asked questions museum staff and interpreters receive from the thousands of international visitors who stop by this small, but fierce, downtown Palm Springs museum. A new exhibition, "Where are the Tipis? Changing Perceptions About Indians" is a quirky, first-of-its-kind art show at the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum that was created in response to the oft-asked questions.

The goal of the exhibition, according to former museum curator Dawn Wellman, who helped research and curate the show, was simple. "We wanted to answer tourists' questions, to dispel some of that and let people know that not all Indians are Plains Indians and wear feathered headdresses, ride horses or carry tomahawks," says Dawn Wellman. "It is an exhibition that is rich in humor and optimism, as well as historical fact."Myth vs. reality:Gordon Johnson, a Cahuilla-Cupeno and distinguished author of "Rez Dogs Eat Beans: and Other Tales," notes the value of the exhibition. "Exhibits like the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum's are important to dispel the stereotypes and wake people up to the fact Indians are evolving, they are not stuck in time," he says. "Many people form their impressions of Indian culture from watching movies--old cowboy and Indian movies at that. It is surprising, even today, people expect and are disappointed when they don't find Indians riding horses and living in tipis. Many want Indians to live up to the romanticized 'noble savage' image they've been spoon fed by media."

In contrast to this expectation, Cahuilla Indians of the Palm Springs and surrounding areas traditionally lived in dome-shaped or rectangular type of structure, according to Cahuilla anthropologist Dr. Lowell Bean, known as a "kish," up to 15-20 feet across and by covering bent willow branches with palm fronds and other available plant materials. In addition, tipis, made from large animal hides, are largely traditional to our country's northern Plains Indians, who had, until the 20th century, ready access to free-ranging buffalo. In addition, in contrast to the elaborate, beaded leather clothing common to the Plains Indians, the Cahuilla dressed in little clothing--made of palm fronds, deerskin and tule--during the frequent warm desert weather, and in colder months, wore capes made of deerskin or rabbit fur to stay warm.Comment:  Again, the message is clear. Movies and other forms of media are the primary source of Native stereotypes.

For more on the subject, see NMAI Symposium on Racist Mascots and Indians Testify About Negative Images.

First US tribal museum

The Oldest Tribal Museum in the U.S.

By Galen CulverKathryn is the current keeper of thousands of artifacts from Osage tribal past, everyday tools and ceremonial clothing combined.

Also here, thousands of photographs which bridge the gap from buffalo hunting past to oil boom future.

Of the more than two thousand original head right holders in 1906, the museum’s growing collection of photographs includes most of them, who lived through the tumult of the area’s rapid growth through the 1920s.

Red Corn points to an old photograph showing two men sitting together. “These are two brothers right here,” she describes. “And it shows you the difference in the way they’re dressed.”

On a windy May 2nd, 1938 the tribe organized a big parade and picnic on the grounds of the old school and chapel.

They dedicated the first tribal museum that day.

75 years later it’s the oldest tribally owned museum in the United States.Comment:  For more on the Osage Indians, see Docudrama About Hominy Indians and Maria Tallchief Dies.

Natural history museum in Bob's Burgers

In tonight's episode of Bob's Burgers, Carpe Museum (airdate: 5/5/13), Bob and his kids take a field trip to a natural history museum. I wondered how they'd handle the issue of commingling animals and "primitive" humans--a perennial one for this type of museum. The answer: not well.

To its credit, Bob's Burgers didn't show any indigenous humans. What it did show was cavemen, Vikings, and pioneers in a covered wagon. All had light-colored skin, so the only racial group on display were Caucasians.

This is a bit silly, since natural history museums generally don't feature Vikings or pioneers. It seemed like a contrived effort to be "politically correct."

But the show undercut this by presenting one boy's list of exhibits with "boobs." The list read:Boobs

Viking boobs
Eskimo boobs
East Timor boobs
Micronesian boobs
Samoan boobs
Egyptian boobsThen there's an Amazon rainforest exhibit still under construction. A thatched Indian hut is the only human artifact in it.

What's wrong?

For starters, the boobs list implies that indigenous people are nothing but sexual objects of interest. Whoever wrote this episode probably learned about these people from old National Geographics.

The thatched hut sends a similar message. Namely, that indigenous people are part of nature, not part of humanity. That they're closer to trees and monkey than they are to doctors and lawyers.

Summing up Bob's take: Wild animals = primitive white men = modern indigenous people. In other words, "Eskimos," Amazon Indians, and other brown-skins belong in a museum with extinct species (dinosaurs, woolly mammoths) and civilizations (Egyptians, Vikings).

Bob's Burgers suffers from the same mentality seen in Indians in Natural History Museums, Indians in Bailey at the Museum, and Eurocentrism in Night at the Museum 2. That's stereotypical if not racist.

For more on Bob's Burgers, see Navajo Mask in Bob's Burgers.

Digital library and virtual museum

Digital Public Library of America Features Upper Midwest NativesThe Digital Public Library of America is now “open” to the public. It may not have four walls and a roof, but it does have more than two million items users can browse through.

The DPLA is a free platform that makes a number of digital collections and archives from across the country available on one site.

“It’s not very often you get to build a new library,” says Dan Cohen, DPLA executive director, in a blog. “It’s an incredibly rare opportunity to build something like the Digital Public Library of America—to shape a new, open portal to knowledge and wonder.”

The site allows users to explore by a regular search, by place, by date, or to view whatever special exhibitions the library may be offering.A possibly related development:

PBS holds public screening of American Indian virtual museum

By Leslie StratmoenWyoming’s public television station will be holding a screening of its virtual museum of American Indian artifacts this Saturday in Riverton. The showing starts at 3:30 in the Intertribal Center of Central Wyoming College. The public’s welcome, free of charge.

Bob Connolly is the assistant general manager for Wyoming PBS. He said the project is called the Wind River Virtual Museum; and it brings together tribal elders from both the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes of the nearby reservation to talk about Indian artifacts that otherwise are lost to future generations because they’re housed in far-away museums.

He said it took about five years to get the project done, which started with a grant of about $100,000, and in-kind support that brought the total cost to about $150,000. The process will be featured in an upcoming Wyoming PBS show. “Lived History: The Story of the Wind River Virtual Museum” will air on Tuesday, May 14, at 7:30.Comment:  For more on Indians on the Internet, see NativeFoodSystems.org and Internet Library on Pine Ridge.

Below:  "Dakota quillwork leather vest (1890-1899), Minnesota Historical Society. Part of the History of Survivance exhibit."

Sand Creek called "collision of cultures"

Sand Creek Massacre Exhibit to Close for Tribal Consultation

By Carol BerryA controversial museum exhibit about the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 will be closed to the public as History Colorado consults with tribes whose ancestors were killed by U.S. Army volunteers at a southeastern Colorado encampment where they had been promised safety.

Complaints of inaccuracy in the exhibit, which opened in April 2012, and a failure to consult with the affected tribes had been lodged by the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of Montana with support from the Northern Arapaho Tribe of Wyoming. The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma also cited problems with the government-to-government consultation process.

Tribal members asked that the exhibit at the History Colorado Center in downtown Denver be closed until further consultation took place. Underlying some tribal criticism was History Colorado Center’s presentation of the massacre as part of an inevitable and neutral “collision of cultures” rather than as a major atrocity related to invasion and attempted annihilation.

“To underscore our sincerity in wishing to engage in meaningful consultation, History Colorado will close the exhibit to the public during consultation and while any agreed-upon changes resulting from the consultation are made to the exhibit,” said Edward C. Nichols, president and CEO of History Colorado in a letter to John Robinson, president of the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council.Comment:  For more on Sand Creek, see Northwestern Founder Oversaw Sand Creek and Sand Creek Massacre Spiritual Healing Run.

Below:  "The History Colorado Center in downtown Denver with the bison sculpture titled On the Wind."

Indians in natural history museums

Why Native American Art doesn’t belong in the American Museum of Natural History (and neither does African or Asian art)

By Katherine Abu HadalNatural history museums, they are all over the US and abroad too. They house amazing dinosaur fossils, exotic hissing cockroaches, and wondrous planetariums–right next to priceless human designed art and artifacts created by Native peoples of the Americas.

If you are like me, you might be wondering why these designed objects are juxtaposed with objects of nature such as redwood trees and precious metal exhibits. Yes, of course art is part of the natural world that we live in, but then why are there no Picasso paintings or Degas sculptures on display in the American Museum of Natural History?

How is a Haida mask different from an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus in its precision and intent? They both belong to the category that we call art and they deserve to be exhibited in a similar manner.

I will explain to you the message it sends when Native American, Pacific, and African art and artifact is lumped in with natural history exhibits. It sends the message that these groups are a part of the “natural” world. That is, they are somehow less cultured and developed than the western art canon. It also sends the message that they are historical and an element of the romantic past, when in reality these people are alive and well, with many traditions intact and new traditions happening all the time.Comment:  I've written about Indians in natural history museums in Southern California Indians on Display and NYC Museums Showcase Indians. For more on the subject, see Indians in Bailey at the Museum and Natives in Danny and the Dinosaur.

Osage ballet Wahzhazhe

'Wahzhazhe': An Osage Ballet at the National Museum of the American IndianOpening March 20 and running through March 23 at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. is the Osage ballet, Wahzhazhe. Performances are free and will be staged daily at 3 p.m. in the Rasmuson Theater, 1st level.

The Osage ballet, Wahzhazhe, is a contemporary ballet that brings together unique and diverse qualities of Oklahoma history and culture: a reverence for classical ballet that was the legacy of two famous Osage ballerinas, Maria and Marjorie Tallchief, and the richness of Osage traditional music, dance, and textile arts. The creative set designs transform the stage into accurate depictions of Osage lifestyles and the costumes are created to appear as the traditional tribal clothing that was worn during the past 200 years.Comment:  For more on Native ballet, see Boise Philharmonic's Sacred Land and A Story Before Time.

Redskins "respond" to NMAI symposium

If you're wondering how the Washington Redskins might respond to the NMAI's symposium on racist mascots, wonder no longer. Here's what passes for their response:

'We Are Very Proud To Be Called Redskins'"We are very proud of our athletic teams and very proud to be called Redskins!"

These are the words of Coshocton High School athletic director George Hemming, who serves as the athletic director for just one of the 70 different High Schools in 25 states are known as the Redskins.

Redskins.com found that there are almost as many schools using the name Redskins as Cowboys, as only 75 schools use the name Cowboys, and interestingly just 19 use the name Giants.

Coshocton High School is located in east central Ohio which has a rich Native American history. Hemming said "the name represents to us competition and pride."The posting goes on in that vein for a while. It makes only one reference to the pro football team:These schools' athletes have a deep connection, just as the Washington Redskins alumni, and many high school student-athletes have pride in calling themselves Redskins.Yeah, and the South had a deep connection to slavery. So the hell what?

Reactions to the reaction

Along with everyone else, you're probably wondering "Is that it?" Some reactions to this posting:

Washington Redskins “Proudly” Defend Their Name In The Dumbest Way Possible

By Drew MagaryPrincipal Steve Cowser said... the name shows their "pride for the Native Americans and how they lived."

It will shock you to learn that neither Cowser nor Hemming are of Native American descent. You'll notice that both men use the word "pride" as an empty platitude when attempting to spin the unspinnable. "We're really proud of these people we know nothing about!" NFL commissioner Roger Goodell also barfed up a similar talking point when publicly defending the name, using his patented lifeless delivery:

"I think Dan Snyder and the organization have made it very clear that they are proud of that name and that heritage, and I think the fans are, too."

In this case, pride means virtually nothing. A team could be nicknamed the Buttchuggers and people associated with it would still be "proud" of them, whatever the hell that means. The Eagles are a proud franchise. The Giants are a proud franchise. Pride is the single most abundant commodity in the sporting universe. It has about as much value as a Canadian penny. Furthermore, you can clumsily justify virtually any long-standing practice just by saying the words "pride" and "heritage," as if the history of having a remarkably offensive team name somehow renders it inoffensive, which is logic for stupid people.

Of course, none of this really has anything to do with pride. The reason Dan Snyder and Roger Goodell are both loath to change the name "Redskins" is because the Washington Redskins brand is worth over a billion dollars, and changing the team name would have a (likely temporary) negative impact on the franchise's brand equity.Redskins' Defensive Tales of High School 'Pride' Fail to ConvinceThe article does not explain how the opinions of non-Native high school coaches and principals, however proud they may be, makes the term any less hurtful to the people it describes.

Further, the implication that such opinions can inform the judgment of an NFL franchise may strike some readers as a topsy-turvy, highly selective argument. If the Redskins are truly soliciting opinions on the value of their Native American name and logo, there are plenty already out there--from the Native American community itself. An NFL team seeking and publishing commentary from a non-Native high school coach in Ohio while ignoring the voluminous criticism from such groups as the National Congress of American Indians could rightly bee seen as, well, offensive.Natives deny the "honor"

Some of those Native opinions:

Native Americans speak on sports imagery

By Paul LukasOne of the day's recurring themes was a strong rejection of the notion that American Indian mascots and team names somehow "honor" Native Americans. Here's a sampling of thoughts that were offered on that idea:

• From E. Newton Jackson, professor of sports management at the University of North Florida and a member of Cherokee Tribes of South Carolina: "How does one person tell another that they honor them best? How do we do that when I'm telling you that what you're saying and doing does not honor me?"

• From Lois Risling, land specialist for the Hoopa Valley Tribes, who attended Stanford University in the early 1970s, when the school's teams were known as the Indians and were cheered on to "scalp the [Cal] bear": "We were told it was an honor to have an Indian mascot chosen as the symbol as a great university. When 55 of us presented a petition to have the name and symbol changed, we were told we were all taking it too personal and should just get over it. When we said Prince Lightfoot [the school's live mascot at the time] was wearing clothing that was wrong, and that his dance was wrong, we were told, 'Stanford Indians dress like this, and anyone who goes to Stanford is a Stanford Indian, so that makes it OK.'"

• From John Orendorff, a U.S. Army colonel and Native American: "I often feel that the underlying point of these 'honors' is that my Indian heritage is owned by others. The message I'm constantly getting is, 'We own you. We will define how we honor you. Don't tell us whether you like it or not, because we own you. When we hunt down Osama Bin Laden, we can refer to him as Geronimo--which happens to be my son's name--because we own you. You don't control how you're perceived. We control that. Because we own you.'"Comment:  It's pathetic how weak the pro-Redskins arguments are. Indians say the name is offensive; non-Indians say it isn't. And...that's it. White people get to tell Indians how to think and feel--and get to contradict the dictionary--because they're white. Once again, it's white privilege in action.

Orendorff's comments are especially good. I've said similar things before. Being an Indian mascot is like being a trophy on a wall or a display in a museum. It lets non-Indians feel good about the Indians their ancestors conquered and killed. It lets them dismiss thoughts about the ongoing injustices toward Indians--for instance, the failure to pass the Violence Against Women Act.

For more on the Washington Redskins, see Rob Quoted on Washington Redskins, Indians Are "Whiners," Not Warriors? and "Redskins" Approaching a Tipping Point?

Below:  "A graphic showing the helmet design of the McLoud Redskins, a high school foorball team in Oklahoma." I.e., Indians as savage spearchuckers.

NMAI symposium on racist mascots

Before the symposium

The Director of the Indian Museum Says It’s Time to Retire the Indian Motif in SportsWhen Kevin Gover was a kid growing up in Norman, Oklahoma, college students at the nearby University of Oklahoma had begun protesting the school’s mascot. Known as “Little Red,” the mascot was a student costumed in a war bonnet and breech cloth who would dance to rally crowds. Gover, who today is the director of the American Indian Museum, says he remembers thinking, “I couldn’t quite understand why an Indian would get up and dance when the Sooners scored a touchdown.” Of Pawnee heritage, Gover says he understands now that the use of Indian names and imagery for mascots is more than just incongruous. “I’ve since realized that it’s a much more loaded proposition.”

On February 7, joined by a panel of ten scholars and authors, Gover will deliver opening remarks for a discussion on the history and ongoing use in sports today of Indian mascots.

Though many have been retired, including Oklahoma’s Little Red in 1972, notable examples—baseball’s Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves, and football’s Washington Redskins—continue, perhaps not as mascots, but in naming conventions and the use of Indian motifs in logos.

“We need to bring out the history, and that’s the point of the seminar, is that it’s not a benign sort of undertaking,” explains Gover. He’s quick to add that he doesn’t regard the teams’ fans as culpable, but he likewise doesn’t hesitate to call out the mascots and the names of the teams as inherently racist.Racist Stereotypes in Sports to be Discussed at NMAI Thursday

At the symposium

Redskins name change demanded at Smithsonian forum

By Annys ShinThe symposium on “Racist Stereotypes and Cultural Appropriation in American Sports” was a day-long assault on the use of Native Americans as sports mascots. It was a thorough prosecution, delivered by a dozen or so mostly academic speakers before an audience of more than 300 people.

The speakers took issue with the standard defense offered by past Redskins owners that the name is a way of honoring Native Americans.

“Honors like that we don’t need,” said Robert Holden, deputy director of the National Congress of American Indians.

The name was intended to honor one man, former head coach William “Lone Star” Dietz, said Linda Waggoner, a lecturer at Sonoma State University in California. As the story goes, in 1933, co-owner George Preston Marshall renamed the then-Boston Braves the Redskins after Dietz, who adopted the identity of a Lakota man as part of his persona. The Redskins name followed the team to Washington.

Waggoner said Dietz may not have been Sioux at all but initially passed himself off as so to avoid military service.

Several speakers discussed how demeaning the term is considered. Manley Begay recalled being taunted as a “dirty redskin.”

“Those words have stayed with me,” said Begay, co-director of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development and one of the plaintiffs in a 1992 lawsuit challenging the Redskins trademark.After the symposium

Patrick Pexton: Listening to Native Americans

By Patrick B. PextonThe Post recently published a spate of columns, by different writers, calling for the local National Football League team’s nickname to be changed to avoid its racist overtones. You know, the red and gold team led by Robert Griffin III.

Meanwhile, on Jan. 28 The Post pulled from publication a short high school sports story about the girls swim team at Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, the Panthers. It was held because the photo that went with the story showed the girls, who dress in a different theme each meet to encourage team spirit, wearing face paint and feathers—seemingly Native American warrior garb.And:I talked to Native American groups and individuals this week, too, about the football team’s name, and about the swimmers in their garb. I’m not sure words can properly convey the depth of feeling I heard from them.

Wearing face paint and feathers, many Native Americans feel, is a taking of their cultural and religious traditions. The paint and feathers have distinct meanings for each tribe and nation, and they often are worn only because an individual has earned them through tests, deeds and ceremonies of which white culture has little knowledge or appreciation.

The best analogy I could come up with is the way we treat U.S. military uniforms and insignia. It is against federal law for a civilian to wear the uniform of a U.S. soldier, sailor, airman or Marine for personal gain. Similarly, within the military, if you wear a medal or insignia that you didn’t earn, it is a crime under military law.And:As for RGIII and his teammates, Harjo and every other Native American I spoke to see the team name as racist. It hearkens to the early European settling of this country, when French and British authorities put bounties on the heads, or skins, of Native American men, women and children.

“Every major national Native American organization has declared that the name of the pro football team in our nation’s capital is the most offensive thing native peoples can be called in the English language and has called for it to be changed,” she said.

“It’s okay if others aren’t offended by it,” she added. “They should respect that we are offended and that this is something they can do something about—in our world where we can do little about most things, this is something we can actually do something to fix. They should care about it even a tiny bit because we care about it so much.”Redskins: The Clock Is Now Ticking on Changing the Name

By Dave ZirinIt’s an awkward fact of life in Washington, DC, that we are home to both the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian and the Washington Redskins. One attempts to preserve the Native American cultures that weren’t eradicated by conquest; the other is both a symbol and result of the same eradication. These two worlds collided this past week when the museum hosted a day-long symposium about Native American sports nicknames. In a packed auditorium, panelists and audience members took the local team to task, calling their name “ugly,” “offensive” and “a racist slur.” Former Colorado Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, the only Native American senator in US history, said from the stage, ”If you want [your mascot] to be a savage—use your own picture.” Not one person either in the audience or the crowd defended the use of "Redskin,” because, as one fan of the team said to me, “it really is defending the indefensible.”

Despite repeated requests from the museum, the Redskins refused to send anyone to make the case publicly that the name is anything other than a self-evident slur. Like their owner, the ham-fisted, rabbit-eared Dan Snyder, they celebrate the moniker only when no one is present to challenge them. Since purchasing the franchise in 1999, Snyder has maintained that the name "Redskins” was a “tribute,” as former team Vice President Karl Swanson said, “derived from the Native American tradition for warriors to daub their bodies with red clay before battle.” This is not an argument they felt confident making at the Smithsonian because the laughter would have cracked the Capitol dome. The team name was the brainchild not of an anthropologist who advised on the fierce honor of the “red-clay warriors” but of team founder, segregationist and Dixiecrat George Preston Marshall.

Senator Campbell said that he asks people, “How would you feel if the team was called the Washington Darkies?” George Preston Marshall would have felt euphoric because he adored minstrel shows and fetishized the confederacy. As Thomas G. Smith wrote in his book Showdown: JFK and the Integration of the Washington Redskins, when Marshall proposed marriage to his future wife Corrine, he did so “amidst fragrant honeysuckle while a group of African American performers [dressed like house-slave extras from Gone with the Wind] sang ‘Carry Me Back to Old Virginny,’” a song that speaks lovingly of how slaves love to see affection between their “Massa and Missus.” The Redskins were named for the minstrelsy Marshall adored and, as the southernmost team in the league at the time, to appeal to Dixie. They were also, surprise, the last team in the NFL to integrate.

If you know this background, it’s risible to hear NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell say, “I think Dan Snyder and the organization have made it very clear that they are proud of that name and that heritage, and I think the fans are, too.” There is nothing to be proud of in this “heritage,” unless your tastes tend toward the antebellum South. In a league that’s 70 percent African-American yet couldn’t seem to find any coaches or executives of color to hire this off-season, the Redskins are also a reminder, as William Faulkner wrote, that “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”Comment:  Patrick Paxton is the Washington Post's ombudsman. His commentary is another sign that people are starting to take this issue seriously.

Note that I compared wearing headdresses to medals in Hipster Medals Instead of Headdresses. Glad to see someone else recognized the validity of the comparison.

For more on the Washington Redskins, see Rob Quoted on Washington Redskins, Indians Are "Whiners," Not Warriors? and "Redskins" Approaching a Tipping Point?

Beaded vest donated to Goodwill

Beaded Indian vest donated to Goodwill is a treasure

A Native American vest donated to Goodwill was passed on by sharp-eyed staff to Seattle’s Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, where it is now in the museum’s permanent collection.

By Lynda V. MapesYou just never know what you might find at your local Goodwill store: something old, something new—and sometimes, treasures worthy of a museum collection.

So it was with a beaded American Indian vest dropped off at the Dearborn Goodwill at South Lane Street in Seattle. Sharp-eyed staff thought it might be something special, and an independent appraiser estimated its value for Goodwill at $5,000.

Now the early 20th-century Plains Indian-style beaded vest has just been accepted by Seattle’s Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture for its permanent collection.

“It is just gorgeous and we are thrilled to have it,” said Julie Stein, director of the museum.

Goodwill donated the vest to the museum so that it could benefit the entire community, said Katherine Boury, communications manager for Seattle Goodwill.Comment:  For more on Indians and Goodwill, see First Goodwill Store on the Rez.

Below:  "Justin McCarthy, of the Burke museum, adjusts the display of the American Indian beaded vest that was given to the museum by Goodwill." (Mark Harrison/Seattle Times)

New Suquamish Museum

Learn about Chief Seattle and his tribe in a pilgrimage to new museum

A new $6 million tribal museum on the Kitsap Peninsula tells the story of the people and culture that produced a man named Seattle.

By Brian J. CantwellAnybody new to Seattle might wonder about the city’s name. It’s not like New York, named after a place in the “old country,” or Madison, named for a dead president.

Seattle is named for a peace-loving Indian chief—a little classier than Chicago, derived from a native word for wild garlic.

When you’ve been here long enough to be settled in and have a favorite coffee order, it’s time to learn more about your hometown’s heritage. Make a ferry-ride pilgrimage to the Kitsap Peninsula, to the winter home and final resting place of the city’s namesake, Chief Seattle.

And now’s a good time to go, because the chief’s tribe, the Suquamish, has opened a handsome new museum where you can learn all about Chief Seattle’s people and their culture.

One surprise: The chief himself gets a conspicuously modest mention.

Modern concepts

The 9,000-square-foot, $6 million tribal museum, which opened in September a few hundred feet from the chief’s grave in the village of Suquamish, replaces a well-respected museum dating to the 1980s.

In part with newfound wealth from its Clearwater Casino, the tribe hired Storyline Studio of Seattle to design new exhibits, and Mithun Architects created a stained-wood building surrounded by native plantings of sword fern, wild currant and cedar.

Inside, it’s a gleaming example of modern museum concepts with a topical “less is more” orientation that doesn’t overwhelm. A single, compact hall showcases artifacts from tribal archives, or even from contemporary tribal members’ attics or family rooms (giving the sense that this is truly “living history”).Comment:  Compare this museum to the faux exhibits in Bailey at the Museum and you'll see the yawning chasm between fiction and reality.

For more on Pacific Northwest museums, see Salish Traveling Food Exhibit and Truth vs. Twilight.

Below:  "A Red Hat Society group from Poulsbo learns about a 300-year-old canoe hoisted by sculpted figures of tribal people at the new Suquamish Museum." (Mike Siegel/Seattle Times)

At the NMAI's inaugural ball

NMAI: A Rich Native Nations Inaugural Ball—Mitt Romney Loincloths and All

By Rob CapricciosoThere were many intriguing celebrations in Washington, D.C. during the second inauguration of President Barack Obama, but the Native Nations Inaugural Ball took the prize. Just ask the guy wearing the loincloth made out of a Mitt Romney campaign shirt.

The event, a first-of-its kind glitzy fundraiser for (and at) the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), had a bounty of uniquely American Indian moments. A member of the 1491s comedy group joked about pulling some of the sacred headdresses on display at the museum out of the cases to add to the authenticity; First Nations comedian Gerry Barrett said if he were president, he’d fill the White House lawn with grazing buffalo; and some of the tribal leaders, lobbyists and spouses were decked out not in black tie, sequins and diamonds, but bolos, feathers and turquoise.

Tickets for the January 21 gala fundraiser were $1,000 per person. Gold sponsors, the Chickasaw Nation and Morongo Band of Mission Indians, donated $100,000 each. Other sponsors donated a combined total of copy million, according to an NMAI program.

The money showed, and flowed. The emcee was Twilight movies star Chaske Spencer; there were several musical and comedy performances; four floors of the museum were dotted with cocktail tables, candles and fancy tablecloths. The Native Nations ball even apparently outspent the president’s two official balls on at least one major front: food and drink. Reports surfaced that at the two galas the president attended with First Lady Michelle Obama at the Washington Convention Center, Cheeze-Its and pretzels were served, while drink lines were 40 people long. At the NMAI, buffalo filets, pear-infused vodka and ginger-apple sparkling water were abundant.

The high cost of the fundraiser was a sensitive subject for some attendees, who said they knew it kept out friends who would have liked to have been there. The fact that the American Indian Society of Washington hosted a less pricey Native-focused ball and powwow in Arlington, Va. the night before put some peoples’ minds at ease.And:The only sour note for many Indians who made the trek to the capital was that the president didn’t mention American Indians in any of the inaugural events. “We didn’t get mentioned all day today,” lamented Harris. “Everybody seemed to have a role to play but us—I think we have a lot more work to do.”

Chris Stearns, a Navajo lawyer and former congressional staffer, said he expects Obama to be more specific about addressing Indian issues in his second term. “He did want to hit some of the larger societal issues, and I think he did a great job with his plea to America to use its strength to ‘be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice....’ I came away feeling that, as a Native American, my family and I are really more a part of America than ever before.”Comment:  For more on the 2013 inauguration, see Woman Warriors on CBS and Native Nations Inaugural Ball.

Below:  "Museum director Kevin Gover giving introductory remarks and remembering tribal leaders who walked on in past year." (Rob Capriccioso)