Museum Studies Commons^™

Lessons From Controversy: Interpreting The Sand Creek Massacre In Colorado, Katherine Rose Hoadley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a case study of the 2012 History Colorado Center exhibit, Collision: The Sand Creek Massacre, 1860s – Today. Collision was an exhibit that attempted to showcase the history of the Sand Creek Massacre – an 1864 event where well over one hundred peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho people were murdered by the 3rd Regiment of the Colorado Military District. Collision remained open for a little more than a year – this thesis interrogates the reasons behind its closure and its status as a controversial museum exhibit. The findings of this thesis show that a lack of collaboration …

People And Place: A Journey Through Film, Tourism, And Heritage, Sarah Beals

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Old Tucson Studios is a theme park where film, tourism, and heritage all converge through the American Western genre. During national social change, Westerns increase in number to reflect national values and identity. Westerns that ally with landscapes and people are potentially the most powerful storytelling tool in mainstream media. My research shows that this paring of people and place creates a prevailing image in the audience’s memory. The results suggest that the current image of the West comes from films made between 1951-1970, despite there being newer Westerns. John Wayne and saguaro cactus are enduring images with historic, cultural, …

Behind The Exhibit: Exploring The Processes Of Indigenous Rights Representation At The Canadian Museum For Human Rights, Madison Caroline Dillard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Focusing on the representation of Indigenous human rights at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) in Winnipeg, Manitoba, this study examines how museums can represent, educate, and advocate for Indigenous human rights. The study is based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out at the museum in July 2019 and the literature on anthropology and human rights, decolonizing museum practices, and museums as spaces for human rights dialogue. The study shows how museums can change their history of racist and inaccurate representation of Indigenous people. Through extensive and “deep collaboration” between Indigenous partners and museum staff, Indigenous culture, history, and rights …

Manifestations: Displays Of Internal Beliefs And Perspectives, Manuel Ferreira

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis aims at better understanding and sharing the internal beliefs, influences, and insights of specific Field Museum staff in regard to exhibitions and the future of the Field Museum. It is people that make up museums and create exhibitions, and their beliefs not only influence and guide them, but also their institution and what they develop. Grounded in museum anthropology, and framed by new and critical museology, entanglement, contact zones, museum as method, and a queer mezclando (mixing) perspective, this research employs museum ethnography as a way of exploring relations and meanings among museum staff, beliefs, and manifestations. In …

Framing Representation: An Ethnographic Exploration Of Visual Sovereignty And Contemporary Native American Art, Laura A. Hughes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The nature of this research is to explore the idea of visual sovereignty within contemporary Native American art, and how this concept engages with practices of decolonization. Through conducting semi-structured interviews with five artists who selfidentify as Native American, I explore how the artists engage with this concept, what visual narratives their artwork presents, and how their works function as acts of decolonization. I connect their narratives to a broader conversation of critical museology and museum anthropology within museum spaces including how to reconsider the art/artifact divide, how to frame Indigenous arts reception through Indigenous aesthetics, and how their narratives …

Beyond Interventions: A Case Study Of The Denver Art Museum’S Native Arts Artist-In-Residency Program, Madison Sussmann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Denver Art Museum’s Native Arts Artist-in-Residency Program is an inter-departmental project dedicated to the collaboration between the museum, artists, and visitors. The residency and the physical studio were established to formalize artist involvement in the museum. There is no written mission statement for the program, but visitor engagement is central to the organization of the program and experience of the artist. This thesis explores the question: What can the experiences of the artists and museum professionals involved in the Native Arts Artist-in-Residency program tell about the residency’s contribution to critical museology and decolonization? Through exploring the definitions of critical …

Ua1c11/108 Jonathan Jeffrey Negative Collection, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Negatives taken by Jonathan Jeffrey.

The Colonial Gaze In Aotearoa New Zealand: Origins, Residue, And Means For Mitigation, Juliet Levesque

History Honors Papers

No abstract provided.

When Repatriation Doesn’T Happen: Relationships Created Through Cultural Property Negotiations, Ellyn Demuynck

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the discourse of repatriation in connection to the Encounters exhibition held by the National Museum of Australia in 2015. Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Islander artifacts were loaned to the Australian museum by the British Museum. At the close of the exhibition, one item, the Gweagal shield, was claimed for repatriation. The repatriation request had not been approved at the time of this research. The Gweagal shield is a historically significant artifact for Indigenous and non- Indigenous Australians. Analysis takes into account the political economy of the two museums and situates the exhibition within the relevant museum …

A Political Perch: A Historical Analysis And Online Exhibit Of The U.S. Senate Clerk's Desk, Olivia Bowers

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience aims to highlight the importance of the historical object and accurately document the complete history of the former United States Senate Clerk’s Desk, placed in the newly built chamber in 1859 and removed in 1951. The desk’s first and last occupants were Kentucky natives and civil servants, and its current resting place is in Western Kentucky University’s Kentucky Museum. Through research that began in the nation’s capital, and a journey to follow the desk’s paper trail, the object’s massive historical legacy and close ties to the state of Kentucky may live on. Along with …

By Land And By Sea: Displaced Samplers Reveal Women On The Move, Lynne Anderson

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Until the middle of the nineteenth century most American girls embroidered as least one needlework sampler as part of their education. A first sampler demonstrated the girl had learned to sew a few different stitches, copy the alphabet, and “write” her own name in thread. If instruction continued past these basics, subsequent embroideries might reveal more advanced needlework techniques and the girl’s expanding literacy. Each sampler was considered a significant accomplishment—by the girl herself, her teacher, her family, and even potential suitors. Embroidered samplers were treasured objects, framed and displayed in the home or tucked away safely for posterity. When …

Artistic Philanthropy And Women’S Emancipation In Early Twentieth-Century Italy, In The Life And The Work Of Romeyne Robert And Carolina Amari, Maria Luciana Buseghin

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Romeyne Robert, married as Ranieri di Sorbello, started an embroidery school in 1904 in Umbria, at the family’s country estate of Pischiello. Her goal was to teach young peasant women to emancipate themselves by learning the craft of embroidery. She was inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement in America and by contemporary programs developed in settlement houses along the East Coast. Their aim was to help the emancipation of immigrant women from Italy by fostering the recovery of artisan skills. At the Sorbello Embroidery School, Romeyne rediscovered the Renaissance technique originally called the punto Umbro, later renamed punto Sorbello. …

Many Makers: Collaborative Renewal Of Chahta Nan Tvnna (Choctaw Textiles), Jennifer Byram

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Using an Indigenous research model of relationality to community and to land, this paper presents the production of a 1700’s style skirt in bison and dogbane fiber by a group of Choctaw textiles artisans. By translating existing archaeological and textual resources into newly produced garments, these practices communicate the research to the Choctaw community in an accessible and inspiring format. Textiles discussed in this paper are made with twining and oblique interlacing techniques using dogbane, bison, and nettle yarns decorated with natural dyes, pigments, or shells. Members of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma revitalized a traditional art that had been …

Camelid Fleece And The Hidden Histories Of Colors In The Andes, Penelope Dransart

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

This article explores the significance of natural fleece colors that are often hidden by dyeing processes. The earliest domesticated alpacas and llamas probably resembled vicuñas and guanacos, their wild counterparts. By 3000 years ago, differences were beginning to emerge in the coats of alpacas and llamas. Dyers, spinners, and weavers learned to exploit these variations to complement and extend the range of possibilities offered through the use of dyed yarns. The evidence from the Siguas and Nasca cultural traditions considered here is both direct and indirect, taking into account textile remains and the depiction of camelids on ceramics. It indicates …

Aso Òkè Weaving Techniques And Perception In Iseyin, Oyo State, Nigeria, Idowu Jamiu Diyaolu, Halima Ronke Omotosho

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

There is need for more women to be involved in weaving activities in southwestern Nigeria. The study examined the techniques employed in local weaving in Iseyin and associated factors, as well as the perceptions of consumers on the woven fabrics. The study was carried out in Iseyin, a city in Oyo State, Nigeria, reputed for weaving aso-oke. Cluster sampling was used to select twenty weavers while simple random sampling was used to select eighty consumers. Interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data then analyzed and interpreted using descriptive statistics and correlation. The result showed that most of the weavers …

Making Siapo In Leone Today, Regina A. Meredith Fitiao Mfa

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Siapo is the Samoan word for painted bark cloth. It’s an art form that has been a part of many Pacific island nations for centuries. At one time it flourished in American Samoa, namely the village of Leone, where a group of women worked consistently with it. One of those women is my great aunt, the late Mary J. Pritchard, who taught me the rudiments of making siapo back in the early 1970s, while later it was her daughters who inspired me to become the siapo maker I am today.

“Making Siapo in Leone Today” is an elucidation of my …

Behind The Scenes: Hidden Stories Of Craftswomen Of Punjab, India, Anu H. Gupta

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

Creating phulkari, an embroidered craft of Punjab, for the market involves a value-chain of people for converting a solid fabric to an ornamented piece with embroidery. A pillar of this value-chain is domestic craftswomen. Being part of an informal sector, these women are susceptible to being exploited at home as well as by designers, vendors, and several others involved in the value-chain of production and marketing of craft. Many of them are pushed to the background not only by their family members but also by the people or vendors who give them work. Their individual contribution is acknowledged only when …

Ethnoarchaeology Of The Textile Chaîne Operatoire. Searching For Evidence Of Prehispanic Textile Production In Domestic Sites, Bárbara Cases

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

It is proposed that detailed knowledge of the textile production sequence currently carried out by Aymara weavers of the Altiplano of Tarapac  (northern Chile) constitutes an important reference to link material and immaterial aspects and generate indicators with which to address pre-Hispanic textile production in domestic sites, the locations where fabrics would have been produced and used. This research is conceptually framed by the anthropology of technology, which considers material production as a social act. The recording of textile production processes (cha ne op ratoire) was carried out using an ethno-archaeological approach to build a bridge between the present—with known …

Casting A Wide Net: The Value Of Collaboration And Outreach With Source Communities In The Analysis Of Historic Native American Fishing Nets, Annabelle Fichtner Camp, The Lenape Tribe Of Delaware

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

The Lenape Tribe of Delaware is one of two recognized tribes within the state of Delaware. Having only gained state recognition in 2016, the group is actively working to regain the lifeways of their ancestors that have been lost in the aftermath of colonization and systemic oppression. This paper discusses collaborative research between the author, a student in Art Conservation, and the Lenape Tribe of Delaware into the once-crucial practice of net-tying. It addresses the impetus for the project and its role in object-based decolonization and Indigenous knowledge reclamation. The research was inspired by the last known Lenape netmaker, Clem …

Modernist Influences In Churchill Weavers Textiles: 1922-1949, Sarah Stopenhagen Broomfield

Textile Society of America: Symposium Proceedings

“Modernist Influences in Churchill Weavers Textiles: 1922-1949” is an interdisciplinary study of the Berea, Kentucky, handweaving production center, Churchill Weavers, which operated from 1922 to 2007. It documents craft production from Kentucky’s Appalachian foothills that exhibited a fusion of traditional and modern craft practices while incorporating a modernist design style. The study highlights traditional hand weaving production with a modern look from the interwar period, coming from a location not typically thought of as a center for innovation, national, or international movements. The study examines textiles designed by Eleanor Churchill in the beginning decades of the company and woven on …