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Dakota Material Culture in the Minnesota Historical Society

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Dakota Material Culture in the Minnesota Historical Society Stewardship, Partnerships, and Technology: Dakota Material Culture in the Minnesota Historical Society Benjamin Gessner Above all else, a historical nesota Historical Society to collect, In regard to the care of Ameri- society values its commitment to the preserve, and provide access to items can Indian material culture, a spirit public, and a collections department that tell the stories of Minnesota’s of collaboration between museums honors the responsibility of manag- people. We are charged by charter and native communities has begun ing the items entrusted to it. It is the and by mission to do so, and we to emerge. Over the past 20-plus professional obligation of the Min- are held to the highest professional years, museums have been adapt- standards of preservation and access. ing their policies by defining good The items in MHS collections are not owned as property but are held Before the digital age: Registers of new in public trust; employees are, there- acquisitions, 1918 to May 1939 (open) fore, stewards and public servants. and June 1939 through 1965. stewardship of American Indian material culture in terms of good Many American Indian people consider partnerships with American Indians. These partnerships often address the physical items to be relatives, ancestors, divergent definitions of access, use, or powerful ceremonial objects. and preservation most frequently ac- cepted by either group. At all policy, programming, and employee levels, the Minnesota Historical Society has been—and remains—committed history was not accorded nearly to play in educating the public by to working with American Indian as much credence as the academic helping to create platforms where communities. disciplines. Yet the opportunities members of American Indian com- Nevertheless, the academic for educating the general public are munities can tell the stories that they disciplines of archaeology, anthropol- diminished when these voices are are willing to share. Many museums ogy, and history, as well as the term ignored. Not only is oral history an have begun using technology not only “museum collections,” have come expertise in its own right but, when as a tool to disseminate information to be almost dirty words for some employed in tandem with other and achieve transparency—openness American Indian people. This is be- methods of examining the past, it and accountability for collection cause throughout the history of these often provides a much more holistic items—but also as a means of en- specializations, until the past few and accurate understanding.1 couraging interaction. For the past decades, practitioners have consid- The most exciting changes in decade, one way in which the Min- ered themselves the sole authorities these academic and professional nesota Historical Society has begun in examining, theorizing about, and fields are the collaborations that fostering conversations is through teaching American Indian history are emerging as American Indian digitizing catalog records and im- and prehistory. While academics are, communities have begun regaining ages and posting them to free online indeed, experts in their fields, espe- public control over the interpretation databases, the most recent being Col- cially in examining archaeological of their past.2 Today, as American In- lections Online. and historical records in order to dian people have entered these fields A catalog record for an object better understand the past, they and challenged the assumed author- contains information on provenance have, until relatively recently, ity, many historians, anthropologists, (life history), the date it was made, guarded closely this self-defined archaeologists, and museum pro- how it was constructed, with what authority—often to the detriment fessionals understand it to be their materials, and how and by whom it of their disciplines. duty to actively seek and include the was used. Digitized records can serve This is not to say that they never voices of contemporary members as a surrogate for “the real thing,” sought the input of American In- of the communities whose culture and anyone can access them at any dians in interpreting their past. and history they examine. These time from any place with an inter- However, academics most often academic fields are strengthened ex- net connection. The Society began considered oral tradition to be ponentially as partnerships become digitizing 3D objects more than five supplemental, relying upon it only more common. years ago; a more concentrated ef- to support prevailing theories. Oral Museums have an important role fort began in 2010, funded primarily through the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund (ACHF). Benjamin Gessner, a collections assistant at the Minnesota Historical Society, has an Digitization can be laborious and academic background in art history, nonprofit management, and cultural resource time consuming; to date, roughly ten management. For the better part of a decade, he has worked professionally with percent of the 3D objects are avail- museum collections. He says, “I am personally and professionally indebted to my able online. Dakota teachers and friends and have done my best to listen to them carefully. This article relies heavily on my personal opinions and perspectives. It does not necessar- Beyond merely sharing collec- ily represent their views or those of my colleagues or supervisors.” tions information, digital technology provides a mechanism for the pub- 70 Minnesota History lic to comment directly on a given site. By its very nature, this function decentralizes authority on interpre- Online Resources tation. And thus, Collections Online These links lead to sites mentioned throughout this article in connection provided the platform for a new with material culture and Dakota history. collaborative venture. Responding • Collections Online: to requests from Dakota people to www.mnhs.org/searchcollections improve access to information about their material culture in its holdings, • In Honor of the People (Bishop Whipple collections): www.inhonorofthepeople.org the MHS collections department in 2011 began to digitize and present • Oceti Sakowin—The Seven Council Fires: these items in an easily accessible http://collections.mnhs.org/sevencouncilfires portion of Collections Online. Digi- • Researching Dakota Family History: tizing Dakota material culture is one www.mnhs.org/genealogy/dakotafamily/resources.htm of the Society’s efforts to address • U.S–Dakota War of 1862: the anniversary of the U.S.–Dakota www.usdakotawar.org War of 1862 by building relation- ships with contemporary Dakota individuals and communities.3 The project was based on nearly 150 years items to be relatives, ancestors, or has purchased objects directly from of evolving practices in handling powerful ceremonial objects.4 American Indian artists and makers. and identifying material culture in Out of the roughly 250,000 items The collections include items used general as well as the more recent of material culture in the 3D objects for fishing, hunting, agriculture, hide decades of advances in working with collection, approximately 5,500, ac- working, travel and transportation, American Indian communities. quired between 1855 and the present, clothing, art, adornments, exchange are American Indian in origin. They (wampum), music, recreation, cer- have come to the Society through emonies, toys, and weapons. The Minnesota Historical donations by archaeologists, ethnog- Today, museums are accredited Society acquires, cares for, provides raphers, collectors, and individuals by a professional organization, the access to, and holds in public trust (or their descendants) whose military American Association of Museums. many physical manifestations of the or civilian careers brought them to They operate within federal laws past. Its collections contain large this region during the nineteenth and state statutes that dictate proper numbers of manuscripts, govern- or twentieth century. Over the last stewardship, and they are guided ment records, photographs, works of few decades, especially, the Society both by professional best practices art, maps, and books as well as 3D objects, commonly called histori- cal artifacts but more appropriately known as material culture. Even so, all of these terms are applied by the dominant culture; many American Indian people consider physical Parfleche (rawhide, pigment), 1911 Unknown maker, Lakota Box-shaped rawhide storage container made from a single peice of leather, given by Chief Red Fox, a Hunkpapa Lakota, to ethnographer Frances Densmore during her time at Standing Rock Reservation, South Dakota Summer 2012 71 and internal documents such as col- cultures. Many of these earlier meth- An examination of accession files, lection policies and collecting plans. ods and objectives are understood field notes, and personal accounts Accessioning is the process whereby today as unethical, immoral, and reveals how very inaccurate it is to an item enters into a museum collec- even abhorrent.5 think of American Indians as power- tion and, therefore, the public trust. People in power tend to hold onto less. By assuming that their material For all potential accessions, MHS it very tightly. In terms of museum culture was always acquired forc- staff members examine provenance, acquisitions, this has often per- ibly or through unfair practices, one make a judgment regarding how—or petuated an adversarial “collector” dehumanizes these people and rel- if—the item can be best cared for,
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