Points-West 1999.09.Pdf
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-.- A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR Tn the previous (Summer, 1999) issue of 3 I PLAINS INDIAN MUSEUM : d RE/NTERPR ETATION LPoints West. a paragraph was inadvertently 4 omitted from the article by Gordon A NATTJRAL HISTORY MUSEUM:A RAIiONAIC ANd 7 Status of a Natural History Museumfor the BufJaIo Wickstrom titled, There's Never Been an Actor B|II Historical Center Like Buffalo BiII. Here is the author's closing SEASONS OF DISCOVERY: A HANdS-ON CENtET paragraph stating his thesis in its entirety: 9 for Children and Families 10 HARRY JACRSON CELEBRATED "This season ol 1876-77 epitomizes the t2 ABOT]T CROW INDIAN HORSES career of this unique actor-and the burden of this essay-who for a sustained stage CFM ACQUIRES GATLING GUN MOUNT l4 career played only himsell in dramas exclu- TWO NEW EXHIBITS ADDED TO CFM 15 sively about himself based more or less on t6 IN SI GHTS-P EG COE HON O RED materials of historical and cultural import that THE ROYAL ARMOURIES: Bulfalo BiIl Exhibit he was instrumental in generating on the Travels to Leeds, England. t7 scene of the national westward expansion." 19 TNTRIDUCING'RENDEZVIUS RIYALE" FRzM rHE HoRSE's MourH 22 Readers' Forum We want to know what you think about what we're doing. Please send your Letters to the Editor to: Editor: Points West Readers' POINIS WEST is published quarterly as a benelit of membership in the Buffalo Bill Historical center. For membership information contact: Forum. Bullalo Bill Historical Center, 720 Jane Sanders Director of Membership Sheridan Avenue, Cody, WY 82414. We'll Buffalo Bill Historical Center 720 Sheridan Avenue, Cody, wY 82414 print as soon as possible. or call (307) 587-4771, ext. 4032. Request permission to copy, reprint or distribute articles in any medium or format. Address editoiial cbrrespondence to the Editor, POINTS WEST, Bulfalo Bill Historical Center, T2O Avenue, Cody,wY 82414. Sheridan Cover Gathering Basket, Numakiki (Mandan), Upper Editor: Thom Huge Missouri River region, c. 1 860. Cherry bark, deer hide. (top Designer: Jan Woods Krier Chandler'Pohrt Collection. Accompanying images Production coordinator Renee Tafoya right): Amoskapi Akani (Blackfeet) women, Montana, Photography: Devendra Shrikhande, ca. 1908. Photo by Thomas Magee, Courtesy of Don Chris Cink. Chris Gimmeson Magee. The Plains Indian Museum reinterpretation will explore the roles ol native women. men. elders. and Historical Center is a private, non-profit educational institution dedicated The Buffalo Bill children living on rhe Grear Plains. (lower leltt:Lakota to preserving and interpreting the cultural history of the American west. Founded in 1 91 7, th6 Historical Center is home to the Buffalo Bill Museum, cody Firearms Museum, Plains (Sioux) Woman, c. 1890, McCracken Research Library, Indian Museum, Whitney Gallery of Western Art and Mccracken Research Library. Bulfalo Bill Historical Center. lt /r ore than two have so long admired for their artistic qualities. Plans also lVla".ua", in this include a new learning center where visitors can study business have con- Native American life in depth. The new Plains Indian vinced me that muse- exhibits and resource center will open to the public in June um building is a iull ol 2000. time job-and not Meanwhile, the stafi and board continues to plan lor just in terms of bricks- the Draper Museum of Natural History, a new installation and-mortar. The best that will interpret the unique qualities of the greater museums are the Yellowstone ecosystem and surrounding basins lrom a dynamic anti-thesis of humanities perspective. Besides interpreting this region lor the ivory tower They visitors to Yellowstone Park, the new natural history muse- B. Byron Price are a bubbling caul- um will help connect the existing elements of the Center in dron of ideas and are constantly evolving to meet chang- new, vibrant and interdisciplinary ways. The Center's ing social, cultural and economic conditions, not to men- guests, in turn, will be rewarded with an even more power- tion interpreting new scholarship. lul, dramatic and varied museum experience. Change has been a hallmark of the history of the With just over $26 million of our campaign goal raised Buffalo Bill Historical Center. Our exhibits, programs, to date, some of our dreams have already been realized. A publications and physical plant all rellect the impact of grant from the Grainger Foundation, directed to the museum constant change. Some ol these changes were bold, others by the Thomas P Grainger Family ol Saratoga, Wyoming, more subtle. Our current Campaign to Secure the Future is lor example, will equip the museum with the cutting edge the aptly named blend of both. technology needed to reach distant About two-thirds oi the total cam- audiences through the Internet. This paign goal will provide endowments " r/* hruTagn tr exciting grant will provide us with the lor existing stafl positions and pro- tools needed to share the museum's col- grams. These lunds will help insure Saare tlp fafu,ra lections and activities with people that the Historical Center can plan for across the globe. To iollow this progress and respond creatively to change in i, ilu lnotf visit our website at www.bbhc.org. the future, not merely react to the ,Wfrconf e#trf The Campaign to Secure the contingencies ol the moment. Our Future ts the most significant ellort ol its endowment currently provides 267o of ff, ftit?d in, illz kind in the history of the Buffalo Bill ol the Center's operating budget. In Historical Center. The product of a the future we want it to bear at least a lailory of fil? thoughtful lorward planning process, third of our annual financial needs. Aa.#a/r Ei// this capital campaign continues the tra- The rest ol the campaign will alter the ditions of stewardship, quality and cre- physical and intellectual landscape ol ilrilorical fu,fnr. " ativity that have long been trademarks our institution. Behind the scenes, a of this outstanding institution. This issue central utilities plant will modernize of Points Wesf addresses some ol the aging heating and cooling systems, trim operating costs changes on the horizon. We look forward to sharing the and provide space for onsite exhibit fabrication. The rein- campaign's progress with you in the coming months and terpretation of the Plains Indian Museum, beginning this hope that you will want to be a part of this exciring fall, will emphasize the cultural context of the artifacts we endeavor. I 3 PLAINS INDIAN lvlUSEU/vt A By Emma I. Hansen Curator, Plains Indian Museum t ".$ 6$', ? 'd #;*o " I +a t:; tuA,; 1 ,J k,@ #"- (lf -ltr * '; ".{,t,F h" -\ J a Deslgn rendering ol the Seasons of Ltfe dlsplay to appear in th Indian Museum scheduled lor compietion in June,2O00 n t its June 1 999 meeting, the Historical Center's oped through these meetings has guided the reinterpre- Agoara ol Trustees approved a plan for the reinter- tation process: pretation of the Plains Indian Museum, a project that To educate and advance knowledge about living will begin on September 27, 1.999, and end with the American Indian cultures, their histories, arts and tradi- opening of the new exhibitions in June 2000. This new tions for current and future generations. To achieve this interpretation of the Museum's collections will tell the goal. the Plains Indian Museum will diligently seek to important story ol the lives ol Plains Indian people, acquire. preserve, conserve, exhibit and interpret cultural their cultures, traditions, values and histories as well as materials from the prehistoric past to the present. The the contexts of their lives today. The purpose ol the Museum's belieJ is that the past is best used when it serves reinterpretation is to create, in the words ol Advisory the present and the future. Board member and Crow tribal historian Joe Medicine The reinterpretation represents a significant shift in Crow, "a living breathing place where more than just approach lrom traditional natural history or art historical Indian objects are on display." presentations oi Plains art and cultures. In recent years, Planning for this reinterpretation has taken place Native Americans have challenged natural history museums over five years of meetings ol the Museum's Advisory as cultural and educational institutions for presenting Board and Museum stall and represents an unprece- one-dimensional irnages of Indian people, representing dented involvement ol Indian people in developing a tribal cultures as frozen in the 19th century, and empha- major museum exhibition. A mission statement devel- sizing objects over the vitality of present day lives. In 4 REINTERPRETATION contrast, art historical exhibitions and publications about the stories of the people behind the objects, and have emphasized the aesthetic qualities and tech- the special contexts in which these objects were made niques of American Indian art olten devoid of the and used in daily and ceremonial life. cultural contexts. The reinterpretation is planned lor visitors to gain Traditionai Indian materials, while admired within knowledge and insights about PIains Indian cultures, their cultural contexts for craftsmanship or design, are traditions, and contemporary lives as well as lind rele- a part of the cultures that produced them and have vancy in these issues lor their own lives. The interpre- important social, economic, or spiritual lunctions. tation will take advantage of new technology through According to Lloyd New, a member of the Plains Indian the use ol interactive computers and experiential Museum Advisory Board and founder of the Institute of exhibititions and programs. Native languages and American Indian Art: "Although Indians of the past songs will be integrated within the exhibitions and probably never considered themselves to be practicing audiovisual programs, and contemporary voices will artists in pursuit of art for its own sake, art was guide the presentation New interpretive themes and nonetheless integral in the growth of Indian culture.