Making Representations: Museums in the Post-Colonial Era

353 Pages·1996·21.028 MB·English

by  Moira G. Simpson

Making Representations
Praise for the hardback edition:
'Making Representations is a beautifully double-edged title. It expresses the
activity of museums as they display and interpret cultures, but also voices
the growing demands ofthe peoples represented to be involved in the way their
culture is presented in museums.'
Gillian Crowther, Museums Journal
'This book is a fundamental re-evaluation of the contemporary role of anthro
pology and social history in museums in the post-colonial era.'
Museums Journal
'The book is well presented and illustrated. This is a genuinely helpful contri
bution to museum thinking and should become a standard museum studies
text.'
Gaynor Kavanagh
Moira G. Simpson trained in art, museology and education. She has worked in
the museum sector and most recently was a lecturer in the Institute of
Education at the University of Warwick in England. She has travelled exten
sively in several countries conducting research into museum representation of
cultures and has an extensive publications list. She has now moved to Adelaide,
Australia, where she works as a freelance writer, museum consultant and edu
cator.
For more information, see the author's website at URL: http://www.e-vocative.
com
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Making Representations
Museums in the Post-Colonial Era
Moira G. Simpson
London and New York
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
'We [the Aboriginal peoples] are well aware that many
people have dedicated their time, careers and their lives
showing what they believe is an accurate picture of
indigenous peoples. We thank you for that, but we want
to turn the page . . . '
George Erasmus, former National Chiefofthe Assembly
ofFirst Nations, in his openingaddress to 'Preserving Our
Heritage: A Working Conference for Museums and First
Peoples', Ottawa, November, 1988. (Cited in AFN and
CMA, 1992: 7)

Contents
Illustrations
Vlll
Acknowledgements x
Introduction 1
Part 1 Cultural reflections 7
1 History revisited 15
2 The controversy continues 35
3 Voices of authorship 51
Part 2 The 'new' museum paradigm 71
4 Remembering the homeland 81
5 From treasure house to museum ... and back 107
6 Native American museums and cultural centres 135
Part 3 Human remains and cultural property: the politics ofcontrol 171
7 Bones ofcontention: human remains in museum collections 173
8 Cultural artefacts: a question of ownership 191
9 The repatriation debate: an international issue 215
Conclusion: turning the page 247
Epilogue 267
Appendix: interviews 301
Bibliography 305
Legislation and treaties 324
Index 325
Vll
Illustrations
Cover Exterior of the George Gustav Heye Center, the old US
Custom House, which houses the new National Museum of the
American Indian, in New York city
1.1 The Immigration Story at the Migration Museum in
Adelaide, South Australia 32
1.2 Brambuk Living Cultural Centre, Hall's Gap, Victoria, Australia 33
3.1 Ukrainian community exhibition in The Forum: Community
Access Gallery of the Migration Museum, Adelaide, South
Australia 65
4.1 Large papier mache figures being installed in the Day ofthe
Dead exhibition, Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, Chicago,
1989 84
4.2 Mexican artist Ricardo Linares painting an alebrije, fantasy
figure, Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, Chicago 85
4.3 Four historic houses, dating from 1840 to 1883, which were
located on Hunterfly Road, an old colonial road, in Weeksville,
USA, 1980, prior to restoration 100
4.4 The historic houses on the old Hunterfly Road in 1984 after
restoration work by the Society for the Preservation of
Weeksville and Bedford-Stuyvesant History 101
5.1 Haus tambaran or spirit house at Korogo village on the Sepik
River, Papua New Guinea 110
5.2 Haus tambaran at Korogo on the Sepik River, Papua New
Guinea, used as an outlet for the display and sale of carvings
and other artefacts 111
5.3 Hikerangi: House ofPreservation. The marae museum being
established by the Maori community in Koriniti, Aotearoa,
New Zealand 116
5.4 Interior of the Hikerangi: House ofPreservation, Koriniti,
Aotearoa, New Zealand. The museum collection is being
gathered ready for display once repairs and improvements
to the building have been completed 117
5.5 Interior of the Aboriginal Keeping Place at Shepparton,
Victoria, Australia 123
Vlll
5.6 The Chinese garden and pavilion with the Dutch windmill in
the background, Shepparton International Village, Victoria,
Australia 125
6.1 Arrow-head showcases in the Museum of the Cherokee Indian,
North Carolina 141
6.2 Display relating to the invention of the Cherokee syllabary by
Sequoyah in 1821, Museum of the Cherokee Indian, North
Carolina 142
6.3 Shop front, Cherokee town, North Carolina 144
6.4 The Ancient Village at Tsa-La-Gi, the Cherokee Heritage Center
in Oklahoma, where Cherokee guides and demonstrators show
visitors what life was like in a Cherokee village in 1650 146
6.5 Adams Corner Rural Village showing a Cherokee community in
the period 1870-1890, Tsa-La-Gi, Cherokee Heritage Center,
Oklahoma 147
6.6 'Ksan Historic Indian Village Museum is the reconstruction of
a Gitksan Indian village. 'Ksan, near Hazelton, British
Columbia, Canada 151
6.7 Ataloa Art Lodge, Bacone College Campus, Muskogee,
Oklahoma 165
7.1 The exposed graves at the Indian burial site of Dickson Mounds,
Illinois 184
8.1 Bowl of water for ritual washing, Rotorua Museum of Art
and History Te Whare Taonga a Te Arawa in New Zealand 201
IX