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Our 10th and final episode of Season 2 extends our critique on the history of colonial acquisitions and collections with a focus on the colonial legacies of the institutions of Museums. We focus on the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center, recent movements to 'decolonize' museums as with the Museum of Us in San Diego, and discuss whether it is possible to ultimately decolonize these institutions. Speakers:Dr. Amy Lonetree (enrolled citizen of the Ho-Chunk Nation), Dr. Alírio Karina, Dr. Samuel Redman, Gregg Castro (t'rowt'raahl Salinan / Rumsien & Ramaytush Ohlone), Dr. Cutcha Risling-Baldy (Hupa, Yurok, Karuk), Nicole Lim (Pomo), Dr. Micah Parson, Dr. Chris GreenAudio editing: Daniel StonebloomInterviews: Martin Rizzo-MartinezMusic: G. GonzalesLinks & Further Reading:California Indian Museum & Cultural CenterAcorn BitesDecolonizing Museums: Representing Native America in National and Tribal Museums, Amy LonetreeThe National Museum of the American Indian: Critical Conversations, Edited by Amy Lonetree and Amanda J. Cobb“Decolonizing Museums, Memorials, and Monuments,” The Public Historian, Vol. 43, No. 4, pp. 21–27 (November 2021), Amy LonetreeMuseum of Us“Race: Are we so different?” ExhibitMuseum of Us: Colonial Pathways PolicyAgainst and Beyond the Museum, Alírio Karina
In this episode of Doing Diversity in Writing, we—Bethany and Mariëlle—interview Professor Grace L. Dillon about Indigenous Futurisms and how (not) to write Indigenous characters. Grace L. Dillon (Anishinaabe with family, friends, and relatives from Bay Mills Nation and Garden River Nation with Aunties and Uncles also from the Saulteaux Nation) is Professor in the Indigenous Nations Studies Department in the School of Gender, Race, and Nations and also Affiliated Professor at English and Women, Gender, and Sexualities Departments at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on a range of interests including Indigenous Futurisms, Queer Indigenous Studies, Gender, Race, and Nations Theories and Methodologies courses, Climate and Environmental Justice(s) from Indigenous Perspectives, Reparations Justice, Resurgence Justice, Science Fiction, Indigenous Cinema, Popular Culture, Race and Social Justice, and early modern literature. (For her full biography, please check out the episode page on our website.) What Grace shared with us Why and how she coined the term Indigenous Futurisms What it was like to be a consultant as an Anishinaabe person to directors Scott Cooper and Guillermo del Toro Some behind-the-scenes stories about the filming of Twilight What true allyship looks like and how we can become an ally How we can honour someone else's story Best practices of engaging with Indigenous communities Grace L Dillion's academic email is: dillong@pdx.edu (Re)sources mentioned on the show and other recommendations by Grace L. Dillon, many of which are LGBTQ2+ Routledge Handbook of CoFuturisms, edited by Grace L. Dillon, Isiah Lavender III, Taryne Taylor, and Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay (forthcoming) Hachette Australia: https://www.hachette.com.au Claire G. Coleman's Terra Nullius (2017) and The Old Lie (2019) (South Coast Noongar People): https://clairegcoleman.com Ellen Van Neerven's Heat and Light (2014): https://ellenvanneervencurrie.wordpress.com/heat-and-light Louise Erdrich's Future Home of the Living God: A Novel (2017) (Anishinaabe): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34217599-future-home-of-the-living-god Leanne Betasamosake Simpson's This Accident of Being Lost: Songs and Stories (2017), Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies (2021) and As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom Through Radical Resurgence (2017) (Anishinaabe): https://www.leannesimpson.ca Cherie Dimaline's The Marrow Thieves (2017) and Hunting by the Stars (Metis): https://cheriedimaline.com Waubgeshig Rice's Moon of the Crusted Snow (2018) (Anishinaabe): https://www.waub.ca Harold Johnson's Corvus (2015) (Cree): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26840855-corvus Alexis Wright's The Swan Book (2013 rpt. 2018) (Waanyi Nation): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18247932-the-swan-book Gerald Vizenor's Bearheart (1978) (Anishinaabe): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/871536.Bearheart Leslie Marmon Silko's Almanac of the Dead (1991) (Laguna Nation): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52385.Almanac_of_the_Dead Australian First Nations Ambelin Kwaymullina's trilogy The Interrogation of Ashala the Wolf (2012), The Disappearance of Ember Crow (2013), and The Foretelling of Georgie the Spider (2015): https://ambelin-kwaymullina.com.au Indigenous Hawai'ian Christopher Kahunahana's film Waikiki: http://www.waikikithemovie.com Nalo Hopkinson's many stories, including YA novels Sister Mine (2013) and The Chaos (2012): https://www.nalohopkinson.com Andrea Hairston's novels such as Mindscape, Redwood and Wildfire, Will Do Magic for Change, and Master of Poisons: http://andreahairston.com Darcie Little Badger's Elatsoe (2020) and A Snake Falls to Earth (2022) (Lipan Apache Nation): https://darcielittlebadger.wordpress.com Zainab Amadahy's Resistance (Afro-Canadian and Cherokee): https://www.swallowsongs.com Daniel Heath Justice's The Way of Thorn and Thunder: The Kynship Chronicles (2011) and Why Indigenous Literatures Matter. His story “The Boys Who Became the Hummingbirds” in Hope Nicholson's edited collection of Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time: An Indigenous LGBT Sci-Fi Anthology (2016) is also explored in graphic novel form in Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection, Volume 2 (2017) (Cherokee): https://danielheathjustice.com Joshua Whitehead's Indigiqueer Metal, Johnny Appleseed, and Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit & Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction (2020): https://www.joshuawhitehead.ca Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection, Volume 3, edited by Anishinaabe and Metís Nations Elizabeth La Pensèe and Michael Sheyahshe (2020): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51456434-moonshot Deer Women: An Anthology (2017) published by Native Realities Press and headed by Lee Francis IV. (Laguna Pueblo Nation): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38219794-deer-woman Sovereign Traces Volume 2: Relational Constellations edited by Elizabeth La Pensèe: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42686187-sovereign-traces-volume-2 Sloane Leong's graphic novel Prism Stalker (2019): https://prismstalker.com Smokii Sumac's you are enough: love poems for the end of the world (2018) (Ktunaxa Nation): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41677143-you-are-enough Michelle Ruiz Keil's All of Us With Wings (2019): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40177227-all-of-us-with-wings Carmen Maria Machado's Her Body and Other Parties (2017) and In the Dream House: A Memoir (2019): https://carmenmariamachado.com Sabrina Vourvoulias's Ink (2012): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15721155-ink Rita Indiana's Tentacle (2018): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40679930-tentacle Qwo-Li Driskill's Asegi Stories: Cherokee Queer and Two-Spirit Memory (2016): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27777916-asegi-stories Tiffany Lethabo King, et. al's Otherwise Worlds: Against Settler Colonialism and Anti-Blackness (2020): https://www.dukeupress.edu/otherwise-worlds Lisa Tatonetti's The Queerness of Native American Literature (2014): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21944614-the-queerness-of-native-american-literature Bawaajigan: Stories of Power edited by Anishinaabe Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler and Christine Miskonoodinkwe Smith (2019): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45180942-bawaajigan mitêwâcimowina: Indigenous Science Fiction and Speculative Storytelling edited by Cree Nation Neal McLeod (2016): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34105770-mit-w-cimowina Walking the Clouds: An Anthology of Indigenous Science Fiction edited by Grace L. Dillon (2012) (Anishinaabe): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13226625-walking-the-clouds Amy Lonetree's Decolonizing Museums (2012) (Hochunk Nation): https://uncpress.org/book/9780807837153/decolonizing-museums The work of Debra Yeppa Pappan (Korean and Jemez Pueblo) at the Chicago Field Museum: https://www.fieldmuseum.org/about/staff/profile/2486 Laura Harjo's Spiral to the Stars: Mvskoke Tools of Futurity (2019) (Cherokee): https://uapress.arizona.edu/book/spiral-to-the-stars Bethany's Editing Your Novel's Structure: Tips, Tricks, and Checklists to Get You From Start to Finish: https://theartandscienceofwords.com/new-book-for-authors/ This week's episode page, with Grace L. Dillon's full bio, can be found here: https://representationmatters.art/2022/02/17/s2e5/ Subscribe to our newsletter here and get out Doing Diversity in Writing Toolkit, including our Calm the F*ck Down Checklist and Cultural Appropriation Checklist: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/r3p6g8 As always, we'd love for you to join the conversation by filling out our questionnaires. Our Doing Diversity in Writing – Writer Questionnaire can be filled in at https://forms.gle/UUEbeEvxsdwk1kuy5 Our Doing Diversity in Writing – Reader Questionnaire can be filled in at https://forms.gle/gTAg4qrvaCPtqVJ36 Don't forget, you can find us at https://representationmatters.art/ and on https://www.facebook.com/doingdiversityinwriting
This week we discuss Amy Lonetree's 2012 book, Decolonizing Museums: Representing Native America in National and Tribal Museums. Lonetree, who is an enrolled citizen of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin, discusses how museums can shed centuries of colonial violence at the core of their collecting and display practices by centering Indigenous worldviews and ways of knowing. She also discusses Tribal Libraries, Archives, and Museums, or TLAM, a specialized area of libraries and archives that UW-Madison iSchool staff and faculty have been involved in for over a decade. This podcast is produced in Madison, Wisconsin where University of Wisconsin–Madison rests in the ancestral land of the Ho-Chunk Nation, the People of the Big Voice, who have called this place Teejop (day-JOPE) for time immemorial. We as a university community continue to create and build upon our partnerships with the 12 First Nations of Wisconsin. We as a state university respect the inherent sovereignty and unique legal status, as affirmed and set forth in state and federal law, of the First Nations of Wisconsin.
“Museums can be very painful sites for Native peoples,” writes Amy Lonetree, associate professor of history at UC-Santa Cruz and a citizen of the Ho Chunk Nation, “as they are intimately tied to the colonization process.” Such a contention appears incongruous to most; museums are supposed to be places of wonder and learning, after all, pillars of our democratic culture. But consider the history. From the wholesale plunder of cultural artifacts and human remains — “If you desecrate a white grave, you wind up in prison,” Walter Eco-Hawk puts it, “but desecrate an Indian grave, and you get a Ph.D.” — to racist representations of disappearance and primitivity, museums are deeply implicated in colonialism. Yet as Lonetree powerfully proposes in Decolonizing Museums: Representing Native America in National and Tribal Museums (University of North Carolina Press, 2012), it doesn’t need to be that way. Assessing new efforts of collaboration, accountability, and control at Mille Lacs Indian Museum, The National Museum of the American Indian, and The Ziibiwing Center of Anishinaabe Culture & Lifeways, Lonetree lays out a path toward decolonization, putting these once aloof institutions to the task of sovereignty, survivance, and the telling of hard truths. This work is not only politically vital, but ultimately makes for a better museum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
“Museums can be very painful sites for Native peoples,” writes Amy Lonetree, associate professor of history at UC-Santa Cruz and a citizen of the Ho Chunk Nation, “as they are intimately tied to the colonization process.” Such a contention appears incongruous to most; museums are supposed to be places of wonder and learning, after all, pillars of our democratic culture. But consider the history. From the wholesale plunder of cultural artifacts and human remains — “If you desecrate a white grave, you wind up in prison,” Walter Eco-Hawk puts it, “but desecrate an Indian grave, and you get a Ph.D.” — to racist representations of disappearance and primitivity, museums are deeply implicated in colonialism. Yet as Lonetree powerfully proposes in Decolonizing Museums: Representing Native America in National and Tribal Museums (University of North Carolina Press, 2012), it doesn’t need to be that way. Assessing new efforts of collaboration, accountability, and control at Mille Lacs Indian Museum, The National Museum of the American Indian, and The Ziibiwing Center of Anishinaabe Culture & Lifeways, Lonetree lays out a path toward decolonization, putting these once aloof institutions to the task of sovereignty, survivance, and the telling of hard truths. This work is not only politically vital, but ultimately makes for a better museum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
“Museums can be very painful sites for Native peoples,” writes Amy Lonetree, associate professor of history at UC-Santa Cruz and a citizen of the Ho Chunk Nation, “as they are intimately tied to the colonization process.” Such a contention appears incongruous to most; museums are supposed to be places of wonder and learning, after all, pillars of our democratic culture. But consider the history. From the wholesale plunder of cultural artifacts and human remains — “If you desecrate a white grave, you wind up in prison,” Walter Eco-Hawk puts it, “but desecrate an Indian grave, and you get a Ph.D.” — to racist representations of disappearance and primitivity, museums are deeply implicated in colonialism. Yet as Lonetree powerfully proposes in Decolonizing Museums: Representing Native America in National and Tribal Museums (University of North Carolina Press, 2012), it doesn’t need to be that way. Assessing new efforts of collaboration, accountability, and control at Mille Lacs Indian Museum, The National Museum of the American Indian, and The Ziibiwing Center of Anishinaabe Culture & Lifeways, Lonetree lays out a path toward decolonization, putting these once aloof institutions to the task of sovereignty, survivance, and the telling of hard truths. This work is not only politically vital, but ultimately makes for a better museum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
“Museums can be very painful sites for Native peoples,” writes Amy Lonetree, associate professor of history at UC-Santa Cruz and a citizen of the Ho Chunk Nation, “as they are intimately tied to the colonization process.” Such a contention appears incongruous to most; museums are supposed to be places of wonder and learning, after all, pillars of our democratic culture. But consider the history. From the wholesale plunder of cultural artifacts and human remains — “If you desecrate a white grave, you wind up in prison,” Walter Eco-Hawk puts it, “but desecrate an Indian grave, and you get a Ph.D.” — to racist representations of disappearance and primitivity, museums are deeply implicated in colonialism. Yet as Lonetree powerfully proposes in Decolonizing Museums: Representing Native America in National and Tribal Museums (University of North Carolina Press, 2012), it doesn’t need to be that way. Assessing new efforts of collaboration, accountability, and control at Mille Lacs Indian Museum, The National Museum of the American Indian, and The Ziibiwing Center of Anishinaabe Culture & Lifeways, Lonetree lays out a path toward decolonization, putting these once aloof institutions to the task of sovereignty, survivance, and the telling of hard truths. This work is not only politically vital, but ultimately makes for a better museum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
“Museums can be very painful sites for Native peoples,” writes Amy Lonetree, associate professor of history at UC-Santa Cruz and a citizen of the Ho Chunk Nation, “as they are intimately tied to the colonization process.” Such a contention appears incongruous to most; museums are supposed to be places of wonder and learning, after all, pillars of our democratic culture. But consider the history. From the wholesale plunder of cultural artifacts and human remains — “If you desecrate a white grave, you wind up in prison,” Walter Eco-Hawk puts it, “but desecrate an Indian grave, and you get a Ph.D.” — to racist representations of disappearance and primitivity, museums are deeply implicated in colonialism. Yet as Lonetree powerfully proposes in Decolonizing Museums: Representing Native America in National and Tribal Museums (University of North Carolina Press, 2012), it doesn't need to be that way. Assessing new efforts of collaboration, accountability, and control at Mille Lacs Indian Museum, The National Museum of the American Indian, and The Ziibiwing Center of Anishinaabe Culture & Lifeways, Lonetree lays out a path toward decolonization, putting these once aloof institutions to the task of sovereignty, survivance, and the telling of hard truths. This work is not only politically vital, but ultimately makes for a better museum.