Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation

 

Object Biographies: A Mandan-Hidatsa-Arikara Nation Buckskin and Quillwork Outfit, a Nez Perce Woman's Buckskin Dress, a Ramos Polychrome Jar, and a Navajo Man's Military Style-Jacket Public Deposited

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https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/x633f139q
Abstract
  • The objects and collections held in museums have larger histories, contexts, and meanings outside of their stewardship within these institutions. They have life histories, which can be traced and documented by creating biographies spanning from their creation and use to museum acquisition and life within the museum. As a type of restorative justice, the life history approach illustrates an example of decolonizing museum practice and the changing responsibilities of best practice standards. Creating a full life history for museum artifacts is much more than recuperating facts and events or filling archives with object documentation. Creating an object biography is about responsible stewardship and curation, engaging communities and creating new contacts, and ultimately connecting objects, stories, and people. The following biographies of four ethnographic objects in Anthropology Section of the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History illustrate changing practices of museum collections acquisition and care and emphasize the utility of the life history approach in contributing to current best practices of museum stewardship.
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  • 2013
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  • 2019-11-18
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