Book Chapter
Chapter One: Ancticipation Public Deposited
- Abstract
In September 2004, the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) presented its inaugural exhibitions to the public on the National Mall in Washington, DC. As NMAI founding director Richard West Jr. (Southern Cheyenne) explained
at the time, the NMAI represents “the culmination of nearly 15 years of planning and collaboration with tribal communities from across the hemisphere” (Smithsonian Institution 2004). Although the museum on the mall was not completed until
2004, it had existed for years in the imaginations, documents, hopes, and dreams of countless individuals who labored to make it a reality. NMAI staff, members of Congress, Native American community members, activists, and many more had
great expectations for this site. In the years leading to its grand opening, staff often talked in the future tense about the museum; they also often talked as if the structure already existed, because in many ways it did—in their minds. They all were dedicated to the promise of, and felt anticipation for, this future museum. They also labored under the heavy responsibility of preparing a museum that was to represent all Native peoples in the western hemisphere, for all time, in one place.
- Creator
- Additional Information
- Reprinted by permission from Our Lives: Collaboration, Native Voice, and the Making of the National Museum of the American Indian, by Jennifer A. Shannon. Copyright 2014 by the School for Advanced Research, Santa Fe, New Mexico. All rights reserved
- Academic Affiliation
- Publisher
- Last Modified
- 2020-11-18
- Resource Type
- Rights Statement
- ISBN
- 9781938645280
- Language
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Shannon_2014_Our_Lives_Chapter_One-1.pdf | 2020-02-05 | Public | Download |