Indian Comics Irregular #121

The debut of the National Museum of the American Indian was probably
the Native story of the year in 2004. When the NMAI opened in
September, every newspaper seemed to have something to say about it.
Indians had finally taken their rightful place among the icons of the
National Mall, they declared.

Because a Native museum presents art and artifacts to a general
audience, it exemplifies "the intersection of popular culture and
Indian Country," the subject of this newsletter. Let's see what
people thought about this groundbreaking tribute to Native life and
lore.

"The Circle Is Complete"

From the beginning, museum planners sought to avoid the conventional
approach to interpreting native cultures by what West called
"third-party viewpoints," often academics with few personal ties to
their subjects. So they reached out to 24 tribal communities in the
United States, Canada and Latin America. In two dozen consultations
in the early 1990s, they crafted a template that would define the
museum's themes. Planners wanted a validation of history but also a
recognition of vibrancy. (Johanna Neuman, Los Angeles Times)

Perhaps the most amazing thing about the museum's Indian-centric view
of things is that the building is just several hundred feet from the
U.S. Capitol and occupies the slice of the mall nearest to the
Capitol. In fact, the main entrance of the museum, which received
$119 million in appropriations from Congress, faces the Capitol, as if
to say the Indians are still here, are a vibrant part of America and
plan on being around forever. (Edward Epstein, San Francisco
Chronicle)

"This is the greatest thing to happen to Indian people in 500 years,"
said Nate Mayfield, 60, a Cherokee chiropractor from Colorado, wearing
a deerskin shirt and pants and moccasins. "Since the beginning, we
have been shoved around and killed and shut out, and this is a symbol
of our survival." (Paul Schwartzman, Washington Post)

"Ethnic Boosterism"

[T]here is an astonishing uniformity in the exhibits' accounts of
religious beliefs, which may have been homogenized by subtle forces
within the museum itself. The building emphasizes a kind of warm,
earthy mysticism with comforting homilies behind every facade,
reviving an old pastoral romance about the Indian. (Edward Rothstein,
New York Times)

This is not an art museum, that's clear. It's not a history
museum, either. Its whole thrust is ahistorical. What it is,
instead, is a unity museum....The key, the pounded message that [the]
museum delivers--see, we have survived; we are Indians all together;
we are allied and we're one--says much about the forces that
created the museum, and next to nothing useful about the Indian past.
(Paul Richard, Washington Post)

[A]s alluring a reminder as this building is of who was here first,
the inside of the museum--the story it tells--is an exercise in
intellectual timidity and a sorry abrogation of the Smithsonian's
obligation to explore America's history and culture. (Marc Fisher,
Washington Post)

"Where Is Sitting Bull?"

"It is estimated that as many as 15 million Native peoples in America
alone fell victim to the American holocaust since the pilgrims landed
on Plymouth Rock. They were victims of...military aggression, force,
violence, and terrorism across the breath of our sacred lands," AIM
said in a statement. "While the Museum displays the beautiful culture
of Native Peoples, it must also serve as an institution of education
about America's holocaust on the American Indian." (Sam Lewis, Native
Times)

Hmm. One could say the NMAI's approach represents stereotyping by
omission. Too much happy talk, not enough sad truth. For the full
set of reviews, go to http://www.bluecorncomics.com/nmai.htm .

Rob Schmidt
Blue Corn Comics