Like any dynamic culture, Native
Americans of the Indiana region have
maintained ties to the past while
continually adapting to change and
adopting new ways
Eiteljorg Museum of
American Indians and
Western Art
Indianapolis, Indiana
Mission: To inspire an appreciation
and understanding of the art,
history and cultures of the
American West and the indigenous
peoples of North America
Visitor Studies
Want
 Art, history and culture (interdisc.)
 Multi-sensory, interactives, technology
 Info on Native Americans from this region
(Indiana)
 Family opportunities
 Subjects that evoke emotions and are
relevant
Visitor perceptions of Native
Americans
Visitors have difficulty integrating
contemporary NA info into their prior
knowledge of what it means to be Indian.
So, how does a museum help its visitors
connect objects and traditions of the
past to peoples of today?
By letting Native cultures speak for
themselves through quotes, images,
video and live interpreters.
The outside world has
presented its version of
Native American history and
culture many times, in many
ways.
Now it is time for Native
Americans to symbolically
stand before you, firmly
grasping the wampum of
truth, and tell their story, in
their own way, in their own
words.
- Ray Gonyea (Onondaga
Iroquois), Curator of Native
American Art and Culture at the
Eiteljorg
Interactive map: Indian Indiana
Myaamiaki (The Miami People)
My youngest daughter was in grade
school and … [the teacher] said,
There are no Miami Indians here.”
And she told the teacher, “I’m here.”
And I went up to her and said, “I’m
here. And there’s more Miamis.”
- David Marks (Miami Nation of Indiana), 1998
Myaamiaki
Myaamiaki
Finished mahkahsina (moccasins)
made by Scott Shoemaker
Ribbonwork interactive
Bodewadmi (The Potawatomi
People)
Bodewadmi
I live in two worlds really. I go to work
everyday and I live in a house and I drive
a Tahoe and I wear Reebok shoes, just
like everybody does. But also, I follow the
good road. It’s important to me to keep
that balance.
- John Pigeon (Pokagon Band of Potawatomi)
Finished basket by John Pigeon
Waahkahseeta (The Circle)
Basketry interactive
Lenapeyok & Mihtohseeniaki (The
Delaware and Other Peoples)
Lenapeyok & Mihtohseeniaki
Lenapeyok & Mihtohseeniaki
I’m sure I’m using the tools a lot
different from my predecessors, but if
a culture doesn’t change, it becomes
stagnant and dies.
- Don Secondine (Delaware), 2001
Historical Timeline is like the edge of a
pond rippling through the gallery
Historical Timeline
You take too much of [our] lands away…. The print
of my ancestors’ houses are every where to be
seen in this portion.
- Miami Chief Little Turtle, 1795
We are determined to defend our lands, and if it is
[the Great Spirit’s] will, we wish to leave our
bones upon them.
- Tecumseh (Shawnee), ca. 1813
My grandfather was working for the recognition for
years and years, and he told us that we would
be lucky to see it in our lifetimes. But it did
happen.
- Marge Moody (Pokagon Band of Potawatomi), 2002
Time as a river is a more
Euro-American concepts
of time, with each event
happening and passing
on like a river flows
downstream.
Time as a pond is a more
Native American concept
of time, with everything
happening on the same
surface, in the same area
– and each event is a
ripple on the surface.