home > TRiO and USP Programs > McNair > symposium > 2008 presentations > Rosie Clayburn

Rosie Clayburn
Anthropology

Madonna Moss, Mentor

Care of a Yurok Collection according to Yurok Religion and Curatorship Practices: A Case Study at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian

From first contact, the Yurok people have intrigued outsiders.  Their language, culture, and material wealth have been extensively collected and studied, with many religiously significant Yurok items housed throughout the world.  The Yurok, as other Native peoples, have struggled to have these items cared for according to Tribal beliefs until they can be returned home.  Using the Yurok collection housed at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, I look at ways in which Yurok curatorial practices and modern curatorship can work together to take care of a Yurok collection. My paper strives to be a guide both for museums and the Yurok Tribe in dealing with a large collection.  Also, I discuss the complexities in dealing with objects that have been taken out of the possession of tribal people through various ways.  Tribal people and museums can overcome a negative history to find ways to work together. In this way these important objects can be treated with the respect that they deserve.