Thursday, December 1, 2022 – The importance of tribal museums

Tribally-run museums offer two important benefits: they offer a Native voice for Native history within a system dominated by traditional European perspectives – and they bring the promise of economic development. Today on Native America Calling, Shawn Spruce takes us on a field trip to celebrate Tribal Museums Day with Shannon O’Loughlin (Choctaw), attorney and the CEO of the Association on American Indian Affairs; Dehrich Chya (Sun'aq Tribe of Kodiak), language and living culture manager for the Alutiiq Museum; Billie Jean Guerrero (Pyramid Lake Paiute and Walker River Paiute), museum director for the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Museum and Visitors Center; and Sunshine Thomas-Bear (member of Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska), tribal historic preservation officer, NAGPRA representative, and cultural preservation director for the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska and museum director for the Angel de Cora Museum.