Link to my Four Views Project: https://fourviewshist181.jenniferandrella.com/items/show/11
Final Reflection
The process of interacting with the digital item that I chose was a marvelous, productive and educational experience. The Piikstaan, also known as “has a nothing face,” is a type of protection amulet that serves as the inspiration for my Four Views digital project.
To this day, there are numerous Native American objects and documents in non-Native-owned or operated museums, archives, and libraries, as well as digital collections. Shared authority began to increase by the mid-20th century. The National Museum of the American Indian aspires to be a model of shared authority by incorporating the museum’s professional staff with Native collaborators. In class, I learned about cultural heritage and repatriation. Although it’s upsetting that I didn’t know this until I arrived at college, I am glad to know this valuable information now. Cultural heritage is a type of property that consists of a shared cultural value belonging to a specific group of people (community). The process of preservation is decided by a community. Repatriation is a form of restorative justice in which institutions and countries not only return art and objects but also acknowledge the wrongdoings and harm they’ve caused. Most repatriation cases derive from colonial or imperial subjugation. Nonetheless, the cases are approached on a case-by-case basis and could take up to years for the return of a cultural heritage item.
Large collections of Blackfoot artifacts can be found in European museums as a result of the enormous “ethnographic salvage” program that colonial travelers, settlers, and Indian agents carried out in the 19th and 20th centuries in the Blackfoot nations (Brown 2014). A few Blackfoot people have had the opportunity to visit these artifacts in Europe and have seen firsthand how much material knowledge has been lost as a result of their disappearance. Every object has a connection to the past and the teachings of the Blackfoot people. Together, they forge a route towards regaining Blackfoot identity and knowledge, a process known as kakyosin, or “coming to know,” which happens via the spiritual ties that bind kin and the rule of nature (Bastien, 2004).
It’s important to be aware of how digital platforms present and preserve Native American history. After learning about NAGPRA, I decided to avoid websites such as the British Museum because I didn’t want to support their cause. They are extremely problematic in the sense that they created loopholes to have a hold of an immense amount of Indigenous cultural heritage items that don’t belong to them in the first place. The website I used to gather information is called Mootookakio’ssin (distant awareness). This website is a part of the Blackfoot Digital Library, which is an online resource for all those living in kitawahsinnoon. They developed a space where they could use new technology to create and interact with both 3D and RTI images of Blackfoot objects.
There is a major difference between a physical object and its digitized version. However, I really do appreciate the digitized version because the Blackfoot Digital Library is helpful and prevents any harm to the object. I interacted with a 3D model version of the Piikstaan. I was able to click on three different parts of the amulet and had the option to zoom in or out. Overall, I really enjoyed exploring the amulet. I didn’t have to worry about damaging or harming it in any way. Nevertheless, it would have been exciting to work with a physical object.
The Piikstaan is described as a yellow-beaded snake amulet. It has a pink and blue-serrated design and rings around the tail to represent a rattle. It was rather interesting learning about the amulet’s history, and what caught my attention was the fact that these amulets were made for children and often contained the infant’s dried umbilical cord. This prompted me to do further research because I wanted to learn more about the symbolism of storing the child’s umbilical cord. Ultimately, I learned that the amulet is given to the child after birth; it brings good fortune and protects from any harm. The beaded snake would be used as a charm to cure sickness. This particular amulet belonged to someone from Piikani. Blackfoot women would create these amulets. The digital object didn’t include the creator; therefore, the name of the owner and creator of this amulet remains unknown.
The Piikstaan was acquired by Robert Rymill in August of 1929. He purchased this and many other items during his visit to the Piikani Nation. Rymill was a member of the Franklin Motor Expedition. He was sent to Canada by the Museum of Archeology and Anthropology (MAA) at Cambridge University in order to collect artifacts from Indigenous people living on the prairies. They purchased hundreds of artifacts from Blackfoot, Tsuu T’ina, Ojibwa, and Cree communities on their journey. One of the largest known collections of Piikani artifacts is believed to have been created by 199 of these, all of which came from Piikani (Brown, 2014). The amulet and other collection items were shipped to Cambridge University to become a part of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. According to MAA’s 1929 Annual Report, it’s “an extensive and valuable collection” created by R.R. Rymill (Brown, 2014).
All in all, I was lucky enough not to encounter any technological issues, however I did find it challenging to obtain additional information. My research process was challenging because there isn’t a lot of information available about the amulet. I overcame these struggles by persevering through and successfully completing my Four Views project.
Cited scholarly sources:
Belcourt, Christi. Beadwork: First Peoples’ Beading History and Techniques. Owen Sound, Ont: Ningwakwe Learning Press, 2010.
Gray, M., “Beads: Symbols of Indigenous Cultural Resilience and Value.” Unpublished Master’s Thesis, University of Toronto, 2017.
Hungry Wolf, Beverly. The Ways of My Grandmothers. 1st Quill ed., 1982.
Brown, Alison K. First Nations, Museums, and Narrations: Stories of the 1929 Franklin Motor Expedition to the Canadian Prairies. UBC Press, 2014.
Bastien, Betty. Blackfoot ways of knowing: the worldview of the Siksikaitsitapi. University of Calgary Press, 2004.
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (U.S. National Park Service). www.nps.gov/subjects/nagpra/index.htm.
Blackfoot Digital Library https://mootookakiossin.ca/explore/objects/amulet_MAA_1929/intro.