Link to Four Views Project: https://fourviewshist181.jenniferandrella.com/items/show/9
“Four Views” Final Reflection Essay
The Four Views project we did was an amazing educational and interactive experience that made me look deep into a piece of a culture and its history. I picked a leather gun case/rifle sleeve created by an unknown member of the Cree nation. I loved how this project showed me a glimpse into who these people were. It showed me what these people believed in. It showed me what their day-to-day lives were like and just the materials and tools they needed. Most importantly it showed me a bit about the person who made it through their creativity and their choices to personalize this artifact. I did however learn more about how this artifact plays just a small role in a larger picture that is Native History. I also learned that interacting with this item was only available through digital means and that experience even changed my perspective on digital museums/artifacts. I feel like I must talk about how throughout the experience of realized that most of these artifacts were owned by non-native groups and museums. I will also discuss that even with the vast amount of information that these digital artifacts had, they still lack some crucial information.
When first looking through the many websites and collections of artifacts that were presented to us for this project I found many interesting artifacts, although once I saw this beautiful piece from the National Museum of the American Indian, it just caught my attention to its design and of course it being a rifle case was cool enough. The museum dates that this piece could have been made between 1853-1929 which is a huge amount of time to speculate its creation. While looking at the case I realized that it was made heavily out of leather and thought about our section of the course that covered the American Fur-Trade which was an era mostly from. Remembering that throughout the American fur-trade the selling and trading of mainly furs, but also in the importance of my artifact the selling and trading of pelts, beads, and skins were also extremely high. I discovered that the gun case is mostly made of bison skin which possibly could have been collected, traded, and created during the later years of the American fur-trade, again it could have been from later with the large amount due to the unknown exact time frame.
Another experience during this project was my change in opinion on using digital resources/artifacts. I know that this is an odd thing for someone who is from my generation but I never really liked looking for information through online sources, it’s from how I was probably raised with my parents having a sort of untrust or lack of digital savviness so not until about high school that I started to use more and more digital materials for school. However, this project made me realize that a lot of information and knowledge about these rich, intelligent, and fascinating cultures is open to the public and widely accessible. Realizing that these sources can only be preserved and shown to the public through digital versions was very eye-opening. I only usually dislike using digital resources due to my feeling of using untrustworthy sources on the internet. I’ve always had the feeling that due to not being able to hold and physically see the actual item/artifact. I’ve realized that this bias has been with me for a long time and it’s negatively affected my sense of trusting online sources. I am thankful that this project has helped me get out of my comfort zone. I have a feeling that I had a stronger sense of trust in these websites due to them being made by actual Native communities. In a way, I feel like these websites are a way to keep their people’s history, loved ones, cultures, and stories alive. The distrust of having non-native websites housing native artifacts brings me to my next section.
Before this class, I used to not even think about the museums and places where these native artifacts mattered. Those were my last thoughts when thinking about artifacts, however now I see that this is just another sign of me being ignorant of just another part of colonialism. I’ve realized that it’s still very wrong for these non-native people and institutions to be benefiting off of these indigenous groups by using their peoples’ cultures and history for profit. This issue is a huge one that is greatly affecting many native communities and it demolishes their ability to have cultural heritage among their communities. I appreciate that we learned about the measures and actions that were taken to fix this issue. We had discussed these actions like the NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. It was interesting to read about them not just handling objects like ritual artifacts and cultural objects but also dealing with restoring human remains and returning them to their respective communities and nations. It’s comforting that this act was agreed by Congress and had their support when the act was created. Hopefully, it makes even the smallest bit of repaying all wrong that the government has committed to Indigenous communities.
Finally while looking for the information to complete this project I realized that I couldn’t find a lot. It shocked me how much was still unknown about an object that had been owned for almost 90 years. I thought wow it’s amazing how we can know so little about our history and even less about the many other cultures around us. I think that this stems from America not giving non-Americans and especially indigenous groups the correct amount of respect and acknowledgment throughout history. I loved learning about Ely S. Parker (Hasananda) and how he was in attendance during the surrender of the confederacy at the end of the Civil War, and especially that he was acknowledged as the only “Real American” even if General Robert E Lee was mistaken it’s still ironic knowing that he is was truly the closest to being the truest American. It’s even more empowering and powerful that he responds by saying “ We are all American”. I feel like it’s empowering knowing that he knew that his people and many people were wronged. He still decided to see himself as being proud of being American. I think this is an extremely important moment that shows that Indigenous groups have always been linked with the history of America. I think throughout this course I’ve learned that even if generations and generations of people have experienced and currently are experiencing tragedy and oppression it doesn’t mean it has to define them. It’s up to us to make a change and to tell the stories and importance of the “Real Americans”.
Cited/ Scholarly Sources
National Museum of the American Indian
https://americanindian.si.edu/collections-search/object/NMAI_206623
“Collections Search.” Collections Search | National Museum of the American Indian, americanindian.si.edu/collections-search/. Accessed 29 May 2024.
NAGPRA website
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nagpra/index.htm
“Collections Search.” Collections Search | National Museum of the American Indian, americanindian.si.edu/collections-search/. Accessed 29 May 2024.
Hasanoanda “ We’re All American”
“Collections Search.” Collections Search | National Museum of the American Indian, americanindian.si.edu/collections-search/. Accessed 29 May 2024.