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Developing a Native Digital Voice: Technology and Inclusivity in Museums
Author(s) -
Pohawpatchoko Calvin,
Colwell Chip,
Powell Jami,
Lassos Jerry
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
museum anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.197
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1548-1379
pISSN - 0892-8339
DOI - 10.1111/muan.12130
Subject(s) - native american , museum informatics , museology , cultural heritage , media studies , visual arts , digital native , sociology , library science , history , multimedia , world wide web , art , anthropology , computer science , archaeology
The exclusion of Native Americans from their own cultural heritage is a persistent problem in twenty‐first museums. Although in recent decades museums have greatly expanded their programs and institutional frameworks to be more inclusive, experimental projects remain vital to creating new bridges between American museums and Native Americans. In 2010 and 2011, an innovative pilot program titled the “Native American Museum and Technology Workshop” was hosted at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. The two‐week intensive workshop brought 10 Native American high school students to the museum to create a proposal and working model for an interactive web interface. Although the project did not fundamentally alter the museum's approach to Native culture, it provides one model for expanding how Native Americans can be included in museums through a digital voice.