Among the many purposes served by museums of all types are such functions as the presentation of both cultural and artistic artifacts and the preservation of the history of different groups within a society. In this essay, the representation of African-Americans and Native Americans by public history venues, particularly museums, will be analyzed. The argument to be advanced is that while Native American art and artifacts have long been viewed as a source of material for museum presentation, less attention has been given as a whole to the history of African-Americans. Complicating the issue is the fact that many Native American tribal groups have aggressively begun to reclaim thousands of objects that were once held in the museum collections across the country (Redman 1). This reclamation undertaken under the aegis of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) calls for facilitating over 600,000 funerary objects and 31,000 sets of ancestral remains to return home (Redman 1). Conversely, Marcus Wood (1) notes that it is only recently that African-Americans have become a focus of exhibits and collections in America's major museum.
One of the constants found throughout the natural history museums in the United States are dioramas depicting Native Americans in both life size and miniature three dimensional scenes ("Museum to Remove..." 1). These dioramas have been touted by their creators and supporters as providing historical glimpses into the culture, traditional, and lifestyles of Native American people. Many contain tribal artifacts and/or art objects that are associated with Native American funerary practices. While some Native Americans appreciate the presence of these dioramas in a museum setting, others perceive the displays as hurtful and wrong in terms of context, body, and message. Equally significant is the fact that many Native American tribal groups have aggressively moved to reclaim ...