Top 3 things about working with museum visitors that they don’t teach you in a classroom

Guest writer: Laura Crisp, Museology graduate student

You might think that as a student in the Museology graduate program, I would have had my fill of museums. But after spending about 15 hours as a Burke 101 student in the Pacific Voices gallery this quarter I have learned a lot about museum visitors and museum education that I would not have learned in a traditional classroom.

Here are my Top 3 from Burke 101 gallery sessions:

1. A teddy bear makes everything better. We had a hard time attracting visitors to come try their hand at making a button blanket, until we found a teddy bear wearing a button blanket! After that, kids were much more likely to approach us and make their own blanket. Somewhere in Seattle, there are some very well-dressed stuffed animals!

2. Everyone has a story to tell. It was awesome to not only teach visitors about Native art of the Pacific Northwest Coast, but to learn from them as well. I had the privilege of talking with a glass artist, many third-graders, and many Husky fans on their way to the stadium.

3. Seeing the real object, instead of just a picture in a book, is an invaluable experience for many visitors. This was especially true with the large Nuu-chah-nulth mask, “You mean, people actually wore those, and danced with them on?!”


Mask from the Burke Ethnology collection. Nuu-chah-nulth style, Euro-American Made by Bill Holm. Material/Technique Carved, Painted, Wood Motif Head. 1973.

A fun morning at the Museum of Glass

Posted by: Julia Swan, Communications

This past Sunday morning, I joined several other Burke Museum staffers for a trip down to Tacoma to visit the Hot Shop at the Museum of Glass. Our purpose was to watch Tlingit artist Preston Singletary (and his talented crew of Hot Shop assistants) work on a new glass piece for the Burke Museum’s permanent collection. Preston and his team spent the morning working on a glass killer whale, and it was fascinating to observe the process. I highly recommend a trip to the Hot Shop any day, but it was a real treat to see such a celebrated local artist in action. I took some photos to document the experience:

When the piece is finished, I will be sure to post a photo!

Pacific Voices Valued Objects: Hawaiian Pahu

Posted by: Nicole Robert, Communications

‘Iwalani Christian and Moodette Ka’apana, members of the Seattle Native Hawaiian community, both participated in the development of the Pacific Voices exhibit and the creation of the book featuring personally significant cultural objects from communities of the Pacific.

When asked which one object represents the richness of Native Hawaiian culture, they both chose the Hawaiian pahu.

“Of all the hula instruments, the pahu, is the most revered. This is because the pahu is considered to be the voice of the gods. The drum opening, called waha, or mouth, is said to speak.”
--‘Iwalani Christian


This photo shows a pahu from the Burke’s Ethnology Collection.

The hula pahu (PAH-hoo) evolved from the pahu heiau (PAH-hoo HAY-yow), or temple drum. In the temple, it was used mostly to call the gods down to be present at ritual ceremonies to guide the priests. Some of the temple rituals had choreographed movements that the priest went through with the beating of the pahu. The pahu really didn’t get utilized for hula until the early 1800’s, when the Hawaiian religion was cast out due to missionary influence. At that time, it came out of the temple and was used as an accompaniment for hula.

“The pahu is the symbol of the kumu, or hula master. It’s the symbol of the beginning of the hula tradition for the Hawaiian people because it was brought over from Kahiki, or Tahiti, to the Hawaiian Islands. It was the first sound of drumming and the first type of sound that was used for hula.”
-- Moodette Ka’apana

This information is excerpted from Chapters 1 and 2 of Pacific Voices: Keeping our Cultures Alive.

*This Friday, November 21, the Wing Luke Asian Museum is opening an exhibit titled Ho'omau Ka Huaka'i, The Voyage Continues: Native Hawai'ians in the Pacific Northwest. This exhibit explores the experiences of Native Hawai’ians in the Pacific Northwest from past to present day and will display a mixture of artifacts, photographs, multimedia and first-hand stories from Native Hawai’ian civic and cultural leaders. Check it out. The exhibit will be on display until August 16, 2009.

A whale of a job

Posted by: Julia Swan, Communications

See our skeletons on the move:



See even more cool mammal specimens this Saturday at Meet the Mammals!

Is there a rodent that howls and eats meat? Find out at Meet the Mammals!

Posted by: Karin Hoffman, Communications

Saturday, November 22, is our third annual Meet the Mammals event. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn about the rich diversity of the world’s mammals by examining over one hundred skulls, skins and skeletons. This is your chance to get answers to the questions you’ve been dying to ask about mammals. Some of the questions I’ve come up with are:

• Is it true that the Pacific Northwest is home to both the largest (beaver) and smallest (little pocket mouse) rodents in North America?
• What do wolverines, wolves, and walrus’ share?
• Are blesboks, grysboks or blackbucks found in Washington state?
• Isn’t an elephant shrew an oxymoron?
• Can a mammal without hair still be a mammal?

A team of mammalogists from the Burke Museum and folks from the Woodland Park Zoo, Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, Seattle Aquarium and Guild of Natural Science Illustration will be on hand to provide answers to these questions, share examples of specimens up close and answer any questions you can come up with. So come check it out from 10 am – 4 pm this Saturday - free with museum admission.

Congrats to Braided River Publishing

Posted by: Karin Hoffman, Communications

The book that inspired the Burke’s current exhibit called The Last Polar Bear: Facing the Truth of a Warming World has just been awarded a 2008 National Outdoor Book Award in the category "Nature and Environment." Braided River’s book featuring stunning photographs and insightful essays on the plight of the polar bear, and the threats to bears Arctic habitat, has brought the reality of climate change to the forefront of the global community.

The Last Polar Bear: Facing the Truth of a Warming World is now on exhibit at the Burke Museum until December 31, 2008. This exhibit provides visitors the opportunity to view 40 large-format photographs and learn the effects climate change has on not only polar bears but all species that share the Arctic environment.

Inexpensive, Educational and Fun!

Posted by: Karin Hoffman, Communications

Looking for something to do tonight? Come to the Burke Museum and listen to local photographer Paul Bannick talk about the adventures behind his amazing wildlife photos featured in his book The Owl and the Woodpecker: Encounters with North America’s Most Iconic Birds. Starting at 7 pm tonight Bannick will share some of the fascinating stories behind collecting these photographs, many of which were captured while kayaking, snowshoeing or hiking around the Pacific Northwest. Tickets are still available - $5 at the door and FREE for Burke members!

If your dance card is full for tonight, then check out the second lecture offered in our Lucy Talks series tomorrow night at Pacific Science Center (Eames Auditorium.) Dr. Katherine Taylor, a forensic anthropologist with the King County Medical Examiner Office, will present “Looking Through Time: How modern methods are shedding new light on old bones.” Dr. Taylor will discuss how advancements in the science of forensic anthropology inform the study of ancient hominids. Tickets are $5 at the door and FREE for Burke members!

Photo by Paul Bannick, The Owl and the Woodpecker: Encounters with North America’s Most Iconic Birds.

Mysteries of ancient Egypt revealed!

Two weekends ago, over 750 people came to the Burke to see "Nellie," the Egyptian mummy, and other artifacts that collectively told the story of ancient Egyptian funerary practices. The photographs below help capture the spirit of wonder and intrigue that I sensed from many of the visitors. Enjoy the slide show and happy Friday!

Photos by Andrew Curtis.

Pacific Voices Valued Objects: The Samoan Tanoa

Posted by: Nicole Robert

Two Northwest residents who are part of the American Samoa community participated in both the development of the Pacific Voices exhibit and the creation of the book featuring personally significant cultural objects from communities of the Pacific. Both Veronica Leasiolagi Barber and Sapina Pele selected the Samoan Tānoa as an archetypal object that represents the richness of the Samoan culture.

Pictured here is one example of a tānoa, stored in the Burke’s Ethnology Collection.

“Since the tānoa is round and its legs represent the ancestors or noble families of Samoa, it can be seen as a visible symbol of community for Samoans, both those living in the islands and those of us who live in the United States.”
—Veronica Leasiolagi Barber

The tānoa (TAH-noh-ah) or ‘ava (AH-vah) bowl, is a round wooden bowl that is at the center of the Samoan ‘ava [kava] ceremony. This ceremony is at the heart of Samoan community life, which includes the welcoming of others into your home and community.

“The tānoa is an object that every Samoan immediately knows is Samoan. For me, it’s a symbol of who I am. It’s about where I come from and who we are as a people. A few years ago I was in Samoa for the South Pacific Mini Games. At the closing ceremonies, the Samoan museum gave gifts to all the dignitaries who had come from the various islands. Everybody got some siapo, or bark cloth, and a tanoa. It was nice to see them use the tanoa as a symbol of who we are.”
—Sapina Pele

This information is excerpted from Chapter 3 of Pacific Voices: Keeping our Cultures Alive.

Pacific Voices: Keeping Our Cultures Alive

Posted by: Nicole Robert

In 1997, the Burke Museum opened the exhibit, Pacific Voices, which was developed in collaboration with over 100 community advisors from Seattle’s Pacific Islander, Southeast Asian, East Asian and Northwest Native American communities. They chose objects that “explored cultural identity for peoples of the Pacific Rim” and “highlighted personal experiences.”

Developed in tandem with the exhibit, Miriam Kahn, adjunct curator of Pacific Ethnology, and Erin Younger, associate director of the Burke Museum, edited the book Pacific Voices: Keeping our Cultures Alive. Each chapter in this book brings an object to life through the personal stories of community members.

Community advisors that participated in the exhibit were asked, “If you could choose one object that represents the richness of your culture and provides you with a sense of cultural identity, what would it be?” We will be featuring selected responses from week to week here on the Burke Blog. Each segment will show up as “Pacific Voices Valued Objects.” We hope you enjoy learning about these cultural artifacts from a very personal perspective!