Burke Museum Professionals Contribute to Tribal Museum Program

Museums are multi-purpose institutions, and there is no doubt that displaying cultural identities is one of the most important reasons museums exist. Many Washington state tribes run their own museums, but have unique needs to accommodate each tribe’s vision and cultural beliefs.

In order to address the specializations of tribal museums, Dr. James Nason, curator emeritus at the Burke Museum, collaborated with the Tulalip Tribes Native American Career and Educational Program to create a Tribal Museum Program at the Northwest Indian College. The program is a three-course series in collections management, administration and exhibitions/education. All of these courses focus on the specific issues tribal museums face.

Students from the program's tribal administration course. Photo courtesy of A&S Perspectives

Megon Noble, assistant collections manager of archaeology at the Burke, taught the collections management course. Others from the Suquamish Museum and Cultural Center and the Wing Luke Museum are professors for the program as well.

One example of specific collections management needs in a tribal museum is how a museum should handle its sacred objects. Discussions about whether an object should be on display, or whether burial objects should be put back into graves or housed in the museum are few issues analyzed in the Tribal Museum Program.

Nason summed up the importance of museum collaboration perfectly in a UW Arts and Sciences Perspectives article. “As the Washington state museum, the Burke is inherently committed to ensuring that every museum in our community is up to snuff, because our state is best served by every museum being better,” he says. “We have an obligation to help other museums be as effective as they can be.”

To read the full A & S article, click here.

Posted By: Andrea Barber, Communications

This weekend: Northwest Native Arts Market and Festival in Tacoma

Our friends at the Washington State History Museum have organized a Northwest Native Arts Market and Festival and it's happening this Saturday and Sunday (Aug. 8-9) in Tacoma at the History Museum.

The Market & Festival will feature a variety of Native American artisans selling their wares and offering live art demonstrations. Visitors can also take in Native American culture by watching live performances by local Native dancers, musicians and storytellers, and sampling Native American foods from Whitefoot Fish Company. Cool off inside the Museum and catch Mark Celletti’s documentary “Canoe Way: The Sacred Journey,” a 54-minute documentary on the resurgence of cedar canoe societies. Artists will be providing “Gallery Talks”, an opportunity for guests to learn more about their favorite artwork from In the Spirit: Contemporary Northwest Native Arts Exhibit. Every 15 minutes starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, artists will take turns talking about their artwork. Gallery Talks schedule will be provided to patrons of the Festival upon arrival.

Go check it out!

Where can kids dig in Washington?

On four Saturdays this summer the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is hosting a series of "Kids Digs." These 2-hour mock digs for children ages 8-12 give kids the hands-on experience they need to really understand what it means to be an archaeologist. Digs for kids are a rarity in the Pacific Northwest and the Burke Museum Archaeology Department has hosted a number of those few.

Our annual Archaeology Day often supports a mock dig and the Courtland Place Street Dig in Seattle was a class favorite. The Burke even ran a public dig on Vashon Island that resulted in a research publication. But the question remains, why are these digs so rare?

There are numerous reasons why an archaeological dig might be closed to the public. First and foremost are concerns about maintaining the scientific integrity of the site. Archaeologists go through years of education and hands-on training before they are let loose on an archaeological site and thus even the most well-intentioned amateurs can make mistakes at a dig that are all but impossible to correct.

Other considerations including safety, land ownership, tribal sensitivity, staffing, looting prevention, and excess costs are all reasons that most archaeological sites remain closed to the public. But for those of you interested in an archaeological adventure there are some options.

The USDA Forest Service Passport in Time program and the Earthwatch Institute both provide opportunities to get hands-on field training in archaeology. The National Park Service sometimes also offers volunteer opportunities in the field and maintains a comprehensive list of other opportunities. These intensive experiences are generally only available to adults or the teen crowd, but it is worth checking the websites of your nearest National Park or Forest to see what kid's events might be available.

In the meantime, be sure to check out the Fort Vancouver “Kids Digs.” These events are being held at the Fort on July 25, August 22, and September 26 and at the McLoughlin House in Oregon City on August 8. Kids Digs begin at 11am and run for 2 hours. Visit the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site website to learn more.

Posted by: Stephanie Jolivette, Archaeology Public Outreach

Photo (top): A Burke Museum archaeologist teaches kids about proper digging techniques at the Courtland Place Street Dig in 2004.

Earth Day!

Posted by: Sarah Tollefson, Operations Manager (and Burke Sustainability Action Committee chairwoman)

Every day is earth day, but the official 39th annual Earth Day is coming soon on Wednesday April 22nd, 2009. The Burke Museum challenges you to do one green thing and make it part of your daily life.

There are many fabulous happenings all over town this weekend as well as on the day proper. You can get out and active with a work party in the Arboretum and Climate Day for Kids at the Olympic Sculpture Park. Or, enrich yourself sedentarily with all-day environmental programming on UWTV.

On the UW campus, the Earth Day Melange is on Wednesday the 22nd. The UW Green Coalition, a network of environmental student groups at the UW, is organizing the main celebration on campus.

• 10am-2pm – Fair on the Hub Lawn: Free food, music, booths, green art gallery, electric car.

• 10am-2pm – Electric Car Show in Red Square: Display provided by Seattle Electric Vehicle Association.

• 3-5pm – Social at the Waterfront Activities Center: Connect with fellow environmentally-minded people and enjoy free food.

• 6pm – Guest Speaker & Film in Odegaard 220: Jerry Heinlen CEO of Yakima Products, Inc., followed by a screening of The 11th Hour.

More Earth Day happenings:

• via Grist magazine: http://www.grist.org/article/2009-03-15-celebrate-earth-week-seattle/

• via WA Dept of Ecology: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/earthday/2009events.htm

• via Earth Share: http://www.esw.org/event/2009/04/18/day/all/all/1

Happy Earth Everybody!

Who Owns Antiquities?

Posted by: Julia Swan, Communications

It's an oft-raised question in museums: who owns antiquities? Do the states in which the antiquities were found own them? Do the museums who care for them own them? Are they "owned" internationally, as pieces of global heritage? The answer is anything but straightforward, and Dr. James Cuno, Director of the Art Institute of Chicago will be quick to point that out.

Dr. Cuno will be presenting his views on these questions at the Seattle Art Museum next Tuesday, January 13 at 7 pm. Get your tickets here. His presentation will be sure to change the way you think next time you visit a museum that displays ancient objects.

Blogging: So Hot Right Now

Posted by: Julia Swan

Admit it: everyone you know has a blog. Like many technology-driven trends, blogging has exploded in the last few years. Even the word “blog” has morphed from its association with geeks and teenagers to a commonly understood, widely used means of communication for journalists, politicos, humorists, philosophizers, professional writers, amateurs, and everyone in between.

Museums across the nation have jumped on the blogging bandwagon, including the Burke Museum, as a new way to connect to their audiences. At the American Association of Museums annual meeting this year, everyone was talking about blogging, podcasting, and other ways of embracing the new age of “Web 2.0.” While there, I heard from other museum bloggers about what has worked or not worked for their museums. I’m proud to say that Burke staff has been able to maintain this blog for nearly two years, but I’m always looking to our peers for ideas about how to make the Burke Blog more readable, interesting, and accessible.

Here are a few museum or museum-related blogs that have impressed me so far:

Our sister museum on the UW campus, the Henry Art Gallery does a great job with the Hankblog.

Also of local interest, the Woodland Park Zoo offers interesting behind-the-scenes stories about all the animals of the zoo.

The Walker Art Museum in Minneapolis maintains an impressive collection of blogs with numerous contributors.

The Brooklyn Museum always has innovative ideas—many of which are showcased in their blog.

Finally, Museum 2.0 simply blogs about museum blogs (much like I’m doing now…). Very meta.

Museum Without Walls (MWW)

Posted by: Julia Swan
Hello museum lovers, this is Julia, the Outreach Assistant at the Burke Museum. I’m a new voice to the Burke Blog and I’m really excited to be writing for it, so I figure it is appropriate that my first post is about a project I’m working on just beyond the doors of the Burke that also excites me.

I tend to wear a lot of hats around here. When I’m not helping plan student outreach events, attending campus resource fairs, or writing press releases, I moonlight as a museology graduate student. As a student, one of the projects I’ve become involved in is the University District Museum Without Walls.

What on earth is a Museum Without Walls you might ask? Well it’s hard to define precisely, but it is essentially a way to share the unique and dynamic history and culture of the University District without staying confined to a single building or location. If you’re still feeling confused, here are some examples of upcoming MWW projects:

• In the fall of 2008, MWW is installing a temporary exhibit (location TBD) that tells the story of
  activism in the University District. Check out the blog (yes, I contribute to the blogosphere in many ways) for a Picture of the Week feature that highlights activism in the neighborhood.
• In 2009, MWW will help the University of Washington celebrate the centennial of the Alaska-Yukon Pacific Exposition by commissioning new sculptures that commemorate the AYPE.
• MWW will be installing historic photographs on billboards throughout the neighborhood, as well as distributing collectible cards that feature notable people, places, and events in the history of the University District.

So keep your eyes and ears open for updates on the University District Museum Without Walls project. In the meantime, keep coming to the museums with walls, like the Burke Museum and the Henry Art Gallery here at the UW!

I’m looking forward to my next post!

- Julia

Photo: Pottery Booth at U-District Street Fair, by Bob Miller, 1971. Courtesy of the Museum of History and Industry, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection.