Ethical Stewardship of Indigenous Collections

A free, public conversation in the James Watrous Gallery centered on the ethics of collecting and exhibiting artifacts from Indigenous cultures. Following a poetry reading by Kimberly Blaeser, Blaeser and Kendra Greendeer will share their thoughts about the cultural significance of the Native American objects in the exhibition, changing attitudes about their place in public collections, and the challenge of ethical stewardship.

The Collections & Connections exhibition includes the following objects, which represent the archeological interests of early Wisconsin Academy members Increase Lapham and Charles Brown:

1) Cast-iron effigy mound models based on Increase Lapham’s original papier-mache versions, from the Wisconsin Historical Museum collections. These were produced after Lapham’s death for display at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
2) A gorget, stone adze and ax, copper awl, and pottery shards excavated by Charles Brown in the late 19th- or early 20th century, also from the Wisconsin Historical Museum. Based on Brown’s history, these are likely from sites associated with the Forest County Potawatomi, Menominee, or Ho Chunk Nations.
3) A collection of Native American projectile points from near Valton and Baraboo, framed in the late 19th- or early 20th century and lent by Sauk County Historical Society.