elevated the Museum to a place of respect and prominence internationally. On September 17, 2016, as part of our
celebration of this centennial anniversary, NMAI organized a symposium titled Vistas and Dreams: Celebrating the 100th
Anniversary
of the Founding of the Museum of the American Indian at NMAI-New York. NMAI Curator and Head of Collections Research and Docu- mentation Ann McMullen took the leader- ship role in organizing the symposium, invit- ing some of our field’s most distinguished scholars and museum leaders to discuss the origins of the collection and anthropological field work that put the underlying economic, intellectual, social and philanthropic histories in context. There were significant changes in the way 20th
century museums developed
curatorial and collection practices. The symposium speakers provided an informed commentary about the work of museums,
philanthropy, the idiosyncratic nature of col- lecting and the way Native peoples were re- garded historically. The life and times of Heye were central to the discourse, as McMullen articulated in her 2009 essay Reinventing George Heye and reiterated at the symposium. Heye “was, like anyone, a man of his time.” His story is “more complex and more honor- able than has been told.” As Heye observed of his collections, “they are not alone objects to me, but sources of vistas and dreams of their makers and owners.” Under Museum Director Kevin Gover’s
leadership, NMAI has sharpened its institu- tional focus on ever deeper levels of scholar- ship through exhibitions, cultural arts pro- grams and educational initiatives. Founding Director W. Richard West, Jr., provided signif- icant leadership in opening our three facilities and engaging tribal communities in all aspects of our work. None of the Museum’s successes
would have been possible, however, without fierce advocacy from the Democratic senator and respected veteran from Hawaii, Daniel K. Inouye; the leadership of Native lead- ers like Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee activist Suzan Shown Harjo; and the strong bi-partisan political support from Senator Ted Stevens from Alaska and Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan from New York, as well as elected and civic leadership in New York City and New York State. In reaching the 100-year milestone, all of
us involved with NMAI have a lot to celebrate and much to do in the next century to move our beloved institution forward well into the 21st
century and beyond. X
John Haworth (Cherokee) has recently retired as the Senior Executive for the National Museum of the American Indian in New York. He has written articles for exhibition publications and has been a frequent contributor to American Indian. To view a webcast of the symposium Vistas and Dreams, visit
nmai.si.edu/connect/symposia/archive.
Symposium presenters, from left: Steven Conn of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio; James E. Snead of California State University, Northridge; Ruth B. Phillips of Carleton University, Ottawa; Ann McMullen, NMAI; and Philip J. Deloria of the University of Michigan. Program moderator Frederick E. Hoxie of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, not shown.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 15
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