Post by blackcrowheart on Nov 28, 2005 20:12:16 GMT -5
Interior proposes ending financing of three museums
Posted: November 28, 2005
by: Brian Daffron / Today correspondent
Photo by Brian Daffron -- Bruce Ceasar
ANADARKO, Okla. - A recent proposal by the Department of the Interior would end the funding of the three museums under its jurisdiction - the Southern Plains Indian Museum in Anadarko, the Sioux Indian Museum in Rapid City, S.D. and the Museum of the Plains Indian in Browning, Mont. - by the end of fiscal year 2007.
Under the proposal, the tribes of these areas would be expected to provide funding for the maintenance and administration of the museums and their collections through grants, foundations or other means of community support.
Scott Cameron, the Interior deputy assistant secretary for Performance, Accountability and Human Resources, began touring these regions with various commissioners of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board this past summer, presenting the IACB plan to end this funding in order to create a law enforcement division to investigate violators of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990.
The IACB's present budget consists of 55 percent for administration and 45 percent for the management and expenses of these three museums. Together, the budget for these three museums totals approximately 500,000 annually.
Jana McKeag, chair of IACB and member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, said that decision was ultimately based on the belief that tribes can manage museums better than the federal government.
''We looked at the number of people who went through the museums on a yearly basis,'' she said. ''We were concerned that these tribes weren't providing the outreach and the benefits of the tribes to these museums ... We just felt that somebody could do a better job than we are.''
McKeag said that nothing had been implemented yet and that the tribes and Interior were ''exploring options.'' She compared the cessation of federal funding with an extension of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.
''There's not one answer in getting this job done,'' she said. ''This isn't any different from repatriation or what's under NAGPRA - turning over to the tribes in the area what belongs to the tribes and making sure that they benefit from them.''
Although Cameron and McKeag said they see this as an opportunity to create community-centered museums that should have larger gallery space and more traveling exhibits, there are a wide range of artists, legislators and Native organizations that see the possibility of these museums failing without the protection of federal dollars and the chance of these priceless collections being lost, despite Cameron's reassurances of ''trying to focus on succeeding rather than worrying on what happens if we fail,'' as he told ICT.
One organization that made a motion to preserve the Sioux Indian Museum collection and lobby the IACB for additional funding for the three museums was the Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Association. The GPTCA unanimously approved the motion after its Aug. 16 meeting with Cameron.
Other tribes have also passed official resolutions to lobby to keep the museums open past fiscal year '07, including the Caddo Nation, Delaware Nation of Western Oklahoma, and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes. The National Congress of American Indians passed a resolution Nov. 4 at its annual convention in Tulsa, Okla., stating these museums' importance in their respective communities and that NCAI supports these museums' continued funding.
In agreement with NCAI are congressmen from these particular states, including Reps. Frank Lucas and Tom Cole, both R-Okla., and Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D.
''I'm extremely frustrated and, frankly, angry that the Department of the Interior is proposing to cannibalize funding to provide funding for the Indian Arts and Crafts Board,'' said Johnson. ''The responsibility to preserve and interpret these artifacts is something they should not neglect.''
For Lucas, fighting for the Southern Plains Indian Museum, as well as the other two museums, began almost as soon as he was elected into office in 1994. Stating that the Native people of southwest Oklahoma have greater economic challenges than others in his district, he said, ''It would be extremely difficult to replace if we lost this venue to display to the world their work. If anything, there should be more resources put there so we can spread the message about what they're doing.''
Cole, an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation and House of Representatives deputy majority whip, agrees. Although he sees the need to enforce the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, he sees no benefit in cutting the funding of these three museums.
''These are little jewels, I think, in our system,'' said Cole. ''They're not very expensive in the great scheme of things. I think this is a case where the Department of the Interior is being penny-wise and pound-foolish.''
Among the organizations and elected officials working to keep the museums' federal funding are artists and community leaders who work on the grass-roots level. One of these voices is Bruce Caesar, a Pawnee artist/activist who shares the concerns of many Native artists that economic support will not be strong enough if federal funding is lost.
''Because of our economically strapped community and our economically strapped state and our deficit-oriented government, there will be no additional funding for these museums if the federal government cuts them,'' Caesar said. ''They'll cease to exist.''
Posted: November 28, 2005
by: Brian Daffron / Today correspondent
Photo by Brian Daffron -- Bruce Ceasar
ANADARKO, Okla. - A recent proposal by the Department of the Interior would end the funding of the three museums under its jurisdiction - the Southern Plains Indian Museum in Anadarko, the Sioux Indian Museum in Rapid City, S.D. and the Museum of the Plains Indian in Browning, Mont. - by the end of fiscal year 2007.
Under the proposal, the tribes of these areas would be expected to provide funding for the maintenance and administration of the museums and their collections through grants, foundations or other means of community support.
Scott Cameron, the Interior deputy assistant secretary for Performance, Accountability and Human Resources, began touring these regions with various commissioners of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board this past summer, presenting the IACB plan to end this funding in order to create a law enforcement division to investigate violators of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990.
The IACB's present budget consists of 55 percent for administration and 45 percent for the management and expenses of these three museums. Together, the budget for these three museums totals approximately 500,000 annually.
Jana McKeag, chair of IACB and member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, said that decision was ultimately based on the belief that tribes can manage museums better than the federal government.
''We looked at the number of people who went through the museums on a yearly basis,'' she said. ''We were concerned that these tribes weren't providing the outreach and the benefits of the tribes to these museums ... We just felt that somebody could do a better job than we are.''
McKeag said that nothing had been implemented yet and that the tribes and Interior were ''exploring options.'' She compared the cessation of federal funding with an extension of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.
''There's not one answer in getting this job done,'' she said. ''This isn't any different from repatriation or what's under NAGPRA - turning over to the tribes in the area what belongs to the tribes and making sure that they benefit from them.''
Although Cameron and McKeag said they see this as an opportunity to create community-centered museums that should have larger gallery space and more traveling exhibits, there are a wide range of artists, legislators and Native organizations that see the possibility of these museums failing without the protection of federal dollars and the chance of these priceless collections being lost, despite Cameron's reassurances of ''trying to focus on succeeding rather than worrying on what happens if we fail,'' as he told ICT.
One organization that made a motion to preserve the Sioux Indian Museum collection and lobby the IACB for additional funding for the three museums was the Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Association. The GPTCA unanimously approved the motion after its Aug. 16 meeting with Cameron.
Other tribes have also passed official resolutions to lobby to keep the museums open past fiscal year '07, including the Caddo Nation, Delaware Nation of Western Oklahoma, and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes. The National Congress of American Indians passed a resolution Nov. 4 at its annual convention in Tulsa, Okla., stating these museums' importance in their respective communities and that NCAI supports these museums' continued funding.
In agreement with NCAI are congressmen from these particular states, including Reps. Frank Lucas and Tom Cole, both R-Okla., and Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D.
''I'm extremely frustrated and, frankly, angry that the Department of the Interior is proposing to cannibalize funding to provide funding for the Indian Arts and Crafts Board,'' said Johnson. ''The responsibility to preserve and interpret these artifacts is something they should not neglect.''
For Lucas, fighting for the Southern Plains Indian Museum, as well as the other two museums, began almost as soon as he was elected into office in 1994. Stating that the Native people of southwest Oklahoma have greater economic challenges than others in his district, he said, ''It would be extremely difficult to replace if we lost this venue to display to the world their work. If anything, there should be more resources put there so we can spread the message about what they're doing.''
Cole, an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation and House of Representatives deputy majority whip, agrees. Although he sees the need to enforce the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, he sees no benefit in cutting the funding of these three museums.
''These are little jewels, I think, in our system,'' said Cole. ''They're not very expensive in the great scheme of things. I think this is a case where the Department of the Interior is being penny-wise and pound-foolish.''
Among the organizations and elected officials working to keep the museums' federal funding are artists and community leaders who work on the grass-roots level. One of these voices is Bruce Caesar, a Pawnee artist/activist who shares the concerns of many Native artists that economic support will not be strong enough if federal funding is lost.
''Because of our economically strapped community and our economically strapped state and our deficit-oriented government, there will be no additional funding for these museums if the federal government cuts them,'' Caesar said. ''They'll cease to exist.''