American Indian Outreach

The MNHS permanent collection includes more than 6,500 objects related to American Indian culture and history. MNHS provides responsible stewardship of these items, in accordance with the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and industry standards for collections management. Meaningful partnerships with tribal communities are the key to successful stewardship. In FY16, MNHS continued collections outreach programming by partnering with Dakota tribes and Ojibwe bands throughout the state and beyond. At the History Center and in Native communities, MNHS engaged colleagues and community members through participation in regional and national conferences; supporting and partnering with indigenous nonprofit organizations, like the Native American Community Development Institute; and facilitating tours for artists, researchers, students, educators and interested community members. In FY16, collections staff once again displayed historic and contemporary native material culture at the Owamni/Falling Waters Festival--held annually at Father Hennepin Park in Minneapolis. Additionally, MNHS worked to facilitate a visit from White Earth Tribal & Community College faculty and students to study collections at the History Center. Staff also brought collections to White Earth to display at the college and the Reservation Tribal Center. MNHS also provided hands-on training at the History Center for staff members of Sisseton Wahpeton College in acquisition and cataloging processing, safe artifact handling and display, and archival artifact storage techniques. Plans continue for additional collections-based events in Mille Lacs, the Lower Sioux Indian Community and with the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe in South Dakota.