Tribal Museum and Cultural Center Management
In the face of continuing threats to Native American languages, culture
and communities, many communities are embarking on new strategies
to keep their vital cultural resources intact. One of these strategies is
to establish museums where communities can collect and safeguard important cultural
items. Native communities can achieve
this by establishing a museum that is for and by
the community.
The necessity to preserve culture is a growing concern
for many tribal communities, and preserving culturally significant artifacts is one way to ensure that this knowledge is available to tribes' younger generations. Creating a museum, however, can be a daunting task. We’ll
provide valuable information that will help guide you through the process
of initiating community awareness and developing a facility that will long
remain a vital link in the preservation of your
tribe’s culture.
T O P I C S I N C L U D E |
Planning and Strategizing
- Getting the community involved
- Planning meetings
- Setting goals
- Tribal council sponsorship and
support
Fundraising
- Tribal resolutions
- Land — Where are you going to
build it?
- Infrastructure — Who’s paying
the light bill?
- Where to look for funding
- Who’s going to write the
proposals?
- What do we do with the money
now that we have it?
- Accountability
|
Governance
- Establishing an advisory board
- Establishing a board of directors
- Bylaws
- Job descriptions for key personnel
- How large a staff do we want?
- Accountability
Policies
- Acquisitions
- Archival standards
- Collections
- Educational programming:
- Accountability
- Community outreach
- Native audiences
- Non-Native audiences
- Conservation
- Exhibition planning:
- Conceptualization
- Research
- Documentation
- Installation
- Exhibition types:
- Traveling
- Permanent
- Temporary
- Loans
| Job Descriptions and
Responsibilities
- Director
- Curator
- Collections manager
- Conservator
- Exhibitions — technicians
- Maintenance
- Admissions
Housekeeping
- Collections maintenance
schedules
- Weekend schedules
- On-call staffing
- Insurance
- Record keeping:
- Temporary transmittal forms
- Loan forms
- Acquisitions
- Photo documentation
- Data input protocol
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