Date of Award

1-1-2011

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Organizational Unit

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences

First Advisor

Christina F. Kreps, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Richard Clemmer Smith

Third Advisor

Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh

Keywords

Collaboration, Indigenous, Museum, Navajo, Postcolonial, Representation

Abstract

Following recent trends in scholarship that establish museums as complex sites where representations of Native American cultures are actively negotiated, this thesis explores the relationship between representational strategies and the employment of critical Indigenous methodologies by museum institutions in the display of Navajo weavings. A postcolonial theoretical framework is utilized to analyze six Navajo weaving exhibition installments over the past decade. Additionally, a critical reflection is offered about the development of the author's collaborative exhibition, Na'ashjé'ii Biką' Biyiin (Chant of the Male Spider): A Holistic Journey with Diné Weaver Roy Kady, that reveals both the rewards and challenges of collaborative exhibition making between two members of the Navajo community. This study problematizes the historical process of museum representation and suggests a more nuanced investigation of the collaborative dynamics that contribute towards the decolonizing efforts in Native scholarship and museum practice.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Teresa Maria Montoya

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

211 p.

Discipline

Cultural anthropology, Native American studies, Museum studies

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