Lawrence museum hosts Smithsonian traveling exhibit
Sam Farley | @samxfarley
A Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian traveling exhibit has made its way to the Watkins Museum of History in downtown Lawrence.
The exhibit examines how Native Americans are woven into America’s identity through history, branding and pop culture.The Watkins museum is the first museum in the country to display the exhibit.
“Kansas was one of the very first states to sign up for this tour of Americans,” Steve Nowak, executive director of the Watkins museum said.“As it turned out, we started our tour before everyone else. The Watkins launched the Kansas tour, so the Watkins museum becomes the first place where anyone in the country will be able to see this traveling exhibition.”
A Lego set, a model Jeep Cherokee and a Pocahontas doll reflect the way Native Americans have been portrayed in pop culture and commercial branding.The historical aspect of the exhibit is broken up into four major events surrounding the treatment Native Americans throughout history.
“Four main events, Pocahontas, the first Thanksgiving, the Trail of Tears and the Battle of Little Big Horn. So, all of those things are really deeply explored from Native perspectives and there’s an opportunity to reflect at the end of the exhibit as well.” Andrew Stockmann, curator of exhibitions said.
The museum collaborated with Humanities Kansas and Haskell University on the exhibit. Haskell was set as the original host, but due to funding cuts, a decision was made between the three parties to host the exhibit in the community room at the Watkins museum.
The museum will host Americans until Oct. 5, after that it will continue traveling to other museums across the state. A full itinerary can be found on the Museum on Main Street website.
