Smithsonian Voices

From the Smithsonian Museums

Cécile R. Ganteaume

In addition to curating Developing Stories: Native Photographers in the Field, Cécile R. Ganteaume is co-curator of the exhibition Americans, on view at the museum on the National Mall, and author of Officially Indian: Symbols That Define the United States. Ganteaume serves on the curatorial committee of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative and is a recipient of a 2011 Secretary of the Smithsonian’s Excellence in Research Award and a team recipient of the 2018 Smithsonian Excellence in Exhibitions Award. (Photo by R.A.Whiteside, National Museum of the American Indian)

Genízaro Delvin Garcia standing in remains of the 18th-century Santa Rosa de Lima Church. Abiquiú, New Mexico, 2019. (© 2020 Russel Albert Daniels)

“Developing Stories: Native Photographers in the Field” Presents Contemporary Native Experiences from the Inside

Since the turn of the 20th century, Native American photographers have taken the representation of their people into their own hands. In “Developing Stories: Native Photographers in the Field,” Russel Albert Daniels and Tailyr Irvine present original images that illustrate issues important to Native Americans today. Daniels (of Diné and Ho-Chunk descent) looks at the Genízaro people of Abiquiú, New Mexico. The Genízaro embrace the painful history of their ancestors and their perseverance in creating an enduring community. Irvine (Salish and Kootenai) visits the Flathead Reservation and nearby Missoula, Montana. She shows how blood quantum requirements for tribal enrollment complicate young people’s most personal decisions. Created in collaboration with the museum originally for exhibition in New York and Washington, as well as online, “Developing Stories” opens on the museum’s website with Daniels’ piece, to be followed this summer by Irvine’s essay.

Woodrow Wilson “Woody” Roach. Italy, 1944 or 1945. (Photo courtesy of Della Boyer)

The Italian Campaign, the Lord’s Prayer in Cherokee, and U.S. Army Sergeant Woodrow Wilson Roach

Winyan (Woman) Power: New Art by Kevin and Valerie Pourier Honors Women Who Stand Up for the Rights and Welfare of Others

Manitok Thompson, Veronica Connelly, Rosie Kowna Oolooyuk, and Bernadette Dean at the National Museum of the American Indian's Cultural Resources Center. The four women—skilled caribou and sealskin clothing makers, and fluent Inuktitut-speakers and knowledge keepers—traveled to Washington from Nunavut as guests of the Embassy of Canada to attend the opening of the embassy's exhibition

Inuit Women's Survival Skills, Which Kept Arctic Explorers Alive, Help Heal Residential School Survivors

In the exhibition

The entangled history of non-Native Americans and American Indians has shaped and defined who we are as a people

A 1948 Indian Chief motorcycle, a loan from the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Birmingham, Alabama, is on view in the atrium of the museum. When Americans opens in the fall, the motorcycle will be moved to the exhibition gallery.

The exhibition Americans, opening in October, previews with a 1948 Indian Chief motorcycle

The famous engraving of Pocahontas made by Simon van de Passe (1595–1647) mirrors the Renold Elstrack (1570–1625 or after) engraving of Queen Elizabeth—and the 31 other engravings of British sovereigns published in 1618 in

Marking the 400th Anniversary of Pocahontas's Death

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A Return to the Wounded Knee Occupation, 50 Years Later

How Shared Stewardship Is Bringing to Light One of the World’s Most Significant Holdings of Mi’kmaw Cultural Items

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