Who determines the narrative? Who tells the story? Who records the history? And how do the answers to these questions impact our understanding of history, of others, of ourselves?
As the staff at the McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, located on the University of Tennessee campus, examined and re-imagined how they would present the Indigenous cultures connected to the history of this place, they faced these questions. A previous exhibition presented native culture, but as with many such exhibits, it focused heavily on ancient culture, including many artifacts that had to returned based on current law. Such exhibitions traditionally had been planned, curated, and executed with little or no input from native groups. What form would a re-imagining of this cultural presentation take and who should have input?
The museum reached out to the identifiable indigenous groups who are associated with the history of our area. They asked each group if they would participate in developing the new exhibition and got favorable responses from the Cherokee Nation, Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and The Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Unlike past curations, the professionals at the museum did not determine what would be included and ask for feedback. Rather, they asked each group how they would like to be represented and followed their lead.
Museum staff, including Executive Director Claudio Gómez, Curator of Indigenous Collections and Assistant Curator of Exhibitions Sadie Counts, Assistant Director
Curator of Arts & Culture Collections Catherine Shteynberg, and Communications & Annual Giving Professional Emily Reichard, walked me through the exhibition, explaining its origins, the process they followed, and the content that evolved over time.
In its current form — and they explained that it may evolve — Homelands: Connecting to Mounds through Native Art, includes contemporary works by seventeen native artists. Included are works on canvas and silk, oil and acrylic, basketry, textiles, and more. Written and spoken language received a spotlight, as loss of language is one of the greatest threats to survival of the cultures represented.
The exhibition is woven around the concept of homelands, with an acknowledgement of the importance of mound building in what is now the southeastern United States. Mounds represent a range of uses and meaning to groups who once called this area home. From the commonly understood burial mounds to mounds as the community center, each represented a particular choice and careful thought. Located throughout the southeast, one is located on the University of Tennessee Campus. Another sits in nearby Sequoyah Hills.
As visitors walk into the exhibition, they move through a space painted as a forest, with sounds of the Tennessee River filtering through the dim light. The idea of mounds and homelands is introduced in the corridor amidst colors, shapes, and sound intended to reflect the Homelands referenced there. The larger space opens up past the corridor and begins the introduction of the artists chosen by their people and the art they produced to tell their story.
Shteynberg said part of the genesis for the current exhibition was a suggestion from a professor that they do an exhibition on m0unds. As the conversation began and early “we said this needs to be co-curated with Native Nations that have ancestral ties to East Tennessee.” She said the project grew in scope and since they felt the larger space needed to be “refreshed,” it became the focus of their larger gallery. “We wanted to make sure we were speaking to the communities we were speaking about . . .” Years of dialog and planning followed.
One of the first surprises for me was the inclusion of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana. Associated with that state and Alabama, I was surprised to learn their oral history and language connect them to East Tennessee. Counts explained that their oral history includes the Tennessee River and a vision, prior to the arrival of the Europeans, that led to their decision to move south. Their language, Muskogean in origin (part of the Creek Confederacy) also ties them to the area and is greatly in peril of being lost. You’ll hear it spoken in the exhibition.
Works representing four artists from each group are included, plus an additional work selected by McClung staff. Tennessee artists and one from Knox County are also included. Works by more established artists hang beside works by more emerging artists. The work, not grouped by Nation affiliation, mingles throughout with the intention of “having the work in conversation with each other.” Affiliation is indicated by color-coded marking. The artists themselves provided the interpretations included with each piece.
As mounds often represented the center of the culture, so this space intends to reflect that. Counts said that many of these groups do not live near the area, but mounds provide a tangible connection to the fact that their ancestors lived in this place. “They still very connected to the mounds that their ancestors built across the southeast.” All the conversation led to the idea of “Homelands,” and the art is intended as a response to that prompt, to the idea of what homelands mean to the artists. Shytenberg added, “The artist gets to say this is what mounds mean to me . . . a lot of it has to do with place, to the earth, to ceremony, and community.”
Expect related programming related to the exhibition in coming months, hopefully, according Executive Director Gomez, programming including other indigenous groups related to our area. The entire concept is a very new approach for museums. As Gomez said, “We wanted to do something different . . . We knew the journey together was going to be important . . . It’s been an interesting learning process and also a beautiful end result.” He said they could have prepared it in half the time if they had done it on their own, “but we arrived at something stronger, and more deeply connected on multiple levels with these tribes.”
The staff felt strongly that the southeastern native art deserves a place in the conversation when people consider native art. Feeling the southeastern indigenous art remains relegated to a lower level of acknowledgement, they hope to challenge that thinking with this exhibition. Gomez said, “As a museum, if we don’t evolve, we are doomed. This is a perfect evolution, a perfect second chapter of telling stories connected to native people . . . The third chapter, who knows? We know it will require participation (of indigenous groups).
Mr. Gomez stressed that bringing the exhibition and beginning to build the new collection resulted from the efforts of many, he noted the work of the staff and their Native partners, the support of the University, and also the Henry Luce Foundation and the Terra Foundation for American Art who provided the financing. It allowed them to bring in works from artists like Starr Hardridge who was brought to Knoxville to work on the art inside the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on Northshore (go see it for the art!) and Dana Tiger whose art was featured in the television series Reservation Dogs.
You can check it all out now, as the show is now officially open to the public. There will be a formal event recognizing the opening on February 12. Museum hours are Tuesday–Saturday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday: 12–4 p.m.