This semester was an incredible time to be at the Smithsonian. There was so much happening, especially at my internship site, the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), but also in the larger Smithsonian Institution. This semester saw Benin bronzes returned, national memorials dedicated, museums reopened, and sculpture gardens revived, among many other things. 

I think one of the most important takeaways I have from this past semester is the ways in which museums, specifically history and cultural museums, but other types of museums as well, intersect with social justice. A lot of this comes from what I learned and experienced at NMAI. The museum is a balancing act, trying to teach history but also empower a culture that is still living, by trying to tell an accurate story but also being a quasi-federal institution, and by creating a wide variety of exhibits for all audiences that are informative and accurate but also not too depressing (because when it comes down to it, museums are at least partially forms of entertainment). 

Working for NMAI’s social media, I was exposed to this balance. I think it’s easy to assume that social media is easy, because it’s something anyone can access and use. But there was a lot of research and effort put into NMAI’s social media, which is crucial when you’re representing not just a museum but also over 600 individual groups of Indigenous people, past and present. There’s a lot of research into making sure you’re posting something that is appropriate, that is labeled correctly, that is given the care and respect it deserves in the caption, that isn’t always from the same Indigenous group, and something that people will want to like and share. 

Additionally, I saw social justice in every part of NMAI. There was so much behind the scenes work that I didn’t realize happened that really showed the efforts the museum went to in order to respect and honor Indigenous cultures and people. NMAI is one of the few Smithsonian museums that has a repatriation department that works to return ceremonial and important objects back to their original communities (similarly to how the Benin bronzes were returned to Nigeria). The collections building actually has a special sacred space designed for Native communities to be able to do ceremonies or spend time with objects in the museum’s collections. I was also able to attend a treaty rotation, where they switched one original treaty in the Nation to Nation exhibit with a different original treaty from the National Archives. The treaty that was put in the case was specifically with the Potawatomi people, and NMAI invited representatives of the Potawatomi tribes to be present for the treaty rotation. Only one Potawatomi representative was able to make it, but he was given time by himself with the treaty before it went in the case, and said a few words about the treaty itself at the actual rotation. His ancestors signed the treaty, and while treaties represent a lot of harm done to Native communities, he said he was proud his culture’s treaty was on display because that meant it was accessible, and that the Potawatomi youth would know what they’re entitled to and what to keep fighting for. I had no idea the amount of effort put into something as simple as switching objects in a display case, but it shows how much NMAI cares about respecting Indigenous people and communities. 

I also learned a lot about how museums function, and how people move through museums. I think the best museums I visited were the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) and the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). It was amazing how these two museums were able to convey and handle such intense topics. Both museums had a way of conducting the space that was really impactful; in USHMM you followed a path through a train car or over a cobblestone street that was an actual case of one from a European ghetto, and in NMAAHC you would walk through the middle passage ship or sit at a model lunch counter. I think these interactive experiences added depth to the topics discussed, and when it comes to the museum effect, I think these experiences especially are a source of reflection and made me think about the larger world I live in, even if that wasn’t a happy reflection.