by Erin F.H. Hughes
At the end of October, I went to Oklahoma City for the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums (ATALM) conference. This annual international conference was held at the Omni Oklahoma City Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City and brought together over 1,000 cultural workers. Every single time I have attended this conference, I have been blown away. Each day is full of sessions, presentations, and conversations that are informative, inspiring, passionate, and always valuable to the work WiLS is doing.
The conference theme was “Honoring and Elevating Indigenous Culture and Knowledge Systems.” I attended workshops and presentations on traditional knowledge labels, digital preservation, shared stewardship, ethical returns, and reconnecting to cultural heritage through respectful partnerships. I had the honor of presenting with one of our partners, Monique Tyndall, Director of Cultural Affairs for the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, on Building External Partnerships Through Community Defined Projects. Our presentation focused on showing how the partnership between WiLS and the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans developed collaboratively and is rooted in respect, relevance, reciprocity, and responsibility.
Each day of the conference at lunch, there was a featured keynote speaker. The first day Commander John Herrington (Chickasaw) shared his experience as an astronaut. He became the first enrolled member of a Native American tribe to fly in space. On the second day, Randy’L He-Dow Teton (Shoshone-Bannock) spoke about her experience as the model who inspired the image of Sacajawea featured on the Sacajawea dollar and shared more about Sacajawea’s story, which is featured in her new graphic novel “It’s Her Story: Sacajawea.”
I also had the opportunity to visit the First Americans Museum to view exhibits that provided rich Native history and insight into the traditional lifeways, languages, and traditions of Native American communities.
The conference ended with a very moving video Awasəwehlαwə́lətinα wikəwαmok | They Returned Home which is a film by the Penobscot Nation and Local Contexts that displays the work that the Penobscot Nation has taken to regain cultural authority within institutions in Maine. We also witnessed “Going Home,” and the beginning of cultural restoration for many Native communities. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Museum of the Cherokee People repatriated a PahnTdope (Kiowa cradleboard) and moccasins in the Museum’s holdings to The Kiowa Tribe. The repatriation was made possible through the advisement of ATALM and the Going Home Fund. The “Going Home: Returning Material Culture to Indigenous Communities Project” helps facilitate the return of culturally significant items to tribal museums and/or cultural centers, which is vital to preserving the cultural identity of Indigenous communities.
My experience at the ATALM conference was educational, inspiring, and full of conversation, and new relationships. I am thankful that I was able to attend and to continue to learn more from so many incredible Indigenous cultural heritage workers.