In this Book

  • Legible Sovereignties: Rhetoric, Representations, and Native American Museums
  • Book
  • Lisa King
  • 2017
  • Published by: Oregon State University Press
    • Viewed
    • View Citation
summary
An interdisciplinary work that draws on the fields of rhetorical studies, Native American and Indigenous studies, and museum studies, Legible Sovereignties considers the creation, critical reception, and adaptation of Indigenous self-representation in three diverse Indigenously oriented or owned institutions.
 
King tracks the exhibit spaces at the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan’s Ziibiwing Center, Haskell Indian Nation University’s Cultural Center and Museum, and the Smithsonian’s Washington, DC branch of the National Museum of the American Indian over their first ten years, from their opening until the summer of 2014. Far from formulaic, each site has developed its own rhetorical approaches to reaching its public, revealing multiple challenges and successes in making Native self-representation legible and accessible.
 
Through documentation and analysis of the inaugural exhibits and recent installations, interviews with curators and staff, and investigation into audience reception of these spaces, Legible Sovereignties argues that there can be no single blanket solution for effective Indigenous self-representation. Instead, Legible Sovereignties demonstrates the nuanced ways in which each site must balance its rhetorical goals and its audience's needs, as well as its material constraints and opportunities, in order to reach its visitors and have Indigenous voices heard.

Table of Contents

restricted access Download Full Book
  1. Cover
  2. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Title Page, Copyright, Dedication
  2. pp. i-vi
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Contents
  2. pp. vii-viii
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. ix-xii
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Introduction: Rhetoric, Sovereignty, and Legibility in Native Museums
  2. pp. 1-28
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 1. Protecting the Knowledge, Nurturing the Community: The Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways
  2. pp. 29-66
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 2. Confronting History, Celebrating the Present: Haskell Cultural Center and Museum
  2. pp. 67-100
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter 3. Challenging Perception, Educating a Non-Native Public: The National Museum of the American Indian
  2. pp. 101-146
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Conclusion: Openings for Legible Sovereignties
  2. pp. 147-164
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Notes
  2. pp. 165-168
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Bibliography
  2. pp. 169-186
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Index
  2. pp. 187-192
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
Back To Top