Old Stories, New Narratives: Public Archaeology and the Politics of Display at Georgia's Official Southeastern Indian Interpretive Center

• Main Author: Andrews, Erin Leigh
• Format: Others
• Published: Digital Archive @ GSU 2009
• Subjects: museum exhibits; politics of display; museums; Public archaeology; Museum studies; Visitor studies; Museum anthropology; representation; Native Americans; Southeastern Indians; Anthropology
• Online Access: http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/anthro_theses/30; http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1029&context=anthro_theses

Presenting a case study of an American Indian exhibit at the Funk Heritage Center, I critically examine how this museum’s ideologies and preferred pedagogies shape public discourse about Southeastern Indians in the past and present. Using the methodology of Visitor Studies, this public archaeology project illustrates the benefits of incorporating applied anthropology into museological practice through collaboration with museum staff, volunteers, visitors, and American Indians. Operating within the theoretical frameworks of Charles R. Garoian (2001) and Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (1991), my results imply that inserting archaeological narratives into institutional pedagogy alters a museum’s traditional “performance” of the past by challenging its own authority; ultimately, I show how this process can increase viewer awareness about the politics of display.