Weaselhead selected for tribal archive workshop

By Maggie Plummer

Dalon stands next to one of his favorite People's Center pieces: a traditional Kootenai Eagle Feather Dance Bustle, circa 1940, which is on loan from Sadie Saloway. (Maggie Plummer photo)

PABLO — People's Center Museum Manager Dalon Weaselhead is one of 15 applicants nationwide selected for an April workshop for native museums and cultural centers on "Managing a Small Archive."

The idea of the workshop is to help participants manage tribal archives, which preserve a record of a community's history, culture and memory.

The workshop, to be held at the Navajo Nation Museum in Window Rock, Arizona April 9 to 13, is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution, the National Museum of the American Indian, and the Cultural Resources Center of Suitland, Maryland.

The unique aspect of the April training is that it will specifically address the management of tribal archives, from a tribal perspective. Tribal archivists are often presented with complex challenges and cultural concerns.

Dalon, who began working for the People's Center in the winter of 1996, feels that, although he has been to various trainings on museum collections in general, he has had minimal training in managing tribal records and documents.

By attending this workshop, he hopes to expand his knowledge of preservation and management of valuable tribal collections for future generations to enjoy. He also hopes to gain a better insight into managing tribal data collected by such tribal departments as Division of Lands, Legal, and Enrollment.

Also, Dalon wants to learn about transferring archival materials to an electronic format.

"Presently our Tribal government is working on the acquisition of a collection containing approximately 3,000 archival items," he said.

"Museology (the study of how museums are designed, organized and managed) is fairly new to tribes," Dalon commented during a Monday morning interview. "So, collections-acquiring is also fairly new for tribes, as is collection management."

At the People's Center, Dalon manages approximately 1,600 items, 75 percent of which are images such as photos, negatives, paintings, and sound recordings. The other 25 percent are materials such as beaded, buckskin, and stone items tribal members have made.

Among the topics to be covered during the April workshop are how to respond to tribal community needs, organizing and describing tribal archival material, photographs and maps, digitization, and oral histories.

Sheree Bonaparte, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the St. Regis Mohawk community, will be the workshop instructor. The National Museum of the American Indian is offering financial assistance to cover travel and housing costs for those participants who need it. The workshop itself is free of charge.