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Indepth Arts News:
"Plains Indian Museum to Reopen
"
2000-06-17 until 2000-06-30
Buffalo Bill Historical Center
Cody, WY,
USA
The Buffalo Bill Historical Center's Plains Indian Museum will reopen Saturday, June 17, 2000, with a new look and a
new interpretation. Opening ceremonies begin at 10:00 a.m. to unveil the 3.8 million dollar reinterpretation of the Plains
Indian Museum's art, artifacts, and programs.
This nine-month renovation project is a comprehensive
reinterpretation of the Plains Indian Museum. The new Plains
Indian Museum will tell the significant story of the lives of
Plains Indian people, their cultures, traditions, values and
histories, as well as the contexts of their lives today. This new
interpretation will create, in the words of Plains Indian Museum
Advisory Board member and Crow tribal historian Joseph
Medicine Crow, a living, breathing place where more than just
Indian objects are on display.
With its nationally significant
collection, since 1979 the
Plains Indian Museum has
been a leader in promoting
public recognition of the significance of Plains Indian art. That leadership moves to a
new level. Curator Emma Hansen said, Through the permanent and special
exhibitions of the reinterpreted Plains Indian Museum, visitors will learn, not only
about the beautiful objects made by Indian people, but the stories of the people
behind the objects and the special contexts in which these objects were made and used
in daily and ceremonial life. The majority of the collection is from the early
reservation period, circa 1880 to the present, and relates primarily to Northern Plains
tribes, such as the Sioux, Crow, Arapaho, Shoshone, Cheyenne, with representative
pieces from the Woodlands, Southwest and Northwest Coast.
The reinterpretation will now
allow visitors to gain
understanding and insight about
Plains Indian cultures, traditions,
and contemporary lives, as well as find relevancy in these issues for
their own lives. Hansen added, This momentous Plains Indian
Museum reinterpretation positions the Buffalo Bill Historical Center
as one of the unsurpassed cultural institutions focusing on Indian art
and cultures education. It also provides an important venue for
residents of the region, including families and school groups, to
recognize the cultural achievements of the Native people of the Great
Plains.
The opening of the Plains Indian Museum coincides with the spectacular 19th annual
Plains Indian Powwow being held June 17-18, 2000 in the Robbie Powwow
Garden at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. Dancers from all over North America
compete in Cody for more than $10,000 in prize money. The Grand Entry occurs at
both 1:00 and 7:00 p.m., on the 17th, and at noon on Sunday, the 18th.
The Buffalo Bill Historical Center also offers educational activities and programs
relating to the Plains Indian Museum. The Plains Indian Seminar in September
brings together scholars from around the world to discuss topics relating to the culture
and art of the Plains Indians.
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