NMAI is a division of the Smithsonian Institution and has
approximately 266,000 catalog records representing the arts and artifacts of all
the major indigenous culture areas of the Western Hemisphere.
The Photographic Archive consists of approximately 324,000
images from the 1860s to the present. The Archive Center http://nmai.si.edu/explore/collections/archive/:
houses papers, records, photographs, recordings and ephemera
concerning the historic and contemporary lives of Native Americans throughout
the Western Hemisphere. Collection descriptions and fining aids can be found in
the NMAI’s Collection Search Website: http://www.nmai.si.edu/searchcollections/home.aspx
and through the Smithsonian Institution Resource Information System (SIRIS): http://www.siris.si.edu/
Less than 2% of the Archive Center’s collection of photographic
objects can be viewed online but in addition to SIRIS and the collection search
website, photographs can be found on Flickr Commons: http://www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonian/
The audiences for the collection are the general museum
going public, students, researchers and the Native Americans represented in the
collections. One of the stated goals of
the museum is to “serve as a thoughtful and honest conduit to Native cultures
past and present.” It also states a
commitment to including “Native voices” in what they (the museum) “writes and
presents.” The NMAI has gone through many changes since its original
incarnation as the pet project of the wealthy industrialist George G. Heye. It
began as a museum of anthropology and natural history but most recently it has
been “returned” to the people it represents. It was the same year the
Smithsonian acquired the NMAI and appointed its first Indian director that the
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was enacted by
Congress.
Collection
Level Record: “John
Reed Swanton photographs of Southeastern American Indians, ca. 1900s-1910s.”
This collection record was pulled from SIRIS/ Archives,
Manuscripts, Photographs Catalog (Images only) but the repository for this
collection is the National Anthropological Archives at the Smithsonian Museum
Support Center. It contains “restrictions” and “cite as” that indicate this
collection is geared toward researchers. It links to the online finding aid for
the collection and links to an image set of lantern slides. The explanation of
the physical collection is briefly explained in the finding aid and also
referred to in a more spread out form on the collection level record. There are
nitrate negatives in cold storage, copy negatives have been made for “most of
them” and all of the lantern slides and some of the prints have been digitized. The
list of represented tribes in the collection is extensive (41). There is not however an explanation for how
to view the copy negatives, if that is possible, only that the originals are
not available for viewing. There is also no reference in this collection record
for the silver gelatin prints. The “Form/Genre” for this record states Lantern
Slides so apparently this record refers to the digitized images of the Lantern
Slides only.
Searching across all the catalogs brought up a more
extensive coverage of this collection. Searching from SIRIS in finding aids
resulted in the record for the Lantern Slides only. This was a little confusing
and took some time to discover.
The NMAI explains that “each item” in their collection is
labeled with “basic, standardized” information and at the bottom of “Search the
Collection page
is a “Reference List (thesauri).” With controlled terminologies and their
respective hierarchies.
Its possible to search for photographs here. For example
under “Object Specifics: Techniques Reference List” I was able to locate
“Printing Techniques” in the broader category and “chromogenic” in the
“specific” category and that resulted in 5 matches. But the thesauri is very limited as far as photographic techniques. The only technique listed under printing is chromogenic. A search in the "Collections Search" under "Artist/Individual-
Geronimo resulted in Silver Gelatin, Platinum Prints,Nitrate Negative, Albumen Print and one uncertain process they described as "copy of a carte de visite? All images of or with Geronimo.
 |
| Albumen Print Item Level Records |
 |
| "Copy of Carte de Visite?" |
 |
| Platinum Print |
 |
| Nitrate Negative |
 |
| Silver Gelatin |
Not all of the records have titles "The Vanishing Race" has a title because it is associated with an artist and
it came with a title. It has a lengthy explanation of Edward Curtis and his
North American Indian Project. The cataloging conventions are similar to VRA
Core but not as extensive. The item records from the Collections Search of the
NMAI all specify whether or not the creator, photographer in this case is
Indian or not. At the bottom of each of these item detail records it explains
that sometimes images are accompanied by “Catalog card scans” and that they are
provided to illustrate the information that originally accompanied the objects.
It goes on to say, “Please recognize that unacceptable or offensive terminology
represents historic date and not NMAI’s current usage.
This record and all the records of individual photographs in the NMAI web site are described accurately by photographic medium and also measurements
are given. VRA Core 4 specifies height and width but the dimensions with this
record are not so specific, leaving it to the viewer to determine and it is easy to determine by looking at the image. The records
in the NMAI Collections Search database are searchable by culture/peoples,
material, technique and object type so there is the ability to search very
specifically. The records express the controlled terminologies that the museum
has established but it is lacking in terminology for photographs in the thesauri.
References:
Smithsonian, National Museum of The American Indian. Web. 30 March 2013
Crouch, Michelle. "Digitization as Repatriation? The National Museum of the Indian's Fourth Museum Project."
Journal of Information Ethics. Spring 2010: 45-56. Metapress. Web. 8 March 2013.
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