National Museum of the American Indian: The Native Art Market 2019

National Museum of the American Indian: The Native Art Market 2019

1. A) Describe the event you attended (attach an original copy of the program for the event.

The artistic event involves visiting the National Museum of the American Indian. I attended the Native Art Market 2019 event, which was hosted at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. This is an annual event that offers visitors the opportunity to purchase traditional and contemporary artworks made through skilled handcrafting. Some of the items on display include fine apparel, beadwork, pottery, prints, dolls, jewelry, and sculpture made by some of the best native artists from the Western Hemisphere. The event was the 14^th since its establishment. This museum cares for collections of photographs, media, and native objects from the entire Western Hemisphere from Tierra del Fuego to Arctic Circle. The museum is designed in a sweeping curvilinear architecture decorated with indigenous landscape and exhibitions from different tribes and communities to offer visitors the spirit and sense of Native America. The event took place on Sunday, December 8, 2019. UI teas scheduled to happen from 10 AM to 5:30 PM (“National Museum of the American Indian,” 2019). Although I did not make it during the opening hours, I was able to attend in the afternoon.

1. B) Review of the beliefs and stereotypes about the group throughout history.

The American Indians, also known as the Native Americans, are the first inhabitants of America. Their religion comprises of several beliefs. First, they view nature as mother earth. Besides, they believed that the spirit world is embodied in every part of the natural world, such as vegetables, minerals, or animals (Coontz, 2016). As a result, they held it that buying and selling land was forbidden for them. They even thought that the offers they got from the Europeans for the land was not as payment but rather an act of joining the existing relationship. Thus, they are the first horticulturist and environmentalists in America. From their early life, they first survived as fishermen and big-game hunters.

1. C) An analysis of how beliefs and stereotypes have been maintained and continue to thrive today.

Currently, the American Indians have been flourishing with a population of 5.2 million by 2010 in the US. Of the total population, 2.9 million were identified as American Indian or the Native alone. The other community involved different races. Since 2000, the Native American has experienced an increase of up to 39%, which is the most significant growth of any population across the US (Reyhner & Eder, 2017).  This community still upholds it’s cultural believes and practices. They mostly do so during their cultural ceremonies.

1. A) A history of how the group has been treated in the United States.

The Native American has experienced federal protection form existence through the establishment of several Acts that are meant to help them maintain their culture. First Act includes the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978, which protects tribal cultural and traditional religious right. Among them include access to sacred sites, use, and possession of sacred objects, and the freedom to worship through traditional ceremony (Dekker, 2016). Another one includes the native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 that was allow funding to federal agencies and institutions to return items that belonged to Native Americans. Such items were sacred objects, funeral objects, and cultural patrimony objects. The latest was the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People adopted in 2007 by the united national General Assembly. It focused on having rights for indigenous people to their cultural heritage.

1. B) Include content on social policy issues, legal, political, economic, and educational oppression the group has experienced.

The Native Americans lived peacefully and in harming until the invention of the Europeans. The coming of the Europeans brought along some diseases that were unbearable for the American Indians (Polizzi, 2018). Among the disease includes typhoid, smallpox, and measles.  Since the natives did not have immunologic protection against such European disease, they were highly affected. It is estimated that such disease claimed up to 90% of the Native Americans during their first century of Europeans Contact.

III. Overview of the groups’ values and norms (remember the “Me tree” )       

The American Indians held certain several norms and values that set them apart among other tribes and communities. First, their entrepreneurship did not focus on profit maximization. Instead, their business transactions were aligned to their social and cultural values. As a result, they even traded their lands as an offer for friendship with the Europeans.

1. What are the strengths, positive coping, and resiliency practices of the group?

Cultural practices have remained the main strength of the American Indians. Although through the invention of Europeans during the colonial system, their culture was diluted to Christianity. Some people still practice the original culture. From the vent, I was able to find out that the traditional cultural practice observed by this community is among their major characteristics.

1. What are some of the human rights and social justice issues that pertain to the selected population?

Several human rights and social justice issues still remain a major concern for the American Indians. According to Echo-Hawk (2016), despite the legal obligation for the United States to provide reliable health care services to these communities and the Alaska natives, health care for the native American is still demanding compared to other groups.  They face experience inequality in health care largely as opposed to the other US population.

1. Referencing specific sections of the NASW Code of Ethics, what are the current proposed strategies for advocacy with this population?

The current NASW code of ethics has defined several strategies for the advocacy of Native Americans. It advocates for increasing recognition of the benefits of cultural competence, which is defined in section 1.05.  Part (a) defines that “Social workers should understand culture and its function in human behavior and society, recognizing the strengths that exist in all cultures.”(NASW, 2017)

VII. Overall, what did you learn from the event? What did you learn? In what ways did it move or connect with your own experiences as a member of an oppressed group?

This event made me learn about the history of Native Americans. It exposed me to some of their cultural norms and practices. Besides, I was able to appreciate the beauty of diversity in our religious aspects.  I was also encouraged by the fact that although the Native Americans have been oppressed since colonial time, the government has taken several initiatives to protect them and help them preserve their culture.  Also, I found that the current challenges experienced today by some communities such as black Americans are not new; such issues started years back during the slave trade. The government should, therefore, enact stronger regulation regarding discrimination and racism in the US.

Would you or would you not recommend others to go and see it? Why?

I would recommend others to go to the National Museum of the American Indian. Through the visit, they will learn more about the history and how the US developed from mere native to the current state. As a result, they will appreciate the development the country has experienced; besides, they will understand our culture and beliefs.

Reference

National Museum of the American Indian. (2019). Retrieved 8 December 2019, from https://www.si.edu/Museums/american-indian-museum#/?i=1

Coontz, S. (2016). The social origins of private life: A history of American families, 1600-1900. Verso Books.

Reyhner, J., & Eder, J. (2017). American Indian education: A history. University of Oklahoma Press.

Dekker, S. (2016). Just culture: Balancing safety and accountability. CRC Press.

National Association of Social Workers, Washington, Dc. (2017). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. NASW Distribution Center.

Echo-Hawk, W. R. (2016). In the light of justice: The rise of human rights in Native America and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Fulcrum Publishing.

Polizzi, K. (2018). National Archives-Native Americans. Reference Reviews