Indian Meet As Chief Sees It Newspaper Clipping: Indian Meet as Chief sees it | Plateau Peoples’ Web Portal (wsu.edu)
Shoulder Bag/Bandolier Bag: Shoulder bag/Bandolier bag | National Museum of the American Indian (si.edu)
The first source item I chose was a Spokesman Review newspaper clipping titled “Indian Meet as Chief Sees It.” This item has been digitized and made accessible by the Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections. The article discusses Chief Jim Kaine from Pendelton, Ore., of the Walla Walla and Umatilla tribes, and his cousin, Kane Shippentower. In this article, he regards the “red race” and white people as his “brother” and, therefore, both parties should feel secure in disclosing the truth to one another. Chief Kanine explains that he has journeyed to build new connections with chiefs, the leaders of tribes and treaties of 1855, and their white counterparts. He emphasizes the integrity of Governor Issac I. Stevens, who held his position at the same time as “the noble chief Pio-Pio Mox-Mox of Walla Walla, who was a safeguard of the people, and who signed the treaty of 1855. In fact, Kaine characterizes the treaty as “no other treaty that will equal that treaty, for I believe that it stands for all time” (Spokesman Review, 1925). For this reason, he is dissatisfied with the fact that many of his people have forgotten the importance of a diverse group of tribes–all the while showing further gratitude to his “white brothers” who have taught peace and unity throughout generations that helped his people continue and strengthen their relationship for years. In my analysis of the article, there were a few things that stood out to me–that is, Chief Jim Kaine’s affinity for people of the Western world and the lack of details about the treaty of 1855. Particularly, a portion of the article is as follows: “I had instruction that Indian chiefs would speak through their interpreter. So I came prepared” (Spokesman Review, 1925), and that left me wondering (1) What is the significance of the Treaty of 1855? (2) How did it improve the lives of indigenous people at the time? and (3) How has the interpretation of the treaty changed between indigenous people at the time and modern-day people?
Besides the context of the newspaper clipping itself, which provided extensive information about important events at the time, the publication date, and the interfacing between indigenous and Western leaders, the elements provided by the Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections added layer of information to the overall itemization. They filled in some smaller details, including (and unlike the other item) the people in charge of protocol, keywords, the original date, format, source, who owns the rights over the document, and the creator. Be that as it may, the bag is a beautiful piece full of colors (red, burgundy, blue, pink, green, yellow, and beige) with a combination of materials such as hide, cotton cloth, silk ribbon, glass, beads, metal cones, and wool yarn. The bag was made using overlay beadwork, ribbon work applique, and sewing. Interestingly, its intricate detailing makes me question “whether specific styles/designs are connected to specific indigenous groups/tribes? If so, how do researchers use those patterns to track down creators and contributors?
On the other hand, the second item I chose was a shoulder bag/Bandolier bag owned by the National Museum of the American Indian. In contrast to the newspaper clipping, the only significant identifier the museum included about the piece was the previous owner, Charles L. Pickard, Jr. (Charles Lester Pickard Jr.), who was non-indigenous and owned the bag from 1920-1977. They also included the materials and techniques used to make the bag and its dimensions. Otherwise, the bag is not attributed to a specific person or tribe, and it has a generic name in the library catalog that makes it difficult to find this specific piece, as over 100 other items have the same object name. All of this calls to the lack of historical background since the erasure of indigenous people.
One thing that surprised me the most about the item-making process was the different Dublin elements. Initially, specifications like subject, description, and type seemed so similar they might as well have been the same thing. However, after reading the Omeka Metadata Guide, these identifiers are all vastly different, and they each contribute a little more detail about items that generally have little (accurate) historical background and significance.
Vanessa– What interesting and detailed items! I use many newspapers in my own research, and I was especially interested in this text source you chose about Chief Jim Kanine. Sometimes it can be difficult to find Indigenous voices in the historical record for a variety of reasons (including record-keeping and archival erasure), but I have always found newspapers to frequently relay information, words, and actions by Native people. It is equally important to recognize how sources like these (as important as the are), still portray Indigenous words through a colonial filter. You may have heard of the phrase “reading against the grain,” which is a historical method of trying to extract the voices of historically marginalized people to better understand their experiences. There is another approach called “reading along the grain” (coined by Ann Laura Stoler) that seeks to analyze marginalized voices in their colonial contexts. By doing so, it helps us to understand both their experiences and the structure of colonialism (which is important because of how colonialism affects the daily lives Indigenous people, and how oppressive systems affect decisions and agency). We can often “read along the grain” of non-textual objects, like the bandolier bag, as well.
I really enjoyed hearing about your experience working with Omeka and the Dublincore elements! You’re absolutely right that there are many fields that sound incredibly similar (or that one input could match multiple fields), but after a closer look there are clear distinctions between these elements. Dublincore has become a renown standard for metadata of Omeka items and its useful to think about how this can standardize “digital archives” across the entire web.