Evoking Ancestral Memory: Complexities of Indigenous Representation and Collections Stewardship

A horizontal piece of wood hangs on a wall. A small object stands on it, at far left. From this shelf are suspended strings of beads or fabric, which come together to form an abstract image. Two pieces of wood stand vertically, leaning against the horizontal piece’s right edge.

Zoe Ann Cardinal Cire (Cree and Métis), In Pr(ax)is, 2023. Czech seed beads, Nymo nylon thread, and two-by-fours. Photo courtesy Andina Marie Osorio

Join Dr. Royce K. Young Wolf (Eastern Shoshone, Hidatsa, and Mandan), Inaugural Assistant Curator of Native American Art, Yale University Art Gallery, and Collections Manager of the Native North American Collection, Yale Peabody Museum; K. N. McCleary (Little Shell Chippewa), B.A. 2018, J.D. candidate, Yale Law School; and Leah Shrestinian, B.A. 2018, Program Manager, NYU-Yale American Indian Sovereignty Project, for an evening of reflection on and conversation about the complexities of Indigenous representation in the arts, culturally responsive collections stewardship, and relationship building, focusing on uniquely situated institutions that steward both ancestral and contemporary collections. Young Wolf delivers an original vocable performance with oboe music by Mickenna Keller, M.M. 2023, M.M.A. candidate, Yale School of Music, interpreting a score from For Zitkála-Šá (2022) by the Diné composer Raven Chacon. Offered in collaboration among the Gallery, the Department of the History of Art, the Yale Peabody Museum, and the Yale Group for the Study of Native America. Generously sponsored by the Martin A. Ryerson Lectureship Fund.