Museum breathes life into sagas of Indians

Bruce Parry peers into a museum display case and points to a small beaded vest. He wore this vest when he was a boy, one hot summer day in 1947, at the dedication ceremonies for "This Is the Place Monument."

Next he points out a dress hanging in the same case. It belonged to his grandmother who stitched shells, tiny seashells, like beads over the entire gown.

As he talks of his family heirlooms, Parry stands in the midst of the Utah's First Nations exhibit, which runs through Sept. 29 at the Utah State Museum of Natural History on the University of Utah campus. It is not only his family's history on display here, but the history of all the northwestern Shoshone and, in fact, the history of all the native people of the Great Basin and the Colorado Plateau.

Their stories began so long ago. The story of how the exhibit came about begins in 1995, back when Utahns first learned they'd host the Olympics in 2002. At that time, the people who run the museum turned to the people who serve on the museum's Indian Advisory Committee and said, "What a great opportunity."

And the people on the advisory committee took the word back to their individual tribes: the Navajo, Southern Paiute, Northwestern Band of Shoshone, the Northern Utes, the White Mesa Utes, the Confederated Tribes of Goshutes and the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes. They began to talk among themselves about what stories they would tell the world.

"We believe we need to ask the older ones first," explained Fabian Jenks, who is in charge of public relations for the Northern Utes. When people leave the reservation and later decide to explain the history, sometimes they leave things out, he says. Or they get things turned around. To get it right, you kind of have to be around the elders, the aunts and uncles, he says. You have to attend the Native American Church ceremonies and "be part of the life."

Because the older people were consulted, he believes the exhibit does a good job of reflecting tradition. It can actually be used to motivate his tribe, to give hope to people who want to preserve their language and culture, Jenks says.

Becky Menlove, exhibit director, says the museum's standard approach of consulting with the tribes was greatly expanded for this exhibit. Early on, the museum hired a guest curator, Nola Lodge, who directs the university's resource center for American Indian students.