Spokane, Wash., Museum Gets Humanities Grant for Tribal Exhibit
Story-Date: 05:50 p.m. PST Sunday   , August 10, 1997

Spokane, Wash., Museum Gets Humanities Grant for Tribal Exhibit

BY JENNIFER PARHAM, INDIAN COUNTRY TODAY, RAPID CITY, S.D.
Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News

SPOKANE, Wash.--Aug. 11--The National Endowment for the Humanities has
awarded a $43,000 grant for an exhibit ``The People of the Rivers: Lifeways
of the Northern Plateau'' scheduled for the turn-of-the-century opening of
a new, expanded museum in Spokane, Wash.

The Cheney Cowles Museum, with a history of commitment American Indians of
the Pacific Northwest, is the recipient of the NEH grant for the
development of the exhibit.

The four tribes that the exhibit will portray are the the Confederated
Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Spokane Tribe and the Kalispel Tribe,
all in northeast Washington and the Coeur D' Alene Tribe of north
Idaho.

Part of the goal is to introduce, in person and through interpretive
exhibits and activities, the first people of that region.

In addition, the exhibit is intended to provide awareness of tribal
diversity, the richness of those tribal cultures, traditions and the
viability of the people today.

Also, the project will provide professional training programs in museum and
archival management for tribal interns chosen by their respective tribes.

``Some formalities still need to be worked out, but we can essentially say
there is a grant,'' said John Merideth, NEH program officer in museums.

``It's a very strong commendation for the Cheney Cowles Museum,'' said Liz
Burroughs, president of CCM Trustees and past president of the
Washington state Commission for the Humanities.

``The NEH does not frequently come out with a planning grant this
enthusiastically,'' she said.

NEH is an independent grant-making agency of the federal government which
promotes the study and interpretation of the humanities on a spectrum of
subjects, including archaeology and history.

``History is a very important component of the NEH,'' said Ms. Burroughs.

The seven-member panel that reviewed the CCM proposal was chosen for its
expertise in American Indian history and culture, anthropology, and museum
professionals.

``CCM was very highly rated,'' said Mr. Merideth. ``In any exhibit you need
a good story line, but you also need good artifacts. The panelists were
very impressed with the quality of the collection.''

The museum's own collection of plateau materials is recognized by experts
as the largest and finest in the country.

The plateau people of the Inland Northwest traditionally inhabited areas
from the Cascades to the Rocky Mountains and from the Fraser River in
Canada to the Blue Mountains in Oregon.

``This grant was awarded as part of a national competition. Each proposal
was reviewed by a peer review panel consisting of both museum professionals
and scholars from across the country,'' said Mr. Merideth.

``In the case of CCM, tribal experts are going to be involved. We consider
them scholars as well because they know about their culture,'' he said.

``People of the Rivers: Lifeways of the Northern Plateau'' will be the
first extensive exhibition about this particular American Indian group,
according to museum officials.

The exhibit was chosen due to the variety of experts available for the
production.

``We are strongly approaching the exhibit from an oral tradition of the
people of this land,'' said Lynn Pankonin, curator of American Indian
Collections at the museum.

``This is the story of the people on those reservations, told in their
words and in their way,'' she said.

``What better way to go, but through the people themselves. They're the
ones with the knowledge and the wisdom,'' she said.

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(c) 1997, Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D. Distributed by
Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News.



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