Résumés
Abstract
This case study is a close reading of knowledge organization systems against US state politics, exploring the use of place names within museum records as an ontological practice that furthers and perpetuates nation-building. Throughout this paper, I explore the following question: do the paper records analyzed act as nation building tools and, if so, how? I draw on archival research methods, and textual analysis methods stemming from communication studies to analyze a selection of records, ledger book entries and catalog cards, that document a collection of Northwest Coast materials given to the Smithsonian in 1862 by George Gibbs, a surveyor and naturalist. I ultimately argue that ledger book entries and catalog cards in question (as authored by the Smithsonian) serve as nation-building tools that contribute to the development of a US national identity, and further the dispossession of Indigenous lands by obscuring Indigenous sovereignty.
Keywords:
- knowledge organization,
- museum history and rhetoric,
- nation-building,
- Pacific Northwest Indigenous material culture
Résumé
Cet article examine les archives analogiques, les pages de livres de comptes et les fiches de catalogue du Musée national d’histoire naturelle de la Smithsonian Institution (SI) au sein des collections d’anthropologie, en examinant comment ces documents avancent une infrastructure d’information catégorisant les matériaux du Nord-Ouest Pacifique constituant l’acquisition 000051. Dans cette étude de cas et analyse textuelle, j’ai découvert que l’utilisation d’une perspective de construction nationale a éclairé les logiques d’organisation des connaissances (KO) en jeu avec ces documents. Ma lecture critique décrit les façons dont ces documents placent fermement les matériaux et objets autochtones sous les systèmes de connaissances euro-américains plus larges via l’utilisation du langage et des noms de lieux, renforçant rhétoriquement la dépossession des terres et fonctionnant pour réaliser les États-Unis en tant que nation. Cet article positionne l’organisation des connaissances et la rhétorique et l’utilisation du langage associées comme un outil de construction nationale, et les archives muséales comme un processus, un genre d’écriture qui a été affiné, remanié et réinscrit au fil du temps au sein des institutions à des fins politiques et nationales. Je termine cet article en décrivant des projets en cours soutenant et renforçant la souveraineté autochtone via le travail d’organisation des connaissances en relation avec les collections du patrimoine culturel, illustrant les réponses à la rhétorique de construction nationale dans les archives du SI que j’analyse.
Mots-clés :
- Organisation des connaissances,
- culture matérielle autochtone du Nord-Ouest Pacifique,
- construction nationale,
- histoire et rhétorique des musées
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