Archaeology and anthropology museum at IU recommits to honoring indigenous cultures

Five years ago, then-IU president Michael McRobbie announced plans to merge the Mathers Museum of World Cultures and Glenn Black Laboratory of Archaeology into a single entity. Now called the Indiana University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (IUMAA), the museum combines insights from the study of human history with the indigenous culture of the American Midwest.

Elements of both archaeology and anthropology are now on display and conducted in associated labs.

“Museums have a long legacy of harm, particularly with indigenous folks,” said Brandie Macdonald, the museum’s executive director and a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation. “What would a museum look like if it was different? What would an ethical museum look like?”The new museum, which has its grand opening Saturday, Oct. 19, is Macdonald’s best answer to that question.

Across its four inaugural collections – with a fifth to come in April – Macdonald said the museum worked directly with American Indian advisory councils and curators, underrepresented IU faculty and students, and others to not just display world cultures, but elevate the voices of those who belong to them.