Dioramas 'demeaning' to Native Americans

A University of Michigan museum exhibit showing how Native Americans lived hundreds of years ago was the target of a unique protest Sunday by students who say it's offensive and should be taken down.

A group of six art students, as part of a class project, placed translucent screens over the collection of dioramas that are prominently displayed on the fourth floor of the U-M Exhibit Museum of Natural History.

They handed out fliers asking why the museum won't remove what they called "racist and demeaning dioramas.'' Among the students' complaints: The dioramas show romanticized depictions of Native American life and don't tell how those lives were changed with the introduction of Europeans to North America.

The dioramas, created in the 1950s, have been a popular stop for the legions of Michigan schoolchildren who have toured the museum over the years.

In the dioramas, 4-inch tall Native American figurines, representing people in Michigan and elsewhere in North America, cluster around dwellings, cook fish, make sap and perform other tasks.

Even before the protest, the museum has been studying what to do with the dioramas and is considering options that include their removal, said museum director Amy Harris.

She said the displays are well-researched and accurate for their time. Harris said she has heard from native people who like the dioramas and others who are disturbed by them. The museum worked with local Native Americans several years ago to add new labels to the dioramas to provide a greater understanding of the scenes, she said.

Student Kevin Stahl said the dioramas still lack historical context and are demeaning because they turn native peoples into an "action figure.'' He questioned why they are the only depictions of people found in a museum with lots of exhibits on extinct animals.

"They don't have a place in this museum,'' he said.

The students also question the accuracy of the displays. One of the scenes, depicting life in the early 1600s, shows Native Americans outside during a winter thaw. Although the ground is white with snow, male figures have bare chests and women have bare arms.

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