The Milwaukee Public Museum has no plans to move the pow wow stage to a new building

Like many Milwaukee-area schoolchildren who went on field trips to the city’s first public museum, Jennifer Forecki was fascinated by the dozens of lifelike models of the Native American pow-wow scene.

But unlike his colleagues, Forecki could boast that he was one of the role models. Descendant of the White Earth Ojibwe Nation, she was 6 years old when her likeness was captured for the exhibit that opened to the public in 1993.

“Growing up, it was always my asset to other little kids to say, ‘Hey, I’m in the museum,’ and explain why,” she said. “I was a famous ‘little kid’, which was a lot of fun.”

Today, Forecki is part of a committee of mostly Milwaukee-area natives trying to save the exhibit after museum officials announced it would not be part of the new museum building scheduled to open in 2027. Museum officials said that they will only bring two of them. the 37 pow wow models to the new museum.

It’s not yet clear what saving the exhibit would look like, but it could include splitting it into multiple exhibits in multiple locations.

“We’re working diligently to find a new home for the exhibit because (museum officials) were going to put it in storage,” said Carol Amour, who helped organize the committee.

Amour is not Native, but her late husband, George Amour of the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe Nation in northern Wisconsin, is one of the models in the pow wow exhibit.

Many on the committee hoped that the modern pow wow exhibit — created in collaboration with Native people — would continue to be displayed in the museum’s new home.

“At first, there was a little bit of resentment and anger, but we realized that’s the Native relationship with museums a lot of times,” said Paul Smith, a committee member and member of the Oneida Nation. “We have to move on. We can’t always let museums define us. It’s in our hands now.”

Innovative exhibition presents indigenous peoples today

The pow wow scene is the centerpiece of the “A Tribute to Survival” exhibit and features life-size figures modeled after real Wisconsin natives, dressed in their finest regalia, dancing during the “grand entrance.”

It presents indigenous peoples as they are today, which was revolutionary for museums at the time.

“For me, growing up in Milwaukee, it kind of gave us a voice,” Smith said. “Everyone there was part of my childhood being mentors and role models. It was really great for me growing up and now I get to share that with my son.”

He said it’s surprising how a visitor can look at the modern pow-wow scene and then turn around and see the buffalo exhibit that shows how indigenous peoples lived.

The buffalo scene was typical of many museums in the country, featuring only the indigenous peoples of the past. Tribal members say they left visitors with the impression that indigenous peoples were only in the past. The modern pow wow scene has helped change that perception.

“It made people realize that we’re not just a historical group of people and that we’re still here,” said Deanna Porter, a committee member and descendant of the White Earth Ojibwe Nation. “We are resilient and relevant. It’s a great educational tool, especially for non-native people to see.”

Amour said the exhibit was one of the first major museum exhibits in the country to work in collaboration with Indigenous people, rather than just being about Indigenous people.

“That was a big thing at the time,” said Diane Amour, a committee member and Carol Amour’s sister-in-law. “Museums had exhibits about us, but they didn’t include us in their making.”

In a statement, museum officials said tribal members “were involved in every aspect of the exhibition’s creation, from serving as models for the life-cast figures, to creating regalia for the dancers, to writing the labels, choosing collection objects and planning . its great opening.”

The exhibit could be shared among Wisconsin tribal museums and institutions

Museum officials said none of the exhibits from the current museum will be brought into the new building exactly as it is.

“Rather, elements of the current exhibits will be refreshed and reimagined in thoughtful and engaging ways for future museum exhibits,” officials said in a statement.

They said they plan to incorporate at least two of the figures from the current pow wow scene into a future area of the new museum: “The Winifred and Spencer Kellogg Gallery: The Wisconsin Journey.”

“This exhibit continues to serve as a model for working with communities of origin and provides an authentic representation that still creates a positive impact on visitors, especially tribal members,” museum officials said in a statement.

The 37 pow wow models sit on a turntable that once moved in a circle but now doesn’t move due to mechanical issues.

It is surrounded by exhibits of artifacts from the past. Many artifacts have recently been removed; in their place are signs that the piece was removed to comply with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Museums across the country must comply with the act and return stolen or excavated artifacts to tribes to their rightful owners.

More: The Milwaukee Public Museum houses 1,600 Native American remains. Will they be returned to their tribes?

More: Wisconsin museums must comply with new federal rules regarding certain tribal artifacts

Carol Amour said one idea is to split the remaining pieces of the exhibit, which also includes dozens of informational panels about treaty rights and survival, into multiple exhibits at tribal institutions around the country, such as tribal museums and libraries on reservations.

“The museum will give us all the figures that can’t find a home,” she said. “One goes to the veterans museum in Madison. Some of the models’ loved ones who are no longer with us don’t want the models on display, so they go to their families.”

Visitors will then be encouraged to travel to these places on a circuit of tribal reservations.

Putting it all together will be a documentary, Amour said, which should be completed by July 2026.

Frank Vaisvilas is a former Report for America staff member covering Native American issues in Wisconsin based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact him at [email protected] or 815-260-2262. Follow him further Twitter TO @vaisvilas_frank.

The Milwaukee Public Museum has no plans to move the pow wow stage to a new building

Innovative exhibition presents indigenous peoples today

The exhibit could be shared among Wisconsin tribal museums and institutions

By Matthew. Jr

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The Milwaukee Public Museum has no plans to move the pow wow stage to a new building

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