The introduction to A History of the World in 1000 Objects got me thinking about a lot of different things: how much of history will never be discovered? How much of history have we wrongly interpreted? Does it matter that it was incorrectly interpreted?
One aspect of the introduction that caught my eye (and my brain) was the notion of whose story gets told. Now, I’ve certainly heard before the the victor writes history. Yet, when MacGregor writes, “Those who are on the losing side, those whose societies are conquered or destroyed, often have only their things to tell their stories,” he encouraged me to think about the destruction of the Native American culture in the United States and what objects of theirs we have left.
Certainly we’re aware of remnants of Native American culture. I remember learning about longhouses and teepees in sixth grade Global History; I’ve never forgotten the “papoose,” what certain Native American women used to carry around their babies, and I’ve seen photos of their pottery. I’m sure you can still purchase pottery, dream catchers, and moccasins made by descendants of the Native American tribes.
But you can also purchase them at chain stores such as Urban Outfitters or Forever 21. You can buy Native American print clothing at the mall, dream catchers as a kitchy souvenir from a cowboys and Indians ride, or a Native American costume to wear on Halloween. Our modern culture has not so much preserved their objects as appropriated them for modern use without a single nod in the direction of the culture from which they once hailed.
For those interested, you can read this article in Time Magazine about the current law suit between the Navajo Indians and Urban Outfitters: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/10/12/urban-outfitters-taken-to-task-for-faux-navajo-products/
Being tasked with the preservation and the promotion of a historical object of New Paltz, I am determined to keep this in mind as I write my report: it is important that we treat each culture in which our objects were born as equally important as our own culture today. I think it is easy to look back on historical objects and observe them in comparison to our culture, and I believe very valid ideas can be drawn from this kind of reflection. But it is also necessary to put our culture aside to fully understand each object and its origins, to truly appreciate where, when, why, and how each object was created. We must always strive for a balance between preservation and promotion, and annihilation through appropriation.
The Materials of History, Thought, and Art 
Great, engaging post on the (excuse my language) bastardization of cultures through how objects are presented and commercialized. The teepees and wigwams also made me think about how Western history, even more so than buries the memories of the losers, creates aliens and beasts out of people and labels complex societies as “primitive” for holding different beliefs or harnessing different technological and architectural advancements. I’m going to read the Time Magazine article too, once I am done with this comment.
I really enjoyed reading your post Stephanie and I liked how you brought up the way in which our society preserves the Native American culture through objects. It’s funny, for some reason I feel my elementary school neglected teaching about the Native Americans because I remember nothing about them…but maybe that’s just my bad memory who knows. However I totally agree that the Native American culture like so many other cultures/religions, has been used as a model for a fashion statement or accessory in our fairly materialistic society. I also agree that American society has failed to preserve the true significance of the object but at the same time I would not be so quick to state that there is not a “single nod in the direction of the culture from which they once hailed”. This idea for me relates to the controversy that discusses the appropriate ways in which one can display the Holocaust; is it right to create a comedy that represents the Holocaust? It also relates to clothing/material that has sentimental religious messages on it; is it right for it to be represented on a casual T-shirt? I feel like this inevitably can have a positive effect on a person because it gives them an excuse to learn about a subject that they may be unaware of. I feel any form of displaying a message or an object once was important to another culture/religion is okay as long as the person wearing it has an understanding its background and can discuss it if need be. Thus, if a person’s going to have a dream-catcher from Urban Outfitters in their room or moccasins from Forever 21, to be respectful, he should know the derivation of the object. Of course, this is in my ideal world and realistically I know a lot of us do not do that (myself being the first example!). But maybe we can think about that next time we purchase an item that we think has a deeper cultural/religious significance to it.
Steph, your first few questions remind me of something I was reading for my Storytelling and Culture class. It said that many traditions in some Native American cultures are not shared with people outside of their culture because they are afraid it will be misinterpreted and used in a way that it shouldn’t be. But, at the same time, the youth of the culture aren’t fully absorbed into this Native American culture, and therefore as the elderly are dying, many traditions within Native American tribes are being lost. This was so sad to me. I feel like it would be better for the tradition to be incorrectly interpreted than for it to be lost forever. But I can see both sides of the argument.
The other interesting thing about history being misinterpreted is that it depends on who you are hearing it from. The way certain events happen in history are different in my American textbooks than in British history books that my parents have! Either way, we have the general story of what happened, and I think that is the most important thing since we will never be able to know what really happened anyway. Technology has definitely changed this though. Now, there is proof of EVERYTHING. I don’t think history will be lost/misinterpreted anymore.