Seventeenth International Conference on the Inclusive Museum

Abstract

National parks in the US have routinely relied on European “discovery” or “settler” narratives to frame park histories. Current efforts to include Native American or Indigenous perspectives and histories attempt to resituate, broaden and reframe the interpretive context and experience for visitors. This paper reports on some of these efforts with a particular focus on one small national park–Effigy Mounds National Monument–where efforts to reframe the visitor experience include going beyond the archaeological record to also include Indigenous perspectives on the park’s ancient burial mounds.