ABSTRACT

Many Indigenous communities in North America develop tribal museums to

preserve and control tribal knowledge and heritage and counteract negative effects
of colonization. Tribal museums employ many Indigenous strategies related to
Indigenous languages, knowledges, and material heritage. I argue that architecture
can be an Indigenous strategy, too, by privileging Indigeneity through design
processes, accommodating Indigenous activities, and representing Indigenous
identities. Yet it is not clear how to design culturally appropriate Indigenous
architectures meeting needs of contemporary Indigenous communities. Because few
Indigenous people are architects, most tribal communities hire designers from
outside of their communities. Fundamental differences challenge both Indigenous
clients and their architects. How do Indigenous clients and their designers overcome
these challenges? This dissertation is a history of the processes of creating a tribal
museum, The Museum At Warm Springs, on the Confederated Tribes of the Warm
Springs Reservation of Oregon. The focus is to understand what critical activities
Tribal members, designers, and others did to create a museum whose architecture
represents and serves its community. The study also considers how people did
things so as to honor Indigenous traditions. Design and construction processes are
considered along with strategies that Tribal members and their advocates used to
get to where they were prepared to design and build a museum. Interviews with
Tribal members, designers, and others were central sources for the research. Other
sources include meeting minutes, correspondence, Tribal resolutions, and the Tribal
newspaper. Visual sources ii such as drawings, photographs, and the museum itself
were significant sources also. This study revealed several key activities that the
Confederated Tribes did to position themselves to build the museum. They built an
outstanding collection of Tribal artifacts, created and supported a museum society,
and hired an outstanding executive director. The Tribes selected and secured a
viable site and persisted in finding an architect who met their needs. Collaboration—
within the interdisciplinary design team and between designers and Tribal members
and contractors—was key. Tribal members shared cultural knowledge with designers
who adapted to Indigenous modes of communication. Designers were sensitive to
the landscape and committed to representing the Tribes and their world
1.2 Background and Research Problem
The Museum At Warm Springs is one of approximately 200 tribal museums and
cultural centers established by Indigenous communities within the United States.1
Indigenous communities develop tribal museums and cultural centers for a variety of
reasons, but in most cases, these are related to preservation and control of
Indigenous knowledge and heritage in the face of social issues precipitated by
colonization and US government policy. The architecture of new tribal museums
often appears to represent and constitute the Indigenous identity of its respective
tribal community. Yet it is not clear how to design architectures that represent
contemporary Indigenous communities. Although historical forms may have some
cultural relevance, they do not necessarily represent who an Indigenous group is
today and they are unlikely to accommodate contemporary building programs.
Because so few Indigenous people are architects, most tribal communities hire
architects and other design professionals from outside of their communities.
Fundamental ontological, epistemological, and communication differences often
challenge both Indigenous clients and their architects. How do tribal members and
their designers overcome these challenges?
1.3 Research Focus
This dissertation examines processes related to creating a tribal museum. It
considers how these processes privilege Indigenous people and their traditional
ways of doing things. The focus is to understand what critical activities tribal
members, designers, and others did to create a museum whose architecture 1 The
National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) estimated a total of 236 tribal
museums in the US whereas “one experienced Smithsonian professional” estimated
150- 175. George H. J. Abrams, Tribal Museums in America (Nashville, TN: The
American Association for State and Local History, 2003). 3 represents and serves
the associated community. The study also considers how things were done so as to
honor Indigenous traditions through the processes themselves. Design and
construction processes are considered along with strategies that Tribal members
and their advocates used to get to the point that they were prepared to design and
build a museum. This investigation is a history of the processes of creating a single
building, The Museum At Warm Springs on the Confederated Tribes of the Warm
Springs Reservation of Oregon. The museum is celebrated for its architecture,
extensive collection of Tribal artifacts, and exhibit design. The most significant
sources for the study are twenty-four interviews of Tribal clients, designers, and
others. Additional sources are drawings, photographs, videos, archival texts, Tribal
publications, outside publications, and the museum itself.
Indigenous Architectures
This history of creating The Museum at Warm Springs demonstrates how
architectural processes can privilege Indigenous people and their traditions, even
when designers are not members of an Indigenous community.
Yet tribal museums and cultural centers are not just about material heritage. They
also preserve intangible heritage and one way they do so is by passing it on to
younger tribal members. Tribal museums also disseminate some traditional
knowledge to outsiders to counteract misconceptions about Indigenous peoples.
Tribal museums and cultural centers privilege Indigenous ways of being and
thinking, values, modes of communication, languages, skills, and arts. Tribal
museums, as places that house tribal heirlooms and accommodate transmission of
tribal knowledge through storytelling, are often symbols of their communities. For this
reason, the architecture of a tribal museum, representing the Indigenous identity of
its respective tribal community, is important. Although many anthropologists have
written about tribal museums, the architecture of tribal museums has not been the
focus of these studies. In telling the story of various processes of creating the
museum, including design and construction, this dissertation contributes to the
discourse on tribal museums.
architecture can be an Indigenous strategy by privileging Indigenous traditions
through design processes, accommodating Indigenous activities, and projecting
Indigenous identities through architectural expression.
Tribal museums disseminate knowledge to outsiders to counteract misconceptions
about Indigenous people, yet they restrict certain knowledge too.
goals of tribal museums are “to preserve and transmit languages and oral traditions,
arts and crafts skills, knowledge of traditional uses of plants and land, and traditional
religious practices.
Tribal museums and cultural centers provide interior and exterior spaces that
accommodate activities that strengthen Indigenous identity. Architectural design
shapes peoples’ behavior in those spaces. Symbolic architectural expression can
communicate tribal identity. Architectural processes that engage tribal members can
privilege Indigenous perspectives and styles of communication.

Indigenous Architecture: Envisioning, Designing, and Building

The Museum At Warm Springs
by Anne Lawrason Marshall
A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy