Whose Idea Was This?

Zuni principles value repetition as an affirmation of the continuity of knowledge, thereby challenging particular Euro-American notions of the “copy” as a devaluation of the “original.” Using examples from Zuni philosophy as well as scientific traditions in creating replicas, I examine overlaps and differences between Zuni and Euro-American approaches to the reproduction of knowledge. Contemporary Zuni concerns about controlling the reproduction of esoteric knowledge are explored here through the history of replicas made in the nineteenth century by anthropologists as well as the development of protocols for reproducing knowledge in the newly established Zuni tribal museum. These temporally situated transcultural encounters with and debates over the reproduction of knowledge are used to argue against the cross-cultural applicability of representational theories, as these are characteristically based on Euro-American postmodern notions of the instability of meaning between “copies” and “originals.”