Voices of a thousand people: the Makah Cultural and Research Center

Voices of a Thousand is the fascinating story of one Native community's decades of struggle to seize control of its past and preserve this heritage for generations to come. The remote northern tip of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington is the homeland of the Makahs, who call themselves Qwidicca-atx, 'the People Who Live by the Rocks and Seagulls'.Rich in ceremony, art, and tradition and nationally known for their revival of a whale hunting ceremony, the Makah people in recent decades have been particularly concerned about revitalizing their traditional culture and have made great strides teaching new generations the original language and the older traditions. Their efforts gained momentum with the opening of the Makah and Research Center in 1979. The centre not only houses archaeological and historical collections but also sponsors important educational and linguistic programs for the Makah community.Today, the fluency of Makah children in their native tongue has skyrocketed, and Makah culture and language classes have been institutionalized in the reservation's school system.Drawing on interviews and archival research, Patricia Pierce Erikson journeys from archaeological excavations to museum halls in order to tell the story of the Makahs and their museum. Examining in detail the historical and cultural foundations of the Makahs' revitalization of their heritage, Erikson shows how their past is currently re-imagined and promoted at the center. The curatorial voice of the museum is collective and indigenous, both new and traditional, emerging from and responding to local concerns more than nationalist sensibilities. Erikson's absorbing and timely study of how the Makah people took control of their past will provoke readers to reconsider the power of museums and their effects on Native communities. Patricia Pierce Erikson is an assistant professor of anthropology at Smith College. Her articles have appeared in Museum Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, Ethnohistory, and American Indian Culture and Research Journal.