>> It's a gourd, and then the
gourd--
I do a lot of teaching,
as most academic museum
directors do.
I teach an anthropology and
museum studies, and
administrate the museum
studies program.
>> Lower jaws.
>> Lower jaws, yep.
Human do you think?
Yeah, they're definitely human.
>> How many jaws are on
the other side?
>> So there's five total right?
>> Five.
>> Yeah.
>> The interaction with bones
and human remains is often
a spiritual kind of thing.
It's often used in that kind
of ritualistic way.
>> Museums are places
of discovery, museums are
places of exploration,
museums are places where people
can sharpen their skills
in observation and
interpretation.
Coming back to Wisconsin was
very important too.
I'd done my graduate work at the
UW-Madison, and I worked for
several years at the state
historical society.
The museum is the only one
in Wisconsin that is entirely
dedicated to anthropology.
To some extent it's staggering,
so many pots, so many baskets
from all over the western
hemisphere.
It's kind of a 'wow' moment
for a lot of people.
We call it the cube.
It's a state of the art
visible storage system
that gives immediate access
to a big, big part
of our collection.
There's a lot of consultation
that goes on between the
museums and the tribes.
Repatriation is a huge part
of what we do.
Especially in terms of
human remains.
Many museums have
human skeletons that need
to go back to their source
communities.
It's an issue that
a lot of museums ignored
for many years, but there's
a Federal Law that's been
on the books for
about 25 years now,
that has forced museums
to consult a lot more regularly
with tribes than
they ever had before.
This is this pottery vessel
from Pierce County, Wisconsin,
excavated in the 1940s.
This is about 900 years old,
dates from about
1050 to 1100 A.D.
This little pottery vessel is
an Oneota pot,
a little jar from southeastern
Wisconsin, from Racine County.
The clay is mixed up
with crushed up clam shell.
It was very common in Wisconsin
during the period between
about 11 or 1200 A.D.
The Wisconsin material,
all the tribes have been
notified, the notices
have been published.
We've done the same for
North and South Dakota.
Probably be repatriating to the
tribes there.
Same with Florida, Arkansas.
We've got remains and material
from all over the continent.
Let me tell you about an object
that was repatriated.
There was a drum.
It was part of a sacred ceremony
called the dream dance.
Sometime in the early twentieth
century a collector bought one
of these drums from
the White Earth Ojibwes
in Minnesota.
We did a lot of documentation,
consultation with tribal
members and other experts.
And concluded that the person
who sold it to the collector
never had the authority
to do so in the first place.
The claim was valid.
It met all of the requirements
that the law sets out.
Eventually, it was returned,
and the tribe was very
thankful for it.
They're in the process now of,
essentially rebuilding it,
and making it useful for
ceremonies again.
More recently, right here
in the Beloit area,
we've been fortunate to receive
support from the Ho-Chunk nation
to try to find one of their
ancestral villages.
Right at the mouth
of Turtle Creek where
it flows into the Rock River.
There was a village
called KeChunk.
It used to be the largest
Ho-Chunk village.
At around 1830, 700 people
lived there.
And yet there is no trace of it
on the ground today.
The City of South Beloit,
the City of Beloit,
everyone thinks it would be
fantastic if we could find this
ancient village site.
Students here are involved
in every step.
They're indispensable.
In fact, they're the whole
reason the museum exists.
I get just a feeling of
satisfaction and accomplishment
that I've helped a student sort
of discover their own passions.
We've turned out more future
PhD's in anthropology than any
other liberal arts college.
I think a lot of that is because
of the museum resources and the
fact that they get so many
hands-on opportunities here.
I had always known how great
Beloit was in terms of
anthropology.
I said, oh, yeah, yeah.
I'd like to be part of that.