American Indian Culture and Research Journal

Of the Native cultural objects presently in personal and public collections, only a small percentage will be shared with descendants of the original creators or the general public. The majority of these objects will stay in storage until they disintegrate, but creating photographic representations provides ways of giving them new life. This article focuses on photographic representations of Native cultural objects as its own contemporary artistic practice. For tribes wishing to archive and advance their material culture, still life photographs are an easily distributable medium. We posit that this practice can complement the archiving and preserving needs of museums by facilitating continued knowledge preservation within Native communities.