Native Voices at the Autry

Native Voices at the Autry
Name	Native Voices at the Autry
Established	1992
Location	Griffith Park, Los Angeles, California
Type	Indigenous art and health museum
Director	Anne (placeholder)

Native Voices at the Autry is an Indigenous-centered program and museum within the Autry Museum of the American West in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, California. It documents and presents Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian art, health, and lifeways through exhibitions, oral histories, and public programs. The program has engaged with tribal leaders, artists, scholars, and institutions to foreground Indigenous perspectives in museum practice.

History

Founded in the early 1990s, the program grew alongside institutions such as the Autry Museum of the American West, the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center, and networks including the Smithsonian Institution and the National Museum of the American Indian. Early collaborations involved tribal nations like the Gabrieleño-Tongva, Chumash, Yurok, Hopi, and Navajo Nation and cultural leaders such as Vine Deloria Jr., Wilma Mankiller, and Sacheen Littlefeather. Funding and support derived from entities like the Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Getty Foundation. Over successive decades, the program amplified voices connected to events such as the Trail of Tears remembrances, repatriation dialogues under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and contemporary movements associated with Standing Rock and the International Indian Treaty Council.

Collections and Exhibits

The collections include visual art, multimedia, and archival oral histories created by artists and leaders such as Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, T.C. Cannon, Benny Andrews, Marie Watt, and Raven Chacon. Exhibitions have featured works linking histories of contact with artifacts similar to those in the collections of the Field Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Denver Art Museum. Rotating installations have highlighted basketry traditions from the Pomo, beadwork from the Lakota, carving from the Haida, and textile arts associated with Navajo rug weaving and artists like Lynn Okamoto (where applicable). Multimedia components draw on interviews with health advocates such as Charles Eastman, scholars like N. Scott Momaday, and storytellers comparable to Leslie Marmon Silko; these recordings complement materials from film archives like the Library of Congress and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences collections. Special exhibits have paired contemporary painters with historic objects from the Autry Museum of the American West and loans from tribal museums such as the Heard Museum and the Hammer Museum.

Education and Public Programs

Public programming has included artist residencies featuring makers similar to Jaune Quick-to-See Smith and Benny Andrews, speaker series with authors like Louise Erdrich, Sherman Alexie, and Thomas King, and panel discussions involving health professionals connected to institutions like the Indian Health Service and academic partners such as University of California, Los Angeles and University of Arizona. Youth outreach has collaborated with organizations like First Nations Development Institute and schools within the Los Angeles Unified School District to present curricula that parallel initiatives at the National Museum of the American Indian and the Autry Museum of the American West. Film screenings have showcased filmmakers such as Chris Eyre, Sterlin Harjo, and Zoe Samudzi alongside festivals like the Los Angeles Film Festival and the Native American Film + Video Festival.

Research and Collaborations

Research programs partner with universities and cultural institutions including University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, Harvard University (especially projects linked to the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology), and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. Collaborations have extended to tribal historic preservation offices of the Cherokee Nation, Choctaw Nation, and Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes as well as international exchanges with the Māori cultural institutions in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Projects have covered topics from traditional ecological knowledge associated with figures like Robin Wall Kimmerer to public health initiatives aligned with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and community-based research practices advocated by scholars such as Linda Tuhiwai Smith.

Architecture and Campus

Situated on the Autry campus in Griffith Park, the program occupies gallery and educational spaces alongside the Autry Museum of the American West exhibitions and archives. The campus context links to nearby cultural landmarks such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Hollywood Bowl, and the Griffith Observatory. Building design and gallery layouts reflect collaborative input similar to projects with the Getty Conservation Institute and architectural partnerships resembling work by firms that have collaborated with museums like the Smithsonian Institution Building and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

Recognition and Impact

The program has received awards and recognition from organizations including the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the California Arts Council. Its impact is visible in enhanced museum practices at institutions such as the National Museum of the American Indian, the Heard Museum, the Peabody Essex Museum, and civic dialogues influenced by leaders like Winona LaDuke and Deb Haaland. The program’s oral histories and exhibitions continue to inform scholarship published in journals associated with University of California Press, Oxford University Press, and collaborations with curators from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Category:Museums in Los Angeles