Curator of American Indian Collections

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The Wisconsin Historical Society, founded in 1846, ranks as one of the largest, most active and diversified state historical societies in the nation. As both a state agency and a private membership organization, its mission is to help people connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories. At its core, the Society believes that increasing the public’s knowledge of history has profound societal, cultural, and economic benefit. The Society’s values are to Embrace a Spirit of Service, Engage our Expertise, Spark Enthusiasm, Cultivate Inclusion, Exceed Expectations, and Think Big and Grow with Purpose. Its collections, historic sites and museums, historic preservation office and extensive educational programs are focused on enriching and transforming lives through unparalleled access to history. WHS believes that increasing the public’s knowledge of history has profound societal, cultural, and economic benefit.

Sitting within the Curatorial Section of the Division of Library, Archives and Museum Collections, this role is responsible for content, collections development, and stewardship of artifact collections of the Society. The Curator applies working subject area knowledge in United States and Wisconsin history, material culture and public history, and works in-service to the state agency, including outreach and fostering knowledge in communities across Wisconsin to encourage documentation of cultural and social history throughout the State. The Curator works as a colleague on a team of curators developing overall storylines acknowledging multiple points of view.

A specialized function of the Curator of American Indian Collections is fostering acquisition and content methodologies for Indigenous perspectives, including: traditional ways of knowing; cultural revitalization; and contemporary culture. The Curator oversees the intellectual stewardship of American Indian collections at all WHS locations, including: inventories, research, cataloguing in Argus, online presence, and new acquisitions according to WHS procedures. The Curator of American Indian Collections provides leadership on exhibition and program methodologies, and stakeholder discussions for the new museum and ongoing projects across the Society. Serving as main point of contact and coordinator, the Curator schedules cultural maintenance and assesses cultural considerations for collections moves.

This position is in the role of the liaison for the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)—serving as the main external and internal point of contact responsible for scheduling and leading consultations with tribes and keeping detailed records. The Curator of American Indian Collections position entails extensive communications and coordination by phone, email, Zoom, and in-person with tribes and within WHS, to ensure the agency complies with NAGPRA, and provides attentive accommodation for consultations and collection inventory requests. This Curator is responsible for scheduling and leading consultations with tribes and keeping detailed records documenting all aspects of the NAGPRA process, including grant application requirements. The Curator will review pertinent records within the agency, compile cultural affiliation documents, and review site inventories to ensure NAGPRA-relevant materials are included. The Curator also updates records in Argus (in particular updates relating to burials, funerary objects, objects of cultural patrimony, sacred objects, and cultural maintenance).

The Curator is in a role of servant leadership, an active participant and colleague in sharing ideas and resources with culture keepers across the State of Wisconsin. This role actively solicits and builds relationships with tribal communities and culture keepers, to share resources and ideas to foster methodologies in public history that exemplify positive cultural exchange and tribal identities, including attentively listening to and incorporating multiple perspectives in collecting and content strategies while also serving as a resource, providing consultation and training in museum practices.

This role is also accountable to curatorial section’s long-term and immediate priorities, including cross-functional team projects that interpret larger themes in Wisconsin and North American history, and emergency response duties for collections care and public information services across the State.

Requirements
Minimally qualified candidate will have experience in ALL of the following:

Experience effectively working on a group cultural or history project involving multiple points of view.
Experience coordinating and implementing a cultural or history project involving complex scheduling, accommodating varying needs and requirements of group/s, multiple deliverables, and with exceptional attention to detail.
Knowledge of, by working experience or coursework, American Indian history and contemporary culture.

In addition to minimum qualifications, a well-qualified candidate will possess at least one of the following:

Experiencing using material culture to interpret American Indian history and contemporary culture, including a demonstrated ability to conceptualize, research, and write articles, interpretive museum exhibit materials, or online content.
Experience working with professional museum practices including collections management standards, and museum acquisitions procedures and policies.
Experience with computer programs used in a museum environment, such as collections databases (i.e. Argus, or equivalent).
Experience implementing provisions for Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act