Making History: IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts,

University of New Mexico Press (2020) The Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA) Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), Santa Fe, New Mexico
Cover Art: Bill Soza War Soldier, Self Portrait, Painting, Oil on Canvas, 1968, IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MS - 22).
University of New Mexico Press
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Senior Editor Nancy Marie Mithlo, Ph.D.

Contributing authors: Robert Martin, Ph.D. President, Institute of American Indian Arts Tatiana Lomahaftewa Singer, B.A. Curator of Collections IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts Ryan Flahive, M.A. IAIA Archivist Chapter contributors: David Wade Chambers, Ph.D. IAIA Emeritus Native Eyes Director Charles Dailey, B.A. IAIA Emeritus Museum Studies faculty Lara Evans, Ph.D. Professor Art History, Institute of American Indian Arts Stephen Fadden, M.A. Programming Director, Poeh Cultural Center Nancy Marie Mithlo, Ph.D. Professor of Gender Studies, UCLA Suzanne Newman Fricke, Ph.D. Adjunct Professor of Art History, IAIA Patsy Phillips, M.A. Director, Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, IAIA John Paul Rangel, Ph.D. Creative Director, Asphalt Apache Design Jessie Ryker-Crawford, Ph.D. IAIA Professor of Museum Studies, IAIA Dave Warren, Ph.D. IAIA Emeritus Cultural Research and Resource Development Center Director Poems: Alex Jacobs, B.F.A. Elizabeth Woody, M.P.A.

The group that generously agreed to participate in this project collectively wished to make an educational resource for learning about Native arts that did not alienate American Indian students. We wanted to provide educational material in a form that reflected Indigenous knowledge systems – holistic, embracive and free of jargon. Even small details such as the use of “we” or “us” were examined throughout to ensure that readers would be excited by the information provided, feel welcomed and spoken to, not about. The Indigenous studies approach pursued does not follow strictly chronological or regional premises, but rather seeks out “defining moments of conflict” in the history of Native North American arts.

Making History: IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, specifically foregrounds the ideas and works that emerge from the IAIA experience in an effort to highlight the often unknown histories of this central resource for Native arts production, teaching, and research. In planning the manuscript, we referenced our desired approach to guiding readers as creating “embedded conversations.” Conversations here connotes a dialectical give and take. Readers should imagine a guide walking a visitor through familiar territory, taking pains not to alienate or lose the guest while also pointing out amazing vistas.