The American Museum of Natural History’s iconic Hall of Northwest Coast Indians, which opened in 1900, is the oldest of all the Museum’s exhibition halls. It showcases the work of the legendary father of American anthropology, Franz Boas, and features a wide variety of collections representing the diversity of the Northwest Coast, including coastal Washington State, British Columbia, and southeast Alaska. At this year’s Margaret Mead Film Festival, we look back at the history of portraying Northwest Coast cultures on film and in exhibitions, while also recognizing how contemporary Northwest Coast communities are representing themselves.
Following Anishinaabe filmmaker Lisa Jackson’s moving film on these transformations, How a People Live, cultural leaders from that region will host a conversation on the critical issues facing various Northwest Coast communities, past, present, and future.