Lost Objects, Hidden Stories: On the Ethnographic Collections Burned in the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 256-272
Author(s):  
Thiago Lopes da Costa Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous People ◽  
Rio De Janeiro ◽  
Religious Conversion ◽  
Brazilian Amazon ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Professional Commitment ◽  
National Museum ◽  
Museum Collections ◽  
Rio Negro ◽  
History Of

In this article, I take a close look at the objects collected over the last 200 years from the indigenous people of the Upper Rio Negro, northwest of the Brazilian Amazon, that were part of the ethnographic collection of the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro. Examination of these objects allows us to explore the main characteristics of the ethnographic archive of the museum, as the Upper Rio Negro collections were connected to different topics associated with indigenous societies and histories in Brazil, including enslavement, forced displacement, religious conversion, and indigenous territorial, artifactual, and cultural knowledge. This article also highlights the professional commitment of Brazilian anthropology to amplifying indigenous voices over the course of the history of the discipline, and by doing so, it pays homage to the women and men whose work built the National Museum collections.

scholarly journals Exhibiting the Nation: Indigenousness in Chile's National Museums

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-97
Author(s):  
Magdelena Gil
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Latin America ◽  
National Identity ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Fine Arts ◽  
National Museum ◽  
Indigenous Cultures ◽  
History Of ◽  
National Museums

This article describes the history of Chile’s national museums, focusing in particular on their exhibition of indigenous cultures. Three museums are considered: the National Museum of Natural History (originally the National Museum); the National Museum of Fine Arts; and the National Museum of History. Using museum catalogues, visitor’s guides and bulletins as sources, this research traces the role given to indigenousness in the museums’ exhibitions through time. Initially, the ‘Indian’ was presented as either part of the territory conquered by Chileans, or as not part of Chilean culture at all. By the twentieth century, however, a new narrative emerged which recognizes the indigenous people as the ‘pre-historic’ inhabitants of Chile. Most recently, a more complex narrative presents Chile as a blending of races and cultures. Overall, we see that today each museum continues to see nationhood as something that is monolithic, allowing little place for indigenous people beyond mestizaje (blending of ‘races’).Key words: indigenous, exhibitions, Latin America, national identity

scholarly journals CEREMONIAL TEXTILE IN XVII CENTURY: PEARL WORKS OF THE MOSCOW KREMLIN WORKSHOPS

2018 ◽  
pp. 74-78
Author(s):  
B. L. Shapiro
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
National Museum ◽  
Museum Collections ◽  
Material Source ◽  
Xvii Century ◽  
History Of ◽  
Made In ◽  
Royal Household

The article introduces the results of a study dedicated to the most spectacular textile in the royal household in the XVII century Russia – the heyday of Russian pearl works. This is the context for the study of the Moscow Kremlin pearl works kept in those days in the Royal Treasury and the Sacristy. Today these masterpieces are in the collection of the Armory Chamber. The analysis involves ceremonial wraps and various pearl covers. The research refines the series of secular and cult-ritual ceremonial textile of the XVII century, which was adorned with the pearl threading technique. The author identifies a range of such items located in the national museum collections. Much attention is paid to the specifics of ancient Russian pearl work. The emphasis is on one of the most valuable items made in this technique. It is the so-called «Blanket with Kingdoms» from the Royal Stables Treasury; the item was made at the beginning of the second quarter of the XVII century. According to the results of the analysis, the textiles with pearl works can be regarded as a significant material source on the history of the ceremonial culture of the late Russian Middle Ages.

scholarly journals Casa dos pássaros: local de preparação de material zoológico a ser enviado para Portugal

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 3-22
Author(s):  
José Mário D´Almeida ◽  
Regina Dantas
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Rio De Janeiro ◽  
History Of Biology ◽  
National Museum ◽  
Santa Catarina ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historia Natural

ResumoA Casa de História Natural, conhecida pela população do Rio de Janeiro como Casa dos Pássaros foi criada por pelo Vice-Rei D. Luis de Vasconcelos em 1784 e extinta em 1813 por D. João VI. Para conduzir os trabalhos nessa instituição, o Vice-Rei convidou um artista plástico catarinense conhecido por Xavier dos Pássaros que, apesar de autodidata, preparou excelente material zoológico para ser enviado para Portugal. Com essa pesquisa espera-se elucidar algumas dúvidas, se a Casa dos Pássaros foi realmente precursora do Museu Nacional, como também, o destino dado ao material zoológico preparado por Xavier dos Pássaros, após a extinção da Casa de História Natural.Palavras – Chave: História da Biologia; Museu Nacional; Rio de Janeiro.AbstractThe House of Natural History, known by the population of Rio de Janeiro as House of the Birds was created by the Lord-Lieutenant D. Luis de Vasconcelos in 1784 and extinguished in 1813 by D. João VI. In order to conduct the work in this institution, the Lord-Lieutenant invited a Santa Catarina artist known by Xavier dos Pássaros that, self-taught, prepared excellent zoological material to be sent to Portugal. With this research it is hoped to elucidate some doubts, if the House of the Birds was really precursor of the National Museum, as well as the destiny given to the zoological material prepared by Xavier dos Pássaros, after the extinction of the House of Natural History. Keywords: History of Biology; National Museum; Rio de Janeiro.

History of Turtle Exploitation and Management Techniques to Conserve Turtles in the Rio Negro Basin of the Brazilian Amazon

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larissa Schneider ◽  
Camila R. Ferrara ◽  
Richard C. Vogt ◽  
Joanna Burger
Keyword(s):  
Brazilian Amazon ◽  
Rio Negro ◽  
History Of ◽  
Management Techniques ◽  
Rio Negro Basin

The Jivaro shrunken heads from the National Museum , Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Authentic or Counterfeits?

2005 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheila Mendonça de Souza ◽  
Fatima Nascimento ◽  
Karl Jan Reinhard ◽  
Adauto Araújo
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Rio De Janeiro ◽  
Religious Conversion ◽  
National Museum ◽  
Spiritual Power ◽  
Pediculus Humanus ◽  
Adult Men ◽  
Cultural Details ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Feather Ornaments

The Jivaro people from Ecuador, Amazonia, skillfully mummified human heads by shrinking them to the size of a fist. The Jivaro became famous as the Amazonian headhunters. This mummification was practiced in the context of a ritual in which individuals developed more and more spiritual power supported by the submission of their enemy souls. In the original ritual the heads were discarded or “buried” in the rivers. Historical contacts and religious conversion prohibited the practice and only a few shrunken heads can be found in museums today. Six Jivaro shrunken heads, probably from adult men with ornaments including a Caucasian, are described in this presentation. Some of them date to the 19th century, and were acquired by the Brazilian emperor. The discovery of nits and eggs of Pediculus humanus in those mummified scalps makes their description still more interesting. Cultural details like feather ornaments, hair styles, cordage, and other characteristics are discussed

Peering Beyond the Imperial Gaze: Using Digital Tools to Construct a Spatial History of Conquest

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy M. Mikecz
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous People ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Spanish Conquest ◽  
Digital Maps ◽  
Spatial History ◽  
Colonial Texts ◽  
History Of ◽  
Spatial Narrative

Ethnohistorians and other scholars have long noted how European colonial texts often concealed the presence and participation of indigenous peoples in New World conquests. This scholarship has examined how European sources (both texts and maps) have denied indigenous history, omitted indigenous presence, elided indigenous agency, and ignored indigenous spaces all while exaggerating their own power and importance. These works provide examples of colonial authors performing these erasures, often as a means to dispossess. What they lack, however, is a systematic means of identifying, locating, and measuring these silences in space and time. This article proposes a spatial history methodology which can make visible, as well as measurable and quantifiable the ways in which indigenous people and spaces have been erased by colonial narratives. It presents two methods for doing this. First, narrative analysis and geovisualization are used to deconstruct the imperial histories found in colonial European sources. Second it combines text with maps to tell a new (spatial) narrative of conquest. This new narrative reconstructs indigenous activity through a variety of digital maps, including ‘mood maps’, indigenous activity maps, and maps of indigenous aid. The resulting spatial narrative shows the Spanish conquest of Peru was never inevitable and was dependent on the constant aid of immense numbers of indigenous people.

Med. Dr. Adalbert Wraný (1836–1902) – doctor of medicine, mineral collector and donor to the National Museum in Prague

2019 ◽  
Vol 188 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-146
Author(s):  
Martin Bohatý ◽  
Dalibor Velebil
Keyword(s):  
Natural Science ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
The Other ◽  
National Museum ◽  
Industrial Chemistry ◽  
Pediatric Pathology ◽  
Geological Institute ◽  
History Of ◽  
Precious Stones

Adalbert Wraný (*1836, †1902) was a doctor of medicine, with his primary specialization in pediatric pathology, and was also one of the founders of microscopic and chemical diagnostics. He was interested in natural sciences, chemistry, botany, paleontology and above all mineralogy. He wrote two books, one on the development of mineralogical research in Bohemia (1896), and the other on the history of industrial chemistry in Bohemia (1902). Wraný also assembled several natural science collections. During his lifetime, he gave to the National Museum large collections of rocks, a collection of cut precious stones and his library. He donated a collection of fossils to the Geological Institute of the Czech University (now Charles University). He was an inspector of the mineralogical collection of the National Museum. After his death, he bequeathed to the National Museum his collection of minerals and the rest of the gemstone collection. He donated paintings to the Prague City Museum, and other property to the Klar Institute of the Blind in Prague. The National Museum’s collection currently contains 4 325 samples of minerals, as well as 21 meteorites and several hundred cut precious stones from Wraný’s collection.

Age, Religion, and Taboos Influence Subsistence Hunting by Indigenous People of the Lower Madeira River, Brazilian Amazon

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 131
Author(s):  
Simon B. Knoop ◽  
Thais Q. Morcatty ◽  
Hani R. El Bizri ◽  
Susan M. Cheyne
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous People ◽  
Brazilian Amazon ◽  
Subsistence Hunting ◽  
Madeira River
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