NOTES

1. These conferences and symposia include “The Conservation of Sacred Objects,” general session papers, American Institute for Conservation 19th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, 1991; “First Peoples Art and Artifacts: Heritage and Conservation Issues,” professional papers presented at the Art Conservation Training Programs 18th Annual Conference, Kingston Ontario, 1992; “Native American Collections: Preserving Objects Versus Preserving Culture,” colloquium presented at Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 1994; “Caring for American Indian Cultural Materials: Policies and Practices,” symposium sponsored by Fashion Institute of Technology and the National Museum of the American Indian, New York, 1996; and “Critical Issues in the Conservation of Ethnographic Materials,” workshop presented at Canadian Association for Conservation of Cultural Property 24th Annual Conference, Whitehorse, Yukon, 1998.

2. We have found it best to consult with individual tribes and develop a continuing relationship, whenever possible.

REFERENCES

Barclay, R., M.Gilberg, J. C.McCawley, and T.Stone, eds.1986. Symposium '86: The care and preservation of ethnological materials. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Conservation Institute.

Bonar, E. H., D. Y.Begay, and K. E.Ash-Milby. 1996. Woven by the Grandmothers: Nineteenth-Century Navajo Textiles from the National Museum of the American Indian: Three perspectives on a museum project. Native Peoples Magazine9(4):36–42.

Bonar, E. H., ed.1996. Woven by the Grandmothers: Nineteenth-century Navajo textiles from the National Museum of the American Indian. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Clavir, M.1996. Reflections on changes in museums and the conservation of collections from indigenous peoples. Journal of the American Institute for Conservation35:99–107.

Hawks, C. A., and S. L.Williams. 1986. Arsenic in natural history collections. Leather Conservation News2(Spring):1–4.

Hedlund, A. L.1996. “More of survival than an art”: Comparing late nineteenth- and late twentieth-century lifeways and weaving. In Woven by the grandmothers: Nineteenth-century Navajo textiles from the National Museum of the American Indian, ed.E. H.Bonar. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. 47–67.

Kent, K. P.1985. Navajo weaving: Three centuries of change. Santa Fe: School of American Research.

Moses, J.1995. The conservator's approach to sacred art. Western Association for Art Conservators Newsletter17(3):18.

NMAI. 1992. National Museum of the American Indian collections policy. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution.

Sunny Side. Supplement1997. Ancestors. Sunny Side: Navajo Times 5(August):12–13.

Shebala, M.1997. Emotional reactions to Navajo rug exhibit. Navajo Times, August 14.

Wheat, J. B.1996. Navajo blankets. In Woven by the grandmothers: Nineteenth-century Navajo textiles from the National Museum of the American Indian, ed.E. H.Bonar. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. 69–85.

AUTHOR INFORMATION

SUSAN HEALD received a B.A. in chemistry and anthropology from George Washington University in 1985, and an M.S. in art conservation with a major in textiles and minor in objects from the University of Delaware/Winterthur Art Conservation Program in 1990. Following graduate school she was a postgraduate fellow at the Smithsonian Institution's Conservation Analytical Laboratory and the Cooper-Hewitt Museum. She served as textile conservator for the Minnesota Historical Society before joining the Conservation Department at the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, as textile conservator in 1994. Address: NMAI Cultural Research Center, 4220 Silver Hill Rd., Suitland, MD 20746; Heald@ic.si.edu

KATHLEEN E. ASH-MILBY, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and assistant curator at the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, received a B.A. in art history from the University of Washington in 1991 and an M.A. in art history with a specialization in Native American art history from the University of New Mexico in 1994. In 1993 she joined the NMAI Curatorial Department as a research assistant and also served as acting collections manager. Her work with the Woven by the Grandmothers project included formatting and condensing Wheat's analysis sheets for the publication's artifact list. Her research specialty is 20th-century and contemporary nontraditional Native American art. Address as for Heald; Kathleen@ic.si.edu

This article was originally presented as “Woven by the grandmothers: 24 blankets go back to visit the Navajo reservation,” General Session: Collaboration in the Visual Arts, at the American Institute for Conservation 24th Annual Meeting, Norfolk, Virginia, June 10–16, 1996.