Annual Members' Nights (and Day): Virtual Edition

The Museum will be temporarily closing starting Friday, Nov. 20th, but we are excited to bring Members' Nights online to share behind-the-scenes highlights!

This event, taking place from Thursday, November 19th to Saturday the 21st, is free for members, who can register here to attend any or all three sessions on Zoom. Check out the full schedule here.

Thursday's kick-off event will feature the Field's new President and CEO, Julian Siggers, PhD, and Gantz Family Collections Center Director Deborah Bekken, PhD, as they explore the Kish archaeological collection. Colleagues Jamie Kelly (Head of Anthropology Collections,) and Lisa Niziolek, PhD (Director of Government Affairs and Sponsored Programs) will also present.

Christopher Philipp, Regenstein Collections Manager, will join to discuss his work with the Marshallese community (a familiar topic to those who have been following us on pacificanthropology.org!) Chris provides more details below:

Contemporary Marshallese Collections.

In October of 2019, Regenstein Collections Manager Chris Philipp and exhibitions developer Ryan Schuessler traveled to Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. Philipp and Schuessler were successful in establishing new connections with the Marshallese community in Majuro and updated individuals and organizations regarding the Museum's new partnership with the Marshallese community in Enid, Oklahoma. They also presented on the co-curated display, newly opened on October 16, 2020 at the front of the Regenstein Halls of the Pacific and extended the invitation to co-curate the 250+ historical items in the collection along with 65 newly acquired contemporary objects during this outreach trip. Among the items acquired on the trip were 3 contemporary jaki-ed (JAH-ghee-ed) or fine woven mats that were received at the Museum in early 2020 with the help of Dr. Irene J. Tafaaki (formerly of the University of the South Pacific and current President of the College of the Marshall Islands) and Maria Kabua Fowler. These examples represent a revival in Marshallese weaving in recent years spearheaded by Tafaaki and Fowler, co-authors of Clothing Mats of the Marshall Islands: The History, The Culture, and the Weavers. These mats and a floor mat (jaki) in the display are central to the current exhibition in the Pacific Halls. The 5 Marshallese high-school co-curators had this to say about jaki:

The jaki is a hand-woven floor mat that can be found in nearly every Marshallese household. It is a place of rest, a symbol of identity, and a tool that connects us. As climate change devours our islands, many of us in the United States are losing a sense of our home and culture. Despite this, our families try hard to help us remember who we are. The Jaki helps us do just that.

In addition to the jaki-ed, Philipp and Schuessler brought back other contemporary handicrafts (animono) featured in the show like fans, head ornaments, necklaces and earrings and also acquired a model outrigger canoe made by Junior Thomas, a graduate of the Waan Aelõñ Majel (WAM - Canoes of the Marshall Islands) program which is “is committed to empowering young Marshallese men and women by giving them the skills they need to move forward into a sustainable and happy future.” WAM director Alson Kelen recounted his memories of the Field Museum’s collaboration with the Alele Museum in the Marshall Islands that occurred during the development of the permanent Pacific Halls over 30 years ago and resulted with the acquisition of the full size outrigger canoe currently on display:

The canoe that has been on display at the Field Museum was donated by Jinade of Jaluit Atoll. Alele museum at the time wanted to trade the canoe with a fiberglass boat, but Jinade wanted to have a canoe built out of plywood. Dennis Alessio of the Tole Mour was asked to build this canoe for Mr. Jinade, because Dennis was so fascinated with the Marshallese canoe, he said that he would only do it if they would document the process for the future generation. This was the beginning of the Waan Aelõñ Kein project. Waan Aelõñ Kein project documented several canoe sizes and designs from 6 atolls from Relik and Ratak. At the end, the project has built and documented two voyaging canoes, Walap In Enewetak which represented RMI in the 6th Festival of Pacific Arts, and Lanin Mentel which voyaged across Lolelaplap. This voyage was the first of its kind in over 100 years. [In] 1998, this project became Waan Aelõñ in Majel.

This canoe model, the jaki-ed, and selections of contemporary handicrafts will be on display along with other historical items in the front of the Regenstain Halls of the Pacific for the next 2 years as part of the Museum’s rotating gallery featuring co-curated exhibits with Pacific communities. We hope that, over time, more of the Museum’s space will be dedicated to this type of shared storytelling and continue to highlight the success of outreach, collaboration, and sharing among Pacific Islander communities both near and far and the Museum.