Kansas City Monuments Coalition Brings Speaker to Discuss Native Artifact Repatriation

  In the first of a series of lectures from KCMC, Author Stephen Aron presented Removal, Reparation, Reconciliation and Repatriation on Tuesday, Sep. 16 at the Kansas City Public Library’s Plaza Branch. 

  The coalition joined with UMKC’s Center for Digital and Public Humanities to present a discussion about Missouri’s history of forcefully removing Native Americans and how museums can help rebuild ties severed by that trauma. 

  “I gave all these other R words, but relevance would be the other one,” said Aron after the talk. “I hope that what I made clear was that this […] is premised on the idea of how important and relevant history is to understanding how we got to where we are.”

  KCMC is a 3 year initiative to fund various history projects happening around the metro and is funded by the Mellon Foundation. Examples include the lecture series, preservation projects like the work being done at the historic Banneker School in Parkville and more general projects like educating people about Kansas City’s Steptoe neighborhood. 

  “I think it’s very important to touch on not just the history…  but also what does this group of people have to say about their own community? And how could future historians work on centering those voices more,” said Natalie Anderson, a junior in the history program and Melon intern for KCMC speaking on Aron’s talk.

  The crowd at Aron’s lecture didn’t just include students, but also community members, some of whom were Native themselves. 

  There are currently no active Native American groups on campus, but there are other opportunities for residents of the area to explore Native culture.

  “Honestly, Haskell [Haskell Indian Nations University] does a phenomenal job,” said Kristin Zane, a retired engineer and member of the Wyandotte Nation of Kansas, who also attended Aron’s lecture. “They have a pow-wow when classes start in the spring and they’re very good about explaining, ‘This is this nation and their attire.’” 

  The coalition has a handful of other events scheduled for next month including a celebration of the 140th anniversary of the kilning of the Banneker School bricks and another speaker series about the Quintanilla murals in UMKC’s own Haag Hall. Details can be found here.

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