ANU Spaces - Jodie Dowd

Meet Jodie Dowd, an ANU student who is studying her Masters of Museum and Heritage Studies (Museums and Collections) at ANU.

Jodie undertook an internship with the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian from June-August in 2016. She was the first Indigenous Australian to be a Collection Management intern at the Museum. 

Jodie, congratulations on the internship firstly. Can you tell us how you landed this gig at one of the world's most prestigious museums?

Thank you! The National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) is an incredible museum and I was so blessed to be able to intern there last year. I had visited the NMAI in New York City during a holiday to the USA in October 2014 and fell in love with how this museum focused on Indigenous voices when telling the histories and presenting cultures of Indigenous peoples in the Americas. Since that visit, I had been planning to return to the USA to learn more about the First Peoples there. As part of the Masters program at ANU students are able to undertake two internships that count as credit towards their degree so I used this opportunity to intern at the NMAI.

Due to its reputation, the Smithsonian Institution internship programs are very competitive especially during the US Summer session. There are 19 museums, nine research centres, numerous libraries, and a national zoo that make up the Smithsonian Institution, each of which have their own internship program requirements. I began doing research about the background of the NMAI and its internship program in late 2015, and started writing my application in early 2016 two months before the applications were due. One of the major application requirements was to write a two-page letter answering three set questions - I rewrote this letter at least 10 times before submitting my application in February 2016. Out of over 300 applicants, I was one of 19 who were offered an internship at the NMAI during the USA Summer of 2016.

Given your area of study, you obviously like working with collections in museums. Tell us a little about this area of interest?

There is a contested history of collections in museums, which is associated with the collection of historic objects originally belonging to Indigenous peoples and the removal of Ancestral remains, from first contact onwards. Once placed in museums, objects and the associated historic records of these collections would often have gaps, as Indigenous knowledge was very rarely recorded to explain the cultural significance and function of the objects. I am particularly passionate about working with Indigenous collections to include Indigenous knowledge around the cultural care of objects, while using my practical skills to make the objects within these collections more accessible to both Indigenous communities and the public.

Museums such as the NMAI actively involve Indigenous people with the interpretation of objects, for example, Indigenous knowledge is highlighted alongside both historic and contemporary objects, photographs and text in exhibitions at the NMAI. The NMAI are also a leader in incorporating Indigenous knowledge systems with the care of objects within museum collections. The purpose-built storage facility known as the Cultural Resource Centre was developed through consultation with Indigenous communities in the Americas and incorporates both Western museum practices with Indigenous knowledge to care for the museum collection of 800,000+ objects.

As we previously mentioned, you are an Indigenous Australian, so how special was it to work with Indigenous people from the US while on internship at the Museum of the American Indian?

Right from the start I was welcomed with open arms and accepted by NMAI staff, fellows and interns - the majority of who had never met an Australian before, let alone an Indigenous Australian. During my time there I learnt that, like Australia, Indigenous culture in South, Central and North America is incredibly diverse between peoples, groups and traditional countries. It was a blessing to be able to learn some of the many different and beautiful cultural beliefs and practices from my Indigenous friends and colleagues, and I was able to share my stories and cultural practices in return.

Over the 10-week placement I was blessed to form deep connections with Indigenous staff, interns and visitors who I worked alongside. I highly value the trust, respect and understanding that my friends gave me when I was made privy to cultural information and personal stories. There is something incredibly special about being amongst other Indigenous peoples - there is a sense of familiarity, mutual understanding, and care. Even though I was on the other side of the world, when I was with my friends at the NMAI it felt like I was home. I aim to go back there - to my other home - later this year.

If you had to choose one favourite thing from your 10 weeks at the Smithsonian, what would it be and why?

The whole experience was a dream: living and working in Washington DC where I walked along the tree-lined boulevard of the national mall each day; sharing stories, laughs and potlucks with my friends and colleagues; handling and caring for cultural objects that Native American Ancestors had created hundreds of years ago; participating in cultural events; attending my first baseball game and seeing the fourth of July fireworks light up the national mall; being Welcomed to Country and introduced to Ancestors at a Piscataway sacred site by one of the Traditional Owners... I cannot choose just one favourite thing from my 10 weeks at the NMAI as each experience was unique and special and beautiful in its own right.

However, as I reflect over my journey last year, my favourite thing now is the memories that I created with my beautiful group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous friends that I met at the NMAI. Each treasured memory reminds me of why I continue to work in the cultural heritage field and why I decided to complete my MA: to preserve the important link between knowledge, culture and people; to reconnect these objects with descendants of the makers; and to share these diverse histories and stories. I hope that my experience inspires at least one person to learn the histories and culture of Indigenous peoples in the Americas and Australia.

Read more about Jodie's internship experience via her blog on the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) website.