Jan Bernstein, University of Denver Museum of Anthropology, Denver, CO
Bobbie Ferguson, Bureau of Reclamation, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO
Nancy Pearson and Bob Blasing, Bureau of Reclamation, Grand Island, NE

The University of Denver Museum of Anthropology (DUMA) (hotlink to: http//www.du.edu/duma) and the United States Bureau of Reclamation (hotlink to their web site) have joined forces to curate the collections made during the River Basin Survey Projects that are housed in DUMA. Responsibility for these lands changed over the years and it was difficult for DUMA to determine which agencies were responsible for the collections. Finally, the Bureau stepped forward and a new partnership was formed. The Nebraska-Kansas Area Office (NKAO) facilitated the funding of a proposal that DUMA submitted to the Bureau for the curation of the collections under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Colorado Area Office.

Bob Blasing, Area Archaeologist, Bureau of Reclamation NKAO, had been contact with DUMA on and off for years, but it wasn't until Jan Bernstein, DUMA's Collections Manager, met with Bureau of Reclamation people at the First Partnership Conference that the ball really go rolling.

Nancy Pearson, Archaeologist, NKAO, visited DUMA to evaluate the storage environment and curatorial practices. She reported on her findings and worked with DUMA in the development of a cooperative agreement. The agreement supports a project which has allowed DUMA to hire two part-time curatorial assistants who are cataloguing, marking, labeling, computerizing, and rehousing the artifacts.

Bobbie Ferguson, Senior Technical Specialist for Cultural Resources, at the Bureau's Denver office, arranged for DUMA to have a National Council for Preservation Education (hotlink to http://www.ncpe.org) Intern during the summer of 1998. The intern was paid through the NCPE and the Bureau helped DUMA purchase archival supplies so that the intern could start to identify, catalogue, mark, label, computerize, and rehouse the artifacts collected during the River Basin Survey Projects.

Outline:

Sue Thorsen, Curator, Sitka National Historical Park, National Park Service, Sitka, AK

- Sitka National Historical Park - few acres, much history, partnerships with Tlingit clan houses and Russian
  Orthodox Church span thirty years.
- Park commemorates: Tlingit culture, past and present
- Russian occupation of Alaska
- Interaction of these two cultures
- Park curates: Archives, oral history tapes, historical photos, herbarium collections
- Russian American archaeological collections, historical furnishings, wallpaper, architectural fragments, books
- Russian Orthodox religious objects
- Tlingit & Haida totem poles
- Tlingit ethnographic items
- Partnerships benefit park and partner:
- Southeast Alaska Indian Cultural Center
- Independent, incorporated organization of Tlingit located at and partially funded by the park
- Mission to perpetuate Native culture of SE Alaska through art
- Hire Native artists who demonstrate, teach culture through art
- Russian Bishop's House - National Historic Landmark
- Furnishings include Russian Orthodox religious objects on loan from Russian Orthodox Church
- Agreement - these objects on permanent loan while treated as appropriate to beliefs of church/ church
   continues to hold religious services in chapel of house/ park curates, interprets with church consultation
- Three Sitka Tlingit clan houses
- Clan-owned ceremonial objects on long-term loan to park
- Agreements - initiated by clan elders/ traditional clan ownership and jurisdiction continue/ park curates,
  interprets with clan consultation
- Two Tlingit clan houses
- Clan-owned ceremonial objects returned via NAGPRA stored at park
- Agreements - five year/ park provides curatorial storage/ one clan provides training/ one clan provides exhibit
- Successful cross-cultural partnerships require fine knowledge of culture and community.
- Russian Orthodox tradition
- Tlingit lineage, status, ownership protocol
- Park curation of clan-owned ceremonial objects transfers well from Tlingit system where successive caretakers
  care for at.óow in clan house but personally own neither house nor goods - example
- Yes Virginia, you can have it both ways.

R.E. Taylor, Michael O. Woodburne, and Joan Scheider, University of California, Riverside, CA

Over the past three year, carefully orchestrated efforts of both institution and individual in the academic, public and private sectors have gained momentum toward the goal of implementation of a plan to build a research-oriented curation facility, archaeological and paleontological museum, analytical laboratories, and Conference learning center in central Riverside County, California. The experiences of a University of California, Riverside team, working on behalf of a partnership that includes the University, a California State Senator as Chair for the Senate Working Group on the Western Center for Archaeology and Paleontology, the Metropolitan Waste District for Southern California, a local community college, and a private-sector group of local businessmen and businesswomen were presented in narrative form. These experiences include: vision on behalf of all parties; documentation of needs; willingness to forgo proprietary interests; the ability to move forward in extremely minimal increments or in Agiant steps@ as the political and economic climate dictates; the necessity of retrenching when necessary; impressive cooperative efforts at problem-solving; active seeking of support and involvement from the wide network of each of the partnership entities; fortuitous circumstances; and the strong leadership of a state senator with future-oriented vision. As we move forward to the new millennium, the Western Center for Archaeology and Paleontology is becoming a reality.
 

Thomas Lincoln, Archaeologist, Bureau of Reclamation, Phoenix Area Office, Phoenix, AZ
Marcia Donaldson, Curator, Central Arizona Project Repository, Arizona State Museum,
    Tucson, AZ

Federal, state and tribal agencies are cooperating and forming long-term partnerships to properly house and curate the extensive archaeological collection of the Central Arizona Project, accumulated during 30 years of mitigation. Beyond the necessary goal of meeting curation standards, the agencies have established common goals for the management, accessibility, and security of the collection. We summarized some of the obstacles encountered during the many phases of this two-decade-old curation odyssey, and proved insights into issues of concern to others who are developing curation management programs and partnerships.
 
 

Kathleen H. Cande, Research Assistant, Arkansas Archaeological Survey, Fayetteville, AK

The Arkansas Archaeological Survey and the National Park Service have had a very positive and valuable cooperative relationship for the past ten years or more. This relationship has fostered important archaeological research in the field and laboratory as well as cataloging, conservation, management and curation or archaeological collections from the Midwest Region Arkansas parks. My comments during the workshop focused on the nature of the collections, their research value, both currently and in the future, and some of the innovative products that have resulted from this successful partnership. Benefits to park staff as well as Survey staff were highlighted.
 

Ted Hillmer, Design and Facility Management, Midwest Region, National Park Service, Omaha, NE

The Western Historic Trails Center began as a local idea. Taking their idea to their congressional delegation, local leaders, primarily the Council Bluffs, Iowa Area Chamber of Commerce, succeeded in getting legislation passed in 1989 that defined the center=s mission as recognizing the national significance of four national historic trails. The center was funded by a partnership including federal, state, and local governments and private donors. The federal share was approximately $8.4 million, which was matched with $6.5 million by the partners. A talented group of historians ensured that the exhibits reflected current academic interpretations of the trails. The exceptional synergy between the center=s architect and exhibit designer produced a unified experience of quality and creativity. The use of art and contemporary photographic images created a dramatic focus on individual experiences on past and present trails.