Kimberly Christen

This project is an interactive, educational, web-based environment that allows the rare and unique Plateau Peoples' archival collections held in Washington State University's Special Collections, the Museum of Anthropology, and Tribal museums to be curated by Plateau Tribes and made accessible to scholars, tribal members, students, and the public. The portal will facilitate a process of virtual repatriation based on a model of reciprocal curation between Plateau Tribes and collecting institutions.

This project expands the content and extends the reach of the, collaboratively curated and reciprocally managed, Plateau Peoples’ Web Portal by providing access to, and sustainability for, unique cultural materials for Native communities, scholars, educators, and the public. The project engages tribal and federal repository partners in a collaborative effort to add traditional knowledge to minimally described primary sources related to Native American Plateau communities held at the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution. Inter-institutional collaborations with regional leaders at the Northwest Indian College, Lewis-Clark State College, North Idaho College and the University of Idaho, extend the use of the Portal's content in university settings and provide an additional knowledge-sharing point of entry into the materials.