Native America Calling: Tribal museums reflect on tumultuous year, chart their next steps

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Native America Calling: Tribal museums reflect on tumultuous year, chart their next steps

Monday, December 8, 2025

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Tribal museums reflect on tumultuous year, chart their next steps

Cuts in grants and operating funds, federal staff reductions, and department disorganization — and the federal government shutdown -– all took a toll on the work done by tribal museums this year.

Tribal museums are a source of economic development for many tribes, but more than that they offer an authentic and more comprehensive picture of Native culture and history than their non-Native counterparts.

As Tribal Museums Week gets underway, check in with tribal museums about their work and what they hope to accomplish in the current unpredictable environment for so many cultural institutions.

Association on American Indian Affairs: Tribal Museums Day 2025

Guests on Native America Calling

CC Hovie (Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians), public affairs and communications director for the Association on American Indian Affairs, a non-profit

Janine Ledford (Makah), executive director of the Makah Museum on the Makah Nation in Washington state

Selena Ortega Chiolero (Tarahumara), museum specialist for the Chickaloon Village Traditional Council’s Culture and Historic Preservation Department in Alaska

Stacy Laravie (Ponca), Indigenization director for the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers, a non-profit