The True Tragedy of the Brazilian National Museum Fire
For those of you who may not know, a major movement in modern anthropology during the early 20th century dealt with the study of indigenous peoples around the world by recording their languages and documenting their customs. This was a movement away from solely collecting artifacts, like masks, and putting them on display in museums (think the museum in Black Panther).
For cultures with no written language and a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, a significant portion of their society (what can’t be deduced from archaeological deposits) is lost to the pressures of time. As a professional anthropologist, this is why I find the destruction of Brazil’s National Museum so sad; Brazil not only lost a number of material remains from its anthropological history, but the fire literally silenced the voices of Brazil’s past.
This loss is an example of the importance of digitizing collections. While not disaster proof, digitization provides another means of preserving existing collections, as well as providing greater accessibility to the public. Next time you go to a free museum and they ask for a suggested donation, keep this tragedy in mind — an extra $5 donation could help preserve the voices of the past that are now lost.
David Ian Howe: Anthropologist
