Outline

Objectives

This project was conducted to establish a new theoretical approach to emerging forum-style studies in ethnological museums, in the discipline of cultural anthropology. To this end, state-of-the-art research methodologies will be applied. Two undertakings are in progress:
1. An international collaborative research project to discuss documentation of anthropological materials held by the National Museum of Ethnology (“Minpaku”) and other museums related to Native North Americans.
2. Detailed reviews of the materials held by the participating museums are to be conducted by members of the international collaborative research group (the project leader, source communities [the producers and users of the materials], and museum representatives) at the holding museums (Direct Review). If physical visits are not possible, then the collection reviews will be done remotely using images of the materials (Indirect Review or Digital Review). Examining existing information related to the materials classified by academics in comparison to the source communities' contemporary views on corresponding materials will reveal different ways in which these two groups construct and communicate knowledge (both material information and knowledge of traditions). After completion of the detailed reviews, information to be added or modified will be translated. In addition, images of the materials will be digitized and the review process recorded. Both will be integrated into the new database.
3. After reviewing issues related to the propriety of disclosing information, with consideration being devoted to both copyright status and cultural sensitivity, the data will be shared online among museums and source communities via the Info-Forum Museum for Cultural Resources of the World (“Info-Forum Museum”) to transfer the knowledge further by, for instance, promoting its use in education and other activities. In doing so, ways to use the data at source communities, in addition to their use for exhibition, education, and research activities at holding museums, will be sought and implemented.

Description

Since the 1990s, ethnological museums have been emphasizing opportunities to serve as a forum for exchanging information and values among three groups of stakeholders: exhibitors (researchers), the exhibited (source communities), and viewers (the general public). There is also a movement in cultural anthropology to become more collaborative, where researchers and the groups which are studied come together to exchange opinions and interpretations. The movement emerged against the backdrop of post-colonialism and the advancement of global information technologies.
Ethnological museums have collected and classified cultural objects, which serve as the basis of anthropological studies. The information then undergoes a process of reproduction through exhibitions and publications. Nevertheless, detailed cultural information related to the materials is often scarce. Indeed source communities have pointed out that, from their own perspective, information collected by anthropologists is also often incorrect. In the past, the accuracy of information was left largely to the authority of researchers. It is therefore preferable to have direct involvement of the source communities in this process, to promote a forum style of knowledge generation.
Therefore, via this project, source community members will be invited to visit the museums to conduct research. These invitees will be "reconnected" with the materials at the museums, and will be asked to explain the collection based on their traditional knowledge, and to elaborate on how the artifacts are made and used by different groups (e.g., gender) in different regions. The invitees will also be able to modify the information in the current museum database, both to correct errors and to re-establish the cultural context of the material. This process will be documented. In other words, the project objective is to perform collaborative documentation of cultural anthropological material by the communities that produced them and the museums that now exhibit them. By leveraging the memories of the source communities in this way, the project team can restore the cultural vitality that is now dormant in the "things" which, because of the scarcity of information related to them, are shelved in museum storage. The team also believes that working toward appropriate disclosure, through such activities as clearance of copyright status and consideration of cultural sensitivity, will expand the opportunities for use of the materials at Minpaku and other holding museums. It will also promote their secondary uses and result in meaningful contributions to society.
However, what must be achieved first is launching of an international joint research project to establish documentation methodologies and practical procedures for handling anthropological materials. Throughout the project, the team should perform collection review collaboratively with researchers of museum anthropology, cultural anthropologists, Native North Americans, museum representatives, and members of the source communities. The partner institutions include the Museum of Northern Arizona, A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and the National Museums Scotland.
Second, the team must compare the knowledge presented by source communities with information provided by holding institutes related to their collections, analyses and interpretations resulting from past studies of the ethnic groups in question. The comparative data related to these materials can then be reorganized. In addition, this review process can be filmed and made into multilingual visual guides. Achieving high-level digitization and multi-modal accessibility for ethnological museum information is a matter of urgency, to keep up with the expected advancement of digital technology and communication infrastructure.
Third, to refine the knowledge base further, the team will share the reorganized data with holding museums and any source communities, from which only some members can be involved in the initial collection review, and request feedback from them. This whole process of knowledge sharing and improvement will also be documented.
Fourth, the team will incorporate into the database the newly acquired knowledge, videotaped procedures of detailed reviews, and movies of the objects (Photo VR), and make them available to the general public after their propriety for public disclosure has been verified. The verification process includes the receipt of permission from the producers or copyright holders of the materials to put their work online (i.e., for public transmission) and interviewing the producers about the correct interpretation of and appropriate production methods for their work. The team will also maintain the database.
Fifth, the team will either install equipment to operate the database in the exhibition hall of each holding museum or insert a link to the Info-Forum Museum on their websites. In this way, the team can provide accessibility solutions to the source communities and other remote users. Comments made about the materials will be collected continuously. Considering such comments, the team will use the Info-Forum Museum for education and other activities. Additionally, the team will carry out research and publicity activities that will also serve as requests for cooperation made to the following museums regarded as potential affiliate institutions of the Info-Forum Museum: The Smithsonian Institution (The National Museum of the American Indian and the National Museum of Natural History) (United States), the Heard Museum (United States), the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture (United States), New Mexico State University Museum (United States), the Bishop Museum (United States), the Field Museum (United States), the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico (United States), the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom), the British Museum (United Kingdom), the Ethnological Museum of Berlin (Germany), the Museum of Ethnology, Hamburg (Germany), The National Museum of Ethnology (Netherlands), the North American Native Museum (Switzerland), and others.

Expected results

Note: Results also reveal what kind of database it would be.
The team will develop a Hopi reference database, “Reconnecting Source Communities with Museum Collection,” by organizing Hopi resources held by affiliated museums, and shall promote its use among museums and source communities.
The Minpaku and the Museum of Northern Arizona hold large volumes of materials related to Native Americans of the southwestern United States. The information in the existing materials is inadequate, however. In the eyes of source communities, the descriptions and categorization often lack authenticity. This project was undertaken to correct such shortfalls and to develop a network of museums in and outside Japan and information materials held by them. At the Minpaku, which places the “museums as a forum” at the center of its exhibition, not only its exhibition activities, but the material information management and preservation are also expected to reflect the voice of source communities. The museum has been hosting classes to revive traditional silverwork techniques and methods and other events since 2016. It has been specifically contributing to educational activities for traditional culture. Furthermore, by going through the process of ensuring appropriate public disclosure, it is expected to prevent complaints from copyright holders, etc. in the use of database outside the museum (public transmission) and facilitate cooperation between the resource-holding museums and source communities in promoting and passing down traditional culture. Through this process, the project will present a model of an ethnology museum for the digital era.

Annual Report

Outcomes from 2017

1. The state of the implementation of this year's research

The entire project was divided into Phase 1, collaborative researches conducted with source communities to expand information related to the materials and verification of the propriety of information disclosure, and Phase 2, database development. The achievements in Phase 1 were greater than the results initially planned by virtue of development in cooperation with externally funded research projects: two projects supported by grants-in-aid for scientific research. During Phase 2, however, the project team was occupied with solving issues that arose at the end of the third year (FY2016). Phase 1 can be outlined by division into the following five aspects from A to E.
1-A. Collections review research: Approximately 700 additional materials had been reviewed by the end of November this year (four museums and a personal collection). In December, collections review of 26 items was done at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History, U.S.A., the 14th museum to hold reviews during the project period, with Native American Hopi artists who were invited. 1-B. Application of results of collections review researches to education: Workshops were held at affiliated overseas museums. The key materials specifically reviewed in this project include silver jewelry made by the Hopi Native American tribe. It is renowned for the unique techniques to produce it, as established in the 1940s by the Hopi artist, Fred Kabotie. He used the concrete design drawn on earthenware excavated in the Mimbres area and the black and white contrast of the design as a reference. The workshop, “WS01 (Reconnecting Archaeological Materials with Descendant & Source Communities: Collections Review, Field Trip, Art Work Creation, and Exhibition Planning [August 28th to September 2nd]),” followed the footsteps of Kabotie, we had specifically reviewed Mimbres pottery and had visited the Mimbres sites where the pottery had been excavated with the Hopi people. The participants learned technical knowledge about scenery and history with the cooperation of archeologists and members of the U.S. Forest Service. Additionally, they learned the Mimbres pottery physically, culturally, historically, and scenically through experience by reviewing earthenware collections at the New Mexico State University Museum (Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA) and Geronimo Springs Museum (Truce or Consequences, New Mexico, USA). Another workshop, “WS02 (Reconnecting Source Communities with Museums for Education: Revitalizing Hopi Silversmithing Traditions [October 3rd and 4th]),” was held, in which the artists participated in WS01 served as instructors. The primary participants in WS02 were young Hopi artists. In addition to the accounts of experience told by the participants in WS01, archaeologists invited within the U.S. and art historian invited from the Netherlands presented their studies, the Native American artists reviewed the pottery stored at the Museum of Northern Arizona (Flagstaff, Arizona, USA), and information was acquired also from research findings. Through WS01 and WS02, the participants discussed specific ways to develop the works of art into creative activities and use them at education. The materials from WS02 and publications in the Senri Ethnological Reports will be used by Hopitutuqaiki, a private school in the Hopi Reservation, as educational materials, from which further use in education can be expected. New art works created by the Native American artists who participated in WS01 will be purchased (collected) by the New Mexico State University Museum described later in 1-D as a reference for its exhibitions.
1-C. Collaborative editing and verification of the propriety of information disclosure: Videos on the reviews of materials conducted in the previous and current fiscal years were transcribed. The text data were compared with corresponding videos to check the utterance. The data were edited by the project leader and the editor from the source community, considering cultural sensitivity, in this process to make them appropriate for disclosure in cultural aspects.
1-D. Development to exhibitions: A plan to hold exhibitions for “’Reconnecting’ Source Communities with Museum Collections” was proposed. The plan includes a part of the spring exhibition at Tenri University Sankokan Museum, “81st Feature Exhibition, Respect for the Great Nature: Traditional Cultures of Indigenous Peoples in North America”, scheduled to start in April 2018 and a part of Minpaku’s special exhibition, “From the Tower of the Sun to Minpaku: 70-year Expo Collection," that will start in March 2018. The thematic exhibition at the New Mexico State University Museum in the U.S. to be held in fiscal year 2019 will feature this project as the main theme.
1-E. Publication of findings: Collections Review of 24 Items labeled “Hopi” at the Tenri University Sankokan Museum (Senri Ethnological Reports) were prepared in Japanese and English as the second edition of the series, “’Reconnecting’ Source Communities with Museum Collections,” and contributed to Minpaku’s publishing committee in early July. Similarly, collections reviews of 184 items labeled “Hopi” u (excluding 281 wooden dolls) of the National Museum of Ethnology, Japan, will be contributed to the Senri Ethnological Reports as the third edition of the series by the end of the fiscal year. These paper media allow offline viewing, which consequently enables information sharing at the storage areas of affiliated institutions and remote source communities. Additionally, a compilation of papers presenting the results of international workshops held at Minpaku in October 2014 and February 2016 will be contributed as the Senri Ethnological Studies of Minpaku.

Issues that arose in Phase 2, database development, and responses to such issues.
2-A. System development: The system development staff members of Minpaku and an outside contractor held multiple discussions on interface design before December of the previous fiscal year. The staff members prepared written specifications in December 2016 and placed an order with the outside contractor through Minpaku procurement unit. When the order was placed, the plan was that the staff members and the original contractor (outside contractor) would inform the project leader, who placed the order, of the progress, seek the opinions of the project leader on multiple occasions, apply corrections proposed by the project leader to the product, deliver the product by mid-March 2017, and proceed to release in the museum. The staff members and the original contractor, however, failed to provide explanations as to whether the joint research with the National Institute of Informatics on a database program (logics), which was a prerequisite for the system development, had been conducted, failed to provide written reports, failed to inform the project leader of the progress before delivery. The contractor failed to notify the project leader of important changes made to the order and delivered the product without the consent of the project leader. The system development staff was reorganized in haste after such crucially important problems arose. The project leader, who had placed the order, immediately checked the database delivered without informed consent against the specifications, listed problems with the database and corrections required, and submitted the list to the newly organized team. Although the new team is currently organizing the data based on the list, the project leader lost nearly eight months of time during the important final year of the project. This has left the museum unable to implement some plans, described later, which are extremely important for the process of the project related to data release originally scheduled for the current fiscal year.
2-B. Verification of the propriety of the database such as clearance of copyright status for public disclosure: Minpaku has steadily performed verification of information with source communities, considering cultural sensitivity as described in the above 1-C, for release of data through a database. The source communities have highly recognized such approaches of Minpaku, which likely has helped both sides build a trust relationship. Minpaku requires that the information reviewers and workshop participants sign a user license agreement, and the International Cooperation Unit of the Research Cooperation Section of Minpaku maintains the original agreements. The portrait rights and copyrights to the video data collected during the project period have been protected without problems. As of November 30 of the final fiscal year, however, procedures for the protection of copyrights required for the public transmission through the database (for instance, acquiring permission of copyright holders such as the producers of objects and photographers of archives such as old photographs and the application for the adjudication of the Commissioner for Cultural Affairs, Japan, for the use of orphan works) were not able to be implemented because of responses to the problems of 2-A that required time consumption and the number of target materials that were impossible to determine (except when a participant in detailed reviews was a copyright holder, permission for the public transmission of the corresponding image was obtained verbally from the person).
Other plans that had been scheduled in the final fiscal year but which became infeasible include discussions with affiliated museums related to the future use and management of the database, proof of database security demonstrated to the source communities participating in the project (verification of the extent of consideration for cultural sensitivity applied to the system), and research publicity activities targeting potential affiliates. The inability to carry out the first two particularly might become a threat to Minpaku’s trust relationships with its affiliated museums in the project and source communities that have been constructed over the years.

The following chronologically summarizes the activities conducted during the current fiscal year.
April: The project leader visited the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C., U.S.A., for approximately two weeks, funded by a grant-in-aid for scientific research, and took photographs and measurements of 150 pieces of Hopi jewelry. The data obtained there were organized into data for the Info-Forum Museum.
May through the end of June: The project leader visited the Hopi Reservation and other locations in Arizona, U.S.A., for approximately 40 days and conducted digital reviews (indirect reviews) of images of the Hopi jewelry at three museums in Denver, which were photographed in September 2016. In addition, the team conducted digital reviews (indirect reviews) of the collections at the National Museum of the American Indian, which were photographed in April of this year. The team also conducted collaborative editing to check the transcribed text data against videos on the reviews of materials conducted in the past and verification of the propriety of information disclosure, including consideration for cultural sensitivity, in cooperation with source community representatives.
July: The project leader identified the problems that the database delivered, which had been modified without informed consent, and submitted it to the newly formed database development staff. The team also summarized the results of collections reviews at Tenri University Sankokan Museum, which were conducted in fiscal year 2015, and contributed the summary to the Senri Ethnological Reports. Furthermore, the team participated in the first conference of the Japan Society for Digital Archive (Gifu Women's University) and learned the necessity of copyright protection related to the public transmission of digital data and the latest opinions of the society on various issues.
August through the end of October: The project leader traveled the states of New Mexico and Arizona, U.S.A. for approximately 80 days and hosted two international workshops to apply the activities in the Info-Forum Museum project to the revival of the traditional culture of the source communities and education of young artists. The team also conducted collaborative editing to check the transcribed text data against videos of the reviews of materials conducted in the past in cooperation with the source community representatives.
November: In the Museums and Community Development Course sponsored by the Japan International Cooperation Agency and led by Minpaku, Minpaku provided nine trainees from around the world with a lecture on the necessity of consideration for the copyrightability. The team also compared the verification of the propriety of information disclosure in this project with the consideration for cultural sensitivity performed by national museums and other institutions in countries such as Zambia, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea.
December: The project team visited the U.S. for approximately two weeks to visit the American Museum of Natural History, and observed the Native American Art Show in New York hosted by the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of the American Indian, and in Washington D.C., to hold a meeting for an interim report on the project at the National Museum of the American Indian and conduct collections review of 26 items at the National Museum of Natural History.
January 2017 through the end of December 2014: The project team verified and edited the transcribed text data using videos of collections reviews conducted in the past with the cooperation of Dr. Fumiyasu Arakawa, the Director of the New Mexico State University Museum, who is accepted as a foreign researcher at Minpaku. The team also carried out surveys and preparations to hold the above three exhibitions. Additionally, the team is summarizing the results of two workshops related to this project, which were held in October 2014 and February 2016 at Minpak.

2.Overview of the research results (achievements of the research objects)

Key research achievements in fiscal year 2017, the fourth year of the project, include joint research (co-sponsorship of international workshops, etc.) based on an academic agreement between Minpaku and the Museum of Northern Arizona, 13 oral research presentations (including presentations scheduled by the end of the fiscal year) at invited lectures, international workshops, etc., collections reviews held at four museums such as the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History, U.S.A. and the National Museum of Scotland (digital review), with the source communities, writing of 10 pictorial records, essays, and newspaper particles (including publications scheduled by the end of the fiscal year), preparations for three exhibitions, and contributions of three refereed articles that had been written and edited, and in-house publication of one article (including publications scheduled by the end of the fiscal year). Furthermore, the project team supervised the system design of databases and handled issues in database system development that had arisen during the previous fiscal year.

3.Records disclosing achievements (publications, public symposia, sectional meetings of academic conferences, electronic media, etc.)

Writing and editing
Contribution scheduled before the end of the fiscal year: Atsunori Ito (ed.) Collections Review on 184 Items labeled “Hopi” (Excluding 281 Wooden Dolls) of the National Museum of Ethnology: “Reconnecting Source Communities with Museum Collections 3” (Senri Ethnological Reports)
In-house publication: Atsunori Ito (ed.) Mimbres Workshops 2017: Reconnecting Hopi Artists with Mimbres Landscape and Pottery Designs (handout for the Mimbres Workshops 2017). (August 10, 2017) Already contributed: Atsunori Ito (ed.) Collections Review on 24 Items labeled “Hopi” of Tenri University Sankokan Museum: Reconnecting Source Communities with Museum Collections 2 (Senri Ethnological Reports)


Essays, etc.
Forthcoming publication: Atsunori Ito North America Atsushi Nobayashi (ed.) From the Tower of the Sun to Minpaku: 70-year Expo Collection (National Museum of Ethnology)
Forthcoming publication: Atsunori Ito Documenting and Sharing Information on Ethnological Materials: Working with Native American Tribes (Minpaku Tsushin 160 [Minpaku News Letter])
Atsunori Ito 2017 the United States of America (The Hopi) , Hirochika Nakamaki (ed.) Encyclopedia of the World's Calendar Culture (Tokyo, Maruzen Publishing), pp. 342-345.
Atsunori Ito 2017 “Reconnecting Source Communities with Museum Collections (National Museum of Ethnology Collection 28) Monbu Kagaku Kyoiku Tsushin 422: 2, (The Earth Kyoikushinsha) (October 23, 2017)
Atsunori Ito 2017 A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center (Gekkan Minpaku [Minpaku Monthly] 41 (5) “Shin-seiki Myujiamu “: 16–17 (National Museum of Ethnology) (May 1, 2017)

Presentations at academic conferences, invited lectures, etc.
Planned: Atsunori Ito 2018 Documenting and Sharing Information on Ethnological Materials of Museums Minpaku Weekend Salon, National Museum of Ethnology (March 18, 2018)
Atsunori Ito 2018 Collections Reviews with Source Communities: Fieldwork at Museum Storage Room Knowledge Capital Super School series lectures “Minpaku and Knowledge Capital: Talks on Fieldwork (No. 4),” CAFE Lab, Knowledge Capital First Fl., Grand Front Osaka North Building (January 10, 2018)
Atsunori Ito and Gerald Lomaventema 2017 “Reconnecting Hopi Silversmiths with NMAI Collections: Interim Report on the Collaborative Research Project” KAKENHI Project meeting (15KK0069; 26704012),
Cultural Resources Center of the National Museum of the American Indian, Suitland, MD, USA. (2017.12.07)
Atsunori Ito and Fumiyasu Arakawa 2017 “Reconnecting Source Communities with Museums” KAKENHI Project meeting (15KK0069; 26704012), National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Japan. (2017.11.19)
Atsunori Ito　2017 “Revitalizing Hopi Silversmithing Traditions” National Museum of Ethnology International Workshop Reconnecting Source Communities with Museums for Education: Revitalizing Hopi Silversmithing Traditions, Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, AZ, USA (2017.10.3)
Atsunori Ito　2017 “Hopi Silversmithing and Mimbres: Fred Kabotie’s activities in the late 1940s” National Museum of Ethnology International Workshop Reconnecting Source Communities with Museums for Education: Revitalizing Hopi Silversmithing Traditions, Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, AZ, USA (2017.10.3)
Atsunori Ito　2017 “Introduction: Reconnecting Source Communities with Museum Collections” National Museum of Ethnology International Workshop Reconnecting Source Communities with Museums for Education: Revitalizing Hopi Silversmithing Traditions, Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, AZ, USA (2017.10.3)
Atsunori Ito　2017 “Reconnecting Hopi Artists with Mimbres Landscape and Pottery Designs” National Museum of Ethnology International Workshop Reconnecting Archaeological Materials with Descendant & Source Communities: Collections Review, Field Trip, Art Work Creation, and Exhibition Planning, New Mexico State University Museum, Las Cruces, NM, USA (2017.8.28)
Atsunori Ito　2017 “Introduction of the Reconnecting Projects” National Museum of Ethnology International Workshop Reconnecting Archaeological Materials with Descendant & Source Communities: Collections Review, Field Trip, Art Work Creation, and Exhibition Planning, New Mexico State University Museum, Las Cruces, NM, USA (2017.8.28)
Atsunori Ito　2017 “Reconnecting Source Community with Museum Collections and Anthropological Documentation”, KAKENHI Project meeting (15KK0069; 26704012) , National Museum of Ethnology, JAPAN. (2017.7.6)
Atsunori Ito and Gerald Lomaventema 2017 “Revitalization of Hopi Jewelry: Through the Collections Review in the US and Japan”, Museum of Northern Arizona 84th Hopi Festival. (2017.7.2)
Atsunori Ito and Gerald Lomaventema 2017 “Revitalization of Hopi Jewelry: Through the Collections Review in the US and Japan”, Museum of Northern Arizona 84th Hopi Festival. (2017.7.1)
Atsunori Ito　2017 “Hopi Collections Review in the US and Japan”, KAKENHI Project meeting (15KK0069; 26704012) Cultural Resources Center of the National Museum of the American Indian, Suitland, MD. (2017.04.21)

Exhibitions
Scheduled to start in April 2018: Spring exhibition at Tenri University Sankokan Museum
Scheduled to start in March 2018: From the Tower of the Sun to Minpaku: 70-year Expo Collection at the National Museum of Ethnology
Scheduled to start in 2019: Thematic exhibitions at the New Mexico State University Museum, U.S.A.

Outcomes from 2016

1. The state of the implementation of this year's research

In this fiscal year also research was conducted almost as planned .The major achievements are as follows:
Dispatch of religious leaders and artists having specialized knowledge to museums in Japan for research on the materials there, presentations of progress at the partner institutions, submission of written reports to peer reviewed journals, research of the materials with photographing, organization of movie data, etc.
The details of these achievements are described below, in chronological order:
In April, three Hopi were dispatched from Arizona, USA, to the Fukuyama City-Matsunaga Hakimono Museum, Hiroshima Prefecture. Its materials were inspected closely for almost two weeks, and 162 items, accounting for about 50% of its collection, were recorded on video.
In May, an open seminar on progress of the project was held at the Little World Museum of Man, in Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture, the materials of which were scrutinized in November 2015.
After repeated discussions until June with the system development team, we considered a concrete image of the navigation database for the Info-Forum Museum.
For almost 40 days, between June and August, I stayed in the USA to visit the Museum of Northern Arizona, with which the National Museum of Ethnology (Minpaku) concluded an academic agreement in FY 2014. We organized a panel to report the progress of the project, which attracted an audience of about 80 people.. I also organized the data jointly with the members invited to Japan for scrutiny, thereby promoting the process to release the database. On August 29, Mr. Kelly Hays-Gilpin, Chief Curator of the Museum of Northern Arizona, a partner institution in this project and the counterpart of our academic agreement, and I made a presentation entitled “Decolonizing museum catalogs? Collaborative catalogs and archaeological practice” at the WAC-8 Kyoto 2016 (World Archaeological Congress). Over 1,600 archaeologists from around the world attended the WAC-8.
In September, I went to the USA using funds from the Grants-in-aid for scientific research (reinforcement of the international cooperating research). At the three institutions, the Colorado Historical Society, the Denver Art Museum, and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, I surveyed the materials and made still photographs of some 110 items of Hopi jewelry. I am planning to conduct detailed research on Hopi Reservations using the photos taken at that time in Colorado (detailed digital research) to upload the data obtained there to the Info-Forum Museum database.
In October, I sent a Hopi from Arizona, USA, to the Fukuyama City Matsunaga Hakimono Museum, Hiroshima Prefecture, for almost two weeks. We scrutinized 162 items, about 50% of its collection, that was not completed in April, and recorded them on video. Together with the Hopi guest, I checked the videos produced through the detailed research in April, in order to both eliminate wordiness and delete culturally sensitivity material. In November, an approximately 940,000 word research report on Hopi Kachina dolls owned by Minpaku was submitted to “Senri Ethnological Reports (SER)” as an outcome of the Info-Forum Museum project. It was accepted for publication, and I am proofreading it now. At the “Museum and Community Development” course headed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and implemented mainly by Minpaku, I lectured to 12 foreign trainees on the importance of copyrighted works owned by museums of ethnology, by comparing them to cultural sensitivity, focusing on this project.
For the disclosure at Minpaku in March 2017 (FY 2016), I will organize all data, including comments inserted into the videos of 272 Kachina dolls made using the Hopi collection of Minpaku in December.
In January and February, I will visit the Hopi Reservations in Arizona, USA, to continue organizing the data together with those Hopi religious leaders invited so far to Japan for scrutiny work. In addition, toward the final year, I will consider the use of the database to be released, by taking into account its short-term concrete development. I am also planning to summarize the two workshops related to this project held at Minpaku in October 2014 and February 2016, and will submit the the summaries for publication to Minpaku’s “Senri Ethnological Studies (SES)”.
I will release part of the outcome material at Minpaku in March.

2. Overview of the research results (achievements of the research objects)

By the end of November of FY 2016, as the third year, I had made 10 research presentations either at international conferences or as an invited lecturer, conducted thorough research at four institutions in two countries, written five short essays, and published four edited or authored and peer reviewed books (one has been published, another is being proofread, and the other two will be submitted within the fiscal year), while working on international cooperating research under an academic agreement. In addition, I supervised the system design and organized the data since that related to this Info-Forum Museum project will be disclosed at Minpaku.

3. Records disclosing achievements (publications, public symposia, sectional meetings of academic conferences, electronic media, etc.)

Written or Edited Books
Edited by Atsunori ITO (2016) “Re-Collection and Sharing Traditional Knowledge, Memories, Information, and Images: Challenges and the Prospects on Creating Collaborative Catalog”(Senri Ethnological Reports) No.137.
Edited by Atsunori ITO (Reviewed)
Reconnecting Source Communities with Museum Collections 1
Collection Review Reports on the Katsina Dolls Labeled "Hopi" in the National Museum of Ethnology
(Senri Ethnological Reports)

Papers, etc.
Atsunori ITO (2016) “Doing Collaborative Anthropology as Host” (Feature: Ontology of Anthropologist) Annual Reports on Social Anthropology 42: 67-90, Social Anthropology Society of Tokyo Metropolitan University, Koubundou Publishers.
Atsunori ITO (2016) “Closing,” Edited by Atsunori ITO “Re-Collection and Sharing Traditional Knowledge, Memories, Information, and Images: Challenges and the Prospects on Creating Collaborative Catalog” (Senri Ethnological Reports) 137: 131-132.
Atsunori ITO (2016) “Introduction,” Edited by Atsunori ITO “Re-Collection and Sharing Traditional Knowledge, Memories, Information, and Images: Challenges and the Prospects on Creating Collaborative Catalog” (Senri Ethnological Reports) 137: 1-4.
Atsunori ITO (2016) “Traditional Craft,” Edited by Juri Abe “62 Chapters to Know Native Americans,” Akashi Shoten, pp. 266-271.
Atsunori ITO (2016) “Kachina and Kachina Dolls,” Edited by Juri Abe “62 Chapters to Know Native Americans,” Akashi Shoten, pp. 261-265.
Atsunori ITO (2016) “Snake Dance,” Edited by Juri Abe “62 Chapters to Know Native Americans,” Akashi Shoten, pp. 231-235.

Conference Presentations and Invited Lectures
Atsunori ITO (2016) “Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act” “Anthropological Study on the Establishment of New Relationships between Native Americans and Museums over the Return of Materials (Grants-in-aid for Scientific Research Foundation B, Represented by Koji Deriha)” Hokkai-Gakuen University” (2016.11.22)
Atsunori Ito (2016) “Hopi Collections Review in the US and Japan: Introduction of a Minpaku Info-Forum Museum Project,” Denver Museum of Nature & Science. (2016.9.15)
Atsunori Ito (2016) “Hopi Collections Review in the US and Japan: Introduction of Minpaku’s Info-Forum Museum Project,” History Colorado Center. (2016.9.12)
Kelley Hays-Gilpin and Atsunori Ito　(2016)　“Decolonizing museum catalogs? Collaborative catalogs and archaeological practice,” WAC8 (8th World Archaeology Congress, Kyoto, Japan, Doshisha University. (2016.8.29)
Gerald Lomaventema and Atsunori Ito (2016) “History of Traditional Overlay Jewelry,” Arizona State Parks Homolovi State Park Event “Suvoyuki Day,” Homolovi State Park. (2016.8.6)
Robert Breunig, Atsunori Ito, Gerald Lomaventema, and Kelley Hays-Gilpin (2016) “History of Hopi Overlay Jewelry: Origins and Continuity,” Museum of Northern Arizona 83rd Hopi Festival, Easton Collections Center. (2016.7.3)
Robert Breunig, Atsunori Ito, Gerald Lomaventema, and Kelley Hays-Gilpin (2016) “History of Hopi Overlay Jewelry: Origins and Continuity,” Museum of Northern Arizona 83rd Hopi Festival, Easton Collections Center. (2016.7.2)
Atsunori Ito (2016) “Culturally Revitalizing Museum Materials - Scrutiny and Research on Museum Materials with the Source Community” “Little World College Master Course 2016, Second Lecture,” The Little World Museum of Man. (2016.5.22)
Atsunori Ito (2016) “How to Pass Recollections and Memories Down the Generations – Scrutiny and Research on Museum Materials with the Source Community” Osaka Prefectural Elderly College “World Culture Course,” Osaka Prefecture Social Welfare Center. (2016.5.20)
Atsunori Ito (2016) “Culture of Hopi, Native American Tribe” Osaka Prefectural University Elderly College “World Culture Course,” Osaka Prefecture Social Welfare Center. (2016.5.13)

Video and Other Works
Supervised by Atsunori Ito and Motoi Suzuki (2016) “National Museum of Ethnology Visual Ethnography Journal Vol. 18 –Native American Jewelry in the Southwest,” National Museum of Ethnology

Mass Media
“Spotlighted Museum Artifacts in Fukuyama – Kachina Dolls of Hopi, Native American Tribe” “The Chugoku Shimbun, Morning Edition, Local News Section p. 27” (2016.4.17)

Outcomes from 2014

1. The state of the implementation of this year’s research

From June to July, 2014 we went to the USA, together with Dr. Ken’ichi Sudo, Director-General of Minpaku, to visit institutions involved in this project. At the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, in Colorado, we made a courtesy call on George Sparks, the President and CEO of the museum. Dr. Chip Colwell and Dr. Steve Nash, both of whom are international cooperating researchers for this project and also curators of anthropology, showed us the museum’s exhibition space and collection storage areas. We discussed with them recent topics in museum anthropology.
It had been decided that Minpaku would make an academic exchange agreement for this project with the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, Arizona, so a signing ceremony was held at the museum on July 4. On the same day, the 84th Hopi Festival also began at the Museum of Northern Arizona, and both Mr. Sudo, Minpaku Director-General, and this project were introduced to the participants during opening ceremony of the festival.
From July to August, we used the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A), “Source Community Utilization of Ethnological Collections for Information Sharing in Japanese Museums”, Research Project Number: 26704012) to photograph the approximately 280 Hopi wooden dolls owned by Minpaku. The images were then processed as digitalized materials for photoVR.
From October 5 to 17, we used photoVR to review the collections in the Minpaku storage area. Following that we invited the specialists from Japan and overseas (partly using funds   from Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research). These specialists were four international research partners from the source community (Ramson Lomatewama, Darance Chimerica, Merle Namoki, Gerald Lomaventema), six cooperating researchers from overseas (Robert Breunig of the Museum of Northern Arizona, Kelley Hays-Gilpin of Northern Arizona University, Chip Colwel of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Jim Enote of the A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center (AAMHC), Cynthia Chavez-Lamar of the National Museum of the American Indian, and Henrietta Lidchi of the National Museum of Scotland). Personnel from museums in Japan that possess Hopi wooden dolls, include Tenri University Sankokan Museum and the Little World Museum of Man. Audio and video data recorded during the work of reviewing the collection, which lasted for 10 days, was transcribed into both Japanese and English. It was checked by each speaker, and then translated into Japanese.
From the late-October to early-November, we organized a symposium entitled “Who owns traditional culture? Considering Collaborative works for cultural resources.” This was held in conjunction with a special exhibition (with the same name as the symposium) held by the Tokyo Metropolitan University, a research organization that studies the communication of academic achievements to the people of Tokyo, and the formation of organizations. At the symposium, we considered and confirmed a variety of topics, such as the arrangement of collections pertaining to the Info-Forum Museum and the potential for information disclosure and sharing by other than online methods.
In November, Atsunori Ito, the project director of this project, again visited the Museum of Northern Arizona to photograph and measure their collection of Hopi jewelry (about 380 of a total of some 450 items) for both to confirm and supplement existing records. Concurrently, a check was made of the translated English transcripts of the verbal explanations recorded during the collection review done at Minpaku.
We plan to review the collections at the Little World Museum of Man in 2015. To discuss the arrangements for this, we attended a meeting at the museum in January. We also inspected their storage areas, indoor and outdoor exhibition areas, using Minpaku’s Inter-University Research Project (A Study of Relationship-building Using Ethnological Materials). Ito serves as the representative of the Inter-University Research Project.
Regarding the Yaqui source community, we worked with Yuka Mizutani, of Sophia University, and a cooperating researcher in Japan, to survey about 50 collections owned by Minpaku. The collections were photographed by Yuka Mizutani, and the photographs sent to the contact person at the Yaqui Government. We collected feedback from the Yaqui to verify that the collections were appropriate for display. Suggestions for the management of some of the items were made by the source community, and, in accordance with these suggestions, we instructed the Minpaku Information Planning Section of the Office of Information and Documentation to manage them appropriately. The section has already done as instructed.
We planned to send Nobuhiro  Kishigami, a cooperating researcher in Japan, to the UBC Museum of Anthropology (reciprocal research network), the Arctic Studies Center (sharing knowledge), and to other institutions that operate databases based on inter-museum networks, and which are similar to the Minpaku Info-Forum Museum concept. Although some of the budget for survey expenses was earmarked, based on the proposal documents from the preparatory surveys for the formation of problem resolution research projects of the National Institutes for the Humanities, the budget was used to send the researcher to the above institutions from January to February.
To present an interim report on the current status of this project for the same purpose, in June Atsunori Ito attended a workshop of the Japanese Association for American Studies, held in Okinawa, and the American Indian Workshop (an academic conference held in March concerning Native North Americans) held in Frankfurt, Germany to make oral presentations. While in Europe, Ito inspected the Tropenmuseum (Museum of the Tropics) and the National Museum of Ethnology in the Netherlands and publicized the Info-Forum Museum project. Using the same budget for survey expenses, based on the proposal documents of the National Institutes for the Humanities, in March he visited also the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, to discuss with Professor Robin Boast, a specialist in Information Science, on the establishment of the Info-Forum Museum system.

2. Overview of the research results (achievements of the research objects)

Items made by Native American Hopi are housed in Minpaku and other museums in Japan and overseas. To create a digital archive of these collected items, we selected the methods, approaches to documentation, and target people to whom the collections were to be shown. We examined the significance of the unveiling of the archives for both the museums and source communities, and collected and managed the relevant items. These activities accounted for most of our research projects during the first year.
Activities implemented this year that are expected to have the greatest impact on the future development of our research projects were photographing collections for photoVR (virtual reality), inviting the source communities, and reviewing the collections. When Minpaku and other museums invite members of source communities, it is essential to care for them properly, particularly regarding their employment and everyday life, health, transportation, and other physical items during their time on site. We have overcome major challenges to create opportunities for virtually reviewing the collections on-site without transferring personnel while taking into account the limited budgets of those inviting the members of the source communities.
To some extent, the photoVR helps overcome such challenges. Using a rotating table on which an item is placed, 36 photographs of it are taken at angles of 0° (horizontal), 30°, 60°, and 90°. One photograph is taken of the bottom of an item. The resultant total of 145 images is eventually integrated into a data file. The photoVR thus permits the making of files of collected items that can be rotated as if being held in the hand. Moreover, it creates a virtual environment that allows enlargement or reduction the high-resolution images for the detailed and close-up examination of an item. However, the photoVR cannot reproduce all physical senses, like smell, touch, or a feeling of weight. Nevertheless, the operational performance of the system is much superior to a simple photograph. Using the photoVR, done using the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, greatly facilitated the reviewing of collections and then sending explanatory information giving to related institutions. In that way the adoption of the photoVR was a major advance in the development of future projects.
Minpaku owns approximately 280 wooden dolls of Katsina, the supernatural being that represents ancestral spirits, souls, rain, and rain clouds. The source communities reviewed them, during seven weekdays between October 5 and 17. Two doll carvers and two users (religious leaders) were in charge of the review All four persons differed in age and village of residence, and none had previous experience reviewing a museum collection. Therefore, Executive Director Jim Enote, of AAMHC, and Dr. Cynthia Chavez-Lamar, of the National Museum of the American Indian, who had previously reviewed the Minpaku collections, gave the Katsina dolls reviewers a demonstration of how to review and record collected items. AAMHC made academic exchange agreements with Minpaku in 2012. Although Jim Enote and Dr. Cynthia Chavez-Lamar are also Native Americans, the reviewers of the collection of Hopi Katsina dolls were given instructions by both Native Americans and by non-Native American professionals from museums. They had to determine carefully which collected items should be shown, and to what extent they should be shown. All participants made statements in the Hopi language regarding each item being reviewed and then each explained the Katsina’s role in their village. To summarize their opinions, video images were taken against a black background so that each reviewer could concentrate on making his speech. This collection reviewing was video recorded and provided hundreds of hours of invaluable primary source materials. All audio data were transcribed, and, after checking the speakers’ English, were translated into Japanese. These data will constitute the main content of the database of the Info-Forum Museum.
In addition, the collections at the Museum of Northern Arizona were surveyed and photographed. Also, oral presentations at institutions, academic workshops, symposiums, and exhibitions in Japan and overseas were made to publicize the project.
The data for 36,380 recorded items among those recorded in the Minpaku collection catalog were confirmed and supplemented. Details of the items are as follows. For the collection of Hopi wooden dolls owned by Minpaku, 145 still images per item were taken and processed into a single photoVR for each item. About 140 collected items during the dedicated period between October 5 and 17 were reviewed to confirm and supplement at least nine records per item (a subtotal of approximately 21,560 records). For the collection of Hopi jewelry owned by the Museum of Northern Arizona, about 380 items were photographed (about 10 photos per item). A total of 39 records were also confirmed and supplemented regarding size and design (a subtotal of 14,820 records).

3. Records disclosing achievements (publications, public symposia, sectional meetings of academic conferences, electronic media, etc.)

Academic articles
Atsunori Ito 2015 “A Redefinition of the Significance of the Minpaku ‘Special Lectures and Performances‘: A Case Study of " HOPI Social Dance and Flute Music‘ “Bulletin of the National Museum of Ethnology Vol. 39, No. 3: 397-458. (In Japanese)

Essays
Atsunori Ito 2014 “For the Development of Native American Studies in Japan” Minpaku Tsushin No. 145: 20-21, National Museum of Ethnology. (In Japanese)
Atsunori Ito 2014 "Re-Collection and Sharing Traditional Knowledge, Memories, Information, and Images: Problem and the Prospects on Creating Collaborative Catalog." MINPAKU Anthropology Newsletter No. 38: 11-12, National Museum of Ethnology.

Public symposia, workshops
Symposium entitled “Who owns traditional culture? Collaboration for cultural resources” held by the Tokyo Metropolitan University research organization that performs research on the communication of academic achievements to the people of Tokyo and the formation of organizations, Tokyo Metropolitan University, (November 1, 2014)(In Japanese)
Minpaku International Workshop Collection Review: Methodology and Effective Utilization for the Museum and the Source Community, National Museum of Ethnology (2014.10.5～10.10)

Verbal presentations
Atsunori Ito 2014 “Real and Fake: Case Study of the Hopi Jewelry” (Symposium titled “Who owns traditional culture? Collaboration for cultural resources” held by the Tokyo Metropolitan University research organization that performs research on the communication of academic achievements to the people of Tokyo and the formation of organizations, Tokyo Metropolitan University (November 1, 2014)(In Japanese)
Atsunori Ito 2014 "Introduction of "Kachina doll" collection labeled Hopi in Minpaku", Minpaku International Workshop Collection Review: Methodology and Effective Utilization for the Museum and the Source Community, National Museum of Ethnology (2014.10.6)
Atsunori Ito 2014 "Tasks of collection, accumulation, documentation, and effective utilization of SC’s comments", Minpaku International Workshop Collection Review: Methodology and Effective Utilization for the Museum and the Source Community, National Museum of Ethnology (2014.10.5)
Robert Breunig, Kelley Hays-Gilpin, Atsunori Ito 2014 "Reconnect Museum and Source Community", Minpaku International Workshop Collection Review: Methodology and Effective Utilization for the Museum and the Source Community, National Museum of Ethnology (2014.10.5)
Atsunori Ito 2014 "Introduction", Minpaku International Workshop Collection Review: Methodology and Effective Utilization for the Museum and the Source Community, National Museum of Ethnology (2014.10.5)
Atsunori Ito 2014 “Collection Review for Source Communities and Holding Museums” the 260th Minpaku Research Seminar Series, National Museum of Ethnology. (September 24, 2014)(In Japanese)
Atsunori Ito 2014 “Report on the locations of collections concerning Native American people, the current status of their management information, and the concept of the Info-Forum Museum of the National Museum of Ethnology,” the 48th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Association for American Studies, sectional meetings concerning Native Americans, Okinawa Convention Center. (June 8, 2014)(In Japanese)
Atsunori Ito 2014 "Collaborating with the Source Community", IUAES panel Re-imagining ethnological museums: new approaches to developing the museum as a place of multi-lateral contacts and knowledge (Commission on Museums and Cultural Heritage), Makuhari Messe. (2014.5.15)
Atsunori Ito 2014 "Intellectual Property: Consideration on "Copyrighted Works" to be Uniquely Given by Ethnological Museums", JICA Museology Course, National Museum of Ethnology.（2014.5.7）

Exhibition activities
Atsunori Ito 2014 “Real and Fake: Case Study of the Hopi Jewelry” (special exhibition entitled “Who owns traditional culture? Collaboration for cultural resources” held by the Tokyo Metropolitan University research organization that performs research on the communication of academic achievements to the people of Tokyo and the formation of organizations), the 1991 Hall of Tokyo Metropolitan University. (From October 31 to November 13, 2014)

Encyclopedia Items written
Atsunori Ito 2014 “Rights for Representations” in the World Ethnological Encyclopedia edited by the National Museum of Ethnology and published by Maruzen Co. Ltd; pp. 736-737.(July 10, 2014) (In Japanese)
Atsunori Ito 2014 “Museums and Repatriation” in the World Ethnological Encyclopedia edited by the National Museum of Ethnology and published by Maruzen Co, Ltd; pp.518-519. (July 10, 2014)(In Japanese)
Atsunori Ito 2014 “Handicrafts” in the World Ethnological Encyclopedia edited by the National Museum of Ethnology and published by Maruzen Co, Ltd; pp.496-497.(July 10, 2014) (In Japanese)
Atsunori Ito 2014 “Native North Americans” in the World Ethnological Encyclopedia edited by the National Museum of Ethnology and published by Maruzen Co, Ltd; pp.296-297.(July 10, 2014) (In Japanese)

Newspaper
Atsunori Ito 2015 “Taking care of the Tradition (Minpaku’s World Travel: Native American Hopi IV)”Mainichi Elementary School Newspaper (January 31, 2015) (In Japanese)
Atsunori Ito 2015 “Hopi People with High Physical Abilities (Minpaku’s World Travel: Native American Hopi III)”Mainichi Elementary School Newspaper (January 24, 2015) (In Japanese)
Atsunori Ito 2015 “Social Dancing for Prayers (Minpaku’s World Travel: Native American Hopi II)”Mainichi Elementary School Newspaper (January 17, 2015) (In Japanese)
Atsunori Ito 2015 “Praying for Rain Cloud (Minpaku’s World Travel: Native American Hopi I)” Mainichi Elementary School Newspaper (January 10, 2015) (In Japanese)
Atsunori Ito 2014 “Masks of the Spirits (VII): Living Creatures” Evening Edition of the Mainichi Newspapers (Traveling, Various People of the Earth) (July 17, 2014) (In Japanese)

Featured by media
Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Kansai Area Edition) 2014 “Towards the Sharing of Ethnological Collections: Minpaku made a great change in its 40th anniversary year”
（http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXLASIH21H02_R21C14A0AA1P00/）（2014.10.26）(In Japanese)
"International collaboration helps connect Museum of Northern Arizona to Hopi community", Navajo-Hopi Observer 34(50), p. 1, 4.（2014.12.10）
2014 “International Workshops held by Minpaku: Towards the Realization of ‘Info-Forum Museum’” BUNKYO SOKUHO (flash report) No. 7973: 15, Kancho Tsushinsya. (February 26, 2014)(In Japanese)

Others (electronic medium etc.)
“Documentation on the Academic Exchange Agreements and Collaborative Relationship  between the National Museum of Ethnology (Osaka, Japan) and the Museum of Northern Arizona (Flagstaff, Arizona, U.S.)”（http://www.minpaku.ac.jp/research/activity/exchange/agreement/northernarizona_2014）
“Museum of Northern Arizona, Japan’s National Museum of Ethnology Lead Global Initiative”（http://musnaz.org/press-releases/museum-northern-arizona-japans-national-museum-ethnology-lead-global-initiative/）