Lisa gave a series of in-depth presentations, which focused on 70 years of development and challenges faced by tribal nations in building and running tribal museums and cultural centres in the United States.
With over 120 tribal facilities operating across America, Lisa gave examples of achievements, partnership models, and how facilities are funded and continue to be sustained. Lisa also shared key success factors and pertinent suggestions to mitigate problems for iwi who wish to develop their own aspirations for a tribal facility.
Aramanu Ropitini, General Manager of Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated, found Lisa’s presentation inspirational and overwhelming, in terms of her experience of the many tribal museums and cultural centres across America: ‘It was really valuable information for us to have right up front - just understanding the journey that indigenous people have been on ... in terms of what a cultural centre can be.’
Aramanu said that the key messages that came from the day with Lisa included the need to recognise that there are two distinct audiences that a cultural centre caters for - ensuring that the facility is relevant to your own people, and the desire to use it as a facility to educate other people about iwi culture.
Lisa visited Whakatane and the Hawke’s Bay. In Wellington Dr Paora Tapsell from the Auckland War Memorial Museum joined Lisa where he compared his own experience with the tribal museums in the United States. A number of iwi were represented at all three presentations.
National Services Te Paerangi wishes to acknowledge and thank Lisa Watt and Dr Paora Tapsell, for sharing their insightful experiences, and the iwi organisations who made us feel so welcome during our visits - No mātou te hōnore me ngā mihi nui ki a koutou i manāki nei i a maua ko Lisa. Tēnā rā koutou katoa.