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About Us » Staff
The WHC thanks all staff, interns and consultants for their efforts in collecting, preserving, and organizing the American Indian Tribal History Project material. The public can access this material to have a better understanding of each tribe’s unique history and culture from tribal members’ perspectives.
A letter from Francine Spang Willis, Former Director, American Indian Tribal Histories Project The American Indian Tribal Histories Project The mission of the American Indian Tribal Histories Project is to preserve and maintain American Indian tribal histories and cultures. We understand the importance of preserving American Indian history and culture from an American Indian perspective for future generations to come. We believe that preserving the history and culture of each tribe for both Indians and non-Indians will bring about a greater understanding of America's first people. The American Indian Tribal Histories Project allows us to tell our stories, with our voices, and share our perspectives with the world. Often, in the past, information about our tribes has been written by non-Native historians, agencies, scholars and reporters. These are the stories we Crow and Northern Cheyenne learned as children in our classrooms, but they are not the stories we heard from our elders and families. Now, we would like to share our histories and cultures with all those who have not had the opportunity to hear about them from the people whose stories they are. For the first time, we can share the knowledge of a respected tribal elder explain the meanings of the Northern Cheyenne creation stories, or the Crow warrior societies, for example. Our information is available to many audiences in a variety of ways: through museum exhibitions, traveling exhibits, educational DVDs and teachers' resources, and an oral histories archive collection. Explore our website and you will find the extraordinary gifts of cultural knowledge we have to offer! Sincerely, Francine Spang Willis, Former Director, American Indian Tribal Histories Project
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