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Creighton and partners digitize native history, expand access and education
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In January, the decade-long work of Creighton professors Simon Appleford, PhD (above), and Adam Sundberg, PhD, along with their colleagues Annika Johnson, PhD (Joslyn Art Museum) and Wynema Morris (Nebraska Indian Community College), was recognized in a grand opening as part of an exhibit at the Joslyn Art Museum.
The project, titled The Natural Face of North America, is a partnership between Creighton, the Joslyn, Nebraska Indian Community College (NICC) and tribal and cultural leaders from the Umoⁿhoⁿ Nation and the Three Affiliated Tribes, Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation. Supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and Humanities Nebraska, this initiative enhances access to Joslyn’s renowned Maximilian-Bodmer collection through digitization.
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The collection, gifted to the Joslyn by the Enron Foundation, includes the journals of Prince Maximilian of Wied and hundreds of watercolors by Karl Bodmer, chronicling their travels and observations of Indigenous peoples—particularly the Mandan tribe—during the Maximilian-Bodmer Expedition of 1832-1834.
While the collection is a permanent feature of the museum, the paintings, due to their sensitivity to UV damage, have limited display durations. Maximilian’s journals, though displayed, reveal only one page at a time.
Beyond improving accessibility for the public and scholarly researchers, the project embraces broader goals, such as preserving Indigenous voices and fostering collaboration with Native communities. Listening sessions were held with Native elders to ensure that their histories and cultural traditions were represented accurately and respectfully.
As the host nation for the collection, The Umoⁿhoⁿ (Omaha) Nation has played a key role in the project. “Our collaborations with Native communities fundamentally recontextualized The Natural Face of North America project for us,” says Sundberg, co-primary investigator of the project. “What began as a digital project focused on visualization and improved access to historical documentation evolved into a work of living scholarship that encourages viewers to interpret the expedition and its ongoing significance from Indigenous perspectives.”
Our collaborations with Native communities fundamentally recontextualized The Natural Face of North America project for us.
— Adam Sundberg, PhD, Associate Professor
Under Appleford’s and Sundberg’s direction, Creighton students have also made contributions to this project, assisting in the digitization, geocoding and markup of 389 of Bodmer’s watercolors drawings and 790 of Maximilian’s journal entries. NICC students have significantly contributed to the encoding efforts as well. These resources are now unified in an online portal and are also accessible via a digital display within the museum gallery, aligning with the project's goal of preserving and amplifying Indigenous voices on a national and global scale.
Appleford notes that while the portal is live, the ongoing effort to share Native communities' stories is just beginning.
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The preservation of native languages is another key element of this project. Maximilian’s journals include English translations of native words, and in collaboration with the tribal partners, updated translations and language recordings from Native speakers are being added to the portal. Looking forward, says Appleford, the project will continue to explore and develop language preservation.
The project also extends into education. Under the direction of Associate Professor Ann Mausbach, PhD, the project has led to the development of a K-12 curriculum. Through the listening sessions, Mausbach says, key themes were identified and used in lesson development, in collaboration with Native American teachers.
“Ultimately, we want students to gain a deeper understanding of nineteenth-century Native American life and its lasting impact on all cultures today,” Mausbach says.
Appleford adds that the curriculum will serve as a resource for both students and Native communities, helping younger generations connect with their ancestral history.
The importance of this project is deeply felt by those involved. For Appleford, it’s been a humbling and rewarding experience to be trusted with the cultural history of Native tribes and to collaborate with the communities. “People are connected to this project in a more meaningful way than other scholarship that I have been involved with,” he says. “This is both in terms of the work undertaken and, more importantly, the relationships developed with members of the Umoⁿhoⁿ Nation and the Three Affiliated Tribes, Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation.”
Appleford adds that witnessing the public’s interest and engagement with the portal has been especially gratifying.
Ultimately, we want students to gain a deeper understanding of nineteenth-century Native American life and its lasting impact on all cultures today.
— Ann Mausbach, PhD, Associate Professor
