Tara Mitchell

Bośho, my name is Tara Mitchell, and I’m an MA student in the Department of Museum Studies at the University of Kansas. I also work full-time for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation as the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer. My interests are collections management, specifically for cultural items. I also have a strong interest in NAGPRA policy within institutions. I’ve worked with many institutions and agencies, and they’ve all had different processes when working with tribes. I’d like to learn more about which processes work best for tribes to help improve the overall NAGPRA process. I recently repatriated my family’s cradle board from the Kansas Historical Society, as well as 56 items from the University of Kansas that were made by our tribal members in the 1930s. I’m currently the project coordinator for the Smithsonian’s Americans Traveling exhibit, which is coming to our reservation in January 2026. I’m responsible for creating a companion exhibit for this project, which will highlight our tribal history and culture. In 2023, our tribe collaborated with the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art and wrote the label for a bandolier bag made by one of our tribal members in the 1930s that was displayed in their exhibit. My colleague and I served as panelists for the "Kansas Schools, Native Americans, and the New Deal," organized in conjunction with the Beach Museum of Art exhibition, "To the Stars Through Art: A History of Art Collecting in Kansas Public Schools, 1900-1950." I’m also working on 2 beadwork pieces commissioned by the Beach Museum for their permanent collection. One of my goals is to help our tribe establish a museum or cultural center so we can safely house the items we’ve recently repatriated. I think having a museum would be beneficial for our tribe and the surrounding communities. Our tribe has a story to tell, talented artists, and items that should be showcased, but we have no place to do this. Another goal for myself is to learn how to preserve and care for items that we currently have in our collection. My predecessor reclaimed many items that had not been properly cared for. My department also receives a lot of donations, which include photos, documents, beadwork, stone tools, regalia, and many other cultural items. I would like to learn the best storage practices for each type of item we receive.