The moai at Smithsonian's natural history museum. - General Tiki

JD Johnny Dollar Tiki Socialite Flyover, Missourah Joined: Oct 01, 2003 Posts: 3159	JD Johnny Dollar Posted posted on Thu, Jan 19, 2006 5:48 AM who knows... i have no contact with the natural history people anymore. one thing i will say from pure observation is that the museums seem to operate now less as repositories of knowledge and more as entertainment. therefore, trends and political correctness affect what is exhibited. one might posit that the perceived relevance of pacific cultures to the average tourist might be much weaker now than it was in the 1950's-60's. maybe if something happened in the pacific with the same 'newsworthiness' as hawaii's statehood in 1959, the museums would be scrambling to put the tapa cloth and bamboo back up. but yeah, there are acres of artifacts crammed away both in the museums themselves and a warehouse facility out in maryland. there is a possibility this stuff could get stored away for a loooong time. :( [ Edited by: Johnny Dollar 2006-01-19 08:19 ]

who knows... i have no contact with the natural history people anymore.

one thing i will say from pure observation is that the museums seem to operate now less as repositories of knowledge and more as entertainment. therefore, trends and political correctness affect what is exhibited. one might posit that the perceived relevance of pacific cultures to the average tourist might be much weaker now than it was in the 1950's-60's. maybe if something happened in the pacific with the same 'newsworthiness' as hawaii's statehood in 1959, the museums would be scrambling to put the tapa cloth and bamboo back up.

but yeah, there are acres of artifacts crammed away both in the museums themselves and a warehouse facility out in maryland. there is a possibility this stuff could get stored away for a loooong time. :(

[ Edited by: Johnny Dollar 2006-01-19 08:19 ]

Post #208667 by Johnny Dollar on Thu, Jan 19, 2006 5:48 AM