Shared Stewardship – Poeh Cultural Center

This webpage is dedicated to sharing the story of Shared Stewardship for Tribal Communities.

Several years ago, the Poeh began talks with NMAI, in a concerted effort to bring these pots “home.” Along the way, many Tewa Pueblo artists, elders and community members worked tirelessly to help bring this homecoming to fruition. On October 12, 2019, a groundbreaking new exhibit titled Di Wae Powa (meaning “they came home” in the Tewa Pueblo language) opened to the public, with the intent to be dedicated to, and is being utilized by the Tewa Pueblo peoples who live in the neighboring Pueblos of Nambe, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, Owingeh and Tesuque.

Developed as a result of dialogs between Poeh and NMAI’s collections and curatorial staff, it establishes the shared protocols for respectful and culturally appropriate care of the Di Wae Powa collection that are in line with the best policies and practices as established by Indigenous and non-Indigenous museum and cultural center professionals, and the Indigenous communities they serve.

“I believe that Pueblo pottery is important because through pottery we are able to carry the past with us. We are able to practice, through our pottery, the belief systems of the Pueblo world.” Tessie Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo)

SHARED STEWARDSHIP establishes that the Poeh assumes overall management in the shared stewardship of the Di Wae Powa collection. This approach facilitates decisions regarding the care, preservation, interpretation, and exhibition of the collection, in a manner that upholds the cultural sovereignty and values of the Pueblo of Pojoaque and its sister Tewa Pueblo communities and aligns with the Smithsonian’s role as a collaborative custodian in matters of shared stewardship of cultural heritage passed on from one generation to the next.