Native American art curator wins award

The High Desert Museum has chosen Dr. Rebecca J. Dobkins, professor of anthropology at Willamette University in Salem and curator of Native American collections at the university’s Hallie Ford Museum of Art, for the 29 th annual Earle A. Chiles Award.

The $15,000 award funded by the Chiles Foundation honors Dobkins’ work surrounding Native American cultures and art, which has fostered greater public understanding of High Desert tribal communities.

Dobkins, 51, has advanced the exchange of artistic expressions through exhibits, publications and educational programs. Her work has also proved her extraordinary ability to build bridges among people and cultures through dialogue and understanding.

“It is very uplifting to be in the company of this award’s previous recipients, such as Patty Limerick [of the Center of the American West] and Catherine “Kay” Fowler [an anthropologist who has focused on preserving Great Basin native cultures],” said Dobkins. “These are people I have thought of as my mentors and teachers, and so to be given this honor is a great affirmation of the lessons I’ve tried to live up to.”

She said that her thinking about the West was significantly influenced in college when she began reading Limerick’s work challenging popular mythologies about the West. Dobkins recalled how Fowler kindly mentored her in her early career through the Council for Museum Anthropology, and named Native American artist Lillian Pitt, originally from the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, as another mentor who had a significant impact on her work.

“(Pitt) helped me directly and indirectly, opening doors with Native artists. Another Chiles recipient who has been a great friend is Charles Wilkinson, whose life work and scholarship in Indian law I deeply admire,” Dobkins said. “I think of him as one of the great public citizens of the West.”

Pitt, of Portland, a former High Desert Museum Trustee, was one of two people who nominated Dobkins for the award. She said Dobkins exceeded the typical expectations of a curator and professor in her work. She cited Dobkins’ success in fostering communication and cooperation among the Oregon tribal communities in addressing issues within their sovereign nations. This Willamette University forum, the Indian Country Conversations, continues to be effective, she said.

“Because of the respect she has earned, tribal members from Burns, Klamath Falls, Coos Bay, Siletz and Grand Ronde are willing to travel distances to participate in conversations she organizes,” Pitt said.

Inspired by the example of Willamette University Native American undergraduates who began volunteering at Chemawa Indian School in Salem in the early 2000s, Dobkins created a partnership program between the two educational institutions, in which Willamette students tutor at Chemawa four nights a week. Students from both schools build close relationships, and enjoy participating in academic, cultural, and athletic activities together.

“This has developed into a beneficial giving exchange on both sides… and is another example of her incredible giving spirit,” said Pitt. “She has also helped me realize some of the possibilities available to me as an artist, person and spokesperson for my ancestors and the Native world of our community at large.”

The second person to nominate Dobkins was Carole Leone, executive director of The Museum At Warm Springs, who worked with Dobkins on two of more than 16 exhibits she curated at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art and which traveled to The Museum At Warm Springs and others.

“Rebecca’s untiring work to generate greater public awareness of the arts and culture of Native Americans is worthy of honor and recognition,” Leone wrote in a nomination letter.

Dobkins views her work as extending beyond her job descriptions.

“I’ve seen my career as one of facilitating, being a conduit for some of the immensely significant changes in Native communities that I’ve been fortunate to be a part of in the last 16 years since I came to Oregon,” she said. “It has been a great pleasure and honor to see these communities become stronger, with new avenues of creativity to honor the past. What truly are being recognized through this award are the great cultural gifts of this region.”

Museum Vice President of Programs Dana Whitelaw said: “Dr. Dobkins’ humility belies her remarkable achievements in helping to highlight the work of High Desert tribes in affirming their sovereignty, and sustaining their natural resources and artistry. This goes to the heart of the work of the High Desert Museum, which inspires people to better understand the region and address issues surrounding its resources. This award honors those who promote conflict resolution and thoughtful management of the natural and cultural resources of the Intermountain West.”

Dobkins said she will use the award toward the completion of her book, “The Art of Ceremony: Regalia of Native Oregon,” which grows out of a National Endowment for the Arts-funded exhibition of the same name organized at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art in 2008.

The book, which will be written in collaboration with members of the nine federally recognized tribes of Oregon, celebrates the artistry of ceremonial regalia as it is used today, and explores how Oregon’s native communities engage in ceremony as a means of renewal and self-determination.

Dobkins said she hopes that the book, like the exhibition project, will bring long-overdue recognition to the brilliant living traditions of Oregon’s native communities.
About the Award

The Chiles award committee reviews nominations from Museum trustees, peer institutions and the public. The $15,000 award was established in 1983 in honor of Earle A. Chiles, Oregonian, businessman and philanthropist. It is funded by the Chiles Foundation and will be presented at the Earle A. Chiles Award Banquet in Portland on Dec. 4.