The Man The Museum Tried To Preserve Became A Test Of Whether Museums Could Change

More than a century after Ishi lived at Parnassus Heights, his relationship with the University of California has become a measure of institutional change.

The old museum wanted to preserve him as evidence.

The modern museum has to preserve the evidence while also interrogating the system that produced it.

That is harder.

It requires an institution to admit that valuable collections can have troubling origins.

It requires curators to acknowledge that scholarly heroes made decisions that caused harm.

It requires museums to share authority with Native communities.

It requires some materials to leave collections entirely.

It may require restricting access to other materials.