Ponca Tribe of Nebraska

The seven year-old Ponca Museum and Library in Niobrara, NE, houses tribal artifacts and historical archives, as well as a library and community center. The mission of the museum is to preserve, advance, and share the knowledge of the cultural, traditional, and artistic heritage of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. This grant will help to professionalize museum services by supporting an in-house assessment by an outside advisory team of consultants. The assessment has five interrelated goals: to inventory collections, conduct a physical space assessment, gather information from tribal members on what stories/histories to share with museum visitors, collect information about target visitors the tribe would like to attract, and create a preliminary exhibition and marketing plan. As a result of this project, the tribe will develop collections management policies and procedures that will lead to improved care of collections, and will use the assessment report for future museum development.