Standing in-front of one of my favorite displays at MONAH, our collection of handwoven Navajo textiles.

Author: Liley Bozard | Major: Anthropology | Semester: Spring 2023

Hello friends, peers, and whomever else may find themselves reading this! My name is Liley Bozard, and I am currently a rising senior studying Anthropology and History. This semester I worked as a museum studies intern at the Museum of Native American History (MONAH) in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Like most students, I have been conflicted with deciding what specific career path I would like to pursue after graduation. In an effort to ‘figure myself out,’ I decided to apply for an internship at MONAH to give myself a broader perspective of the professional applications of anthropology and history. After a lengthy process of applying, obtaining letters of recommendation, and interviewing, I was selected as their spring 2023 museum studies intern.

I chose this organization because I am interested in local indigenous history and educational outreach. Although I have been indecisive about identifying my post-graduate plans, I have specific interests in pre-contact archeology, southeastern indigenous cultures, and community outreach. I was ecstatic to receive this internship from MONAH because it gave me an opportunity to see how local institutions implement community outreach to highlight past and contemporaneous Native American communities.

Standing under our Teepee display

During my internship, I was tasked with several roles within the museum, including managing collections, writing weekly articles, and attending community events. I largely helped MONAH with a widespread inventory of their entire collection. This involved identifying and labeling thousands of artifacts, then uploading that data to our curation management system. Another major role I fulfilled was communicating with the public through a variety of endeavors. Each week, I wrote articles concerning objects in our collections and then published my works on our website. Similarly, I was also able to attend outreach events, including the Botanic Gardens of the Ozarks’ Earth Day festival. During this event, we taught children traditional cultivation practices of southeastern Native American communities. At large, my work was to help MONAH support indigenous history and highlight modern descendant communities.

While working at MONAH, I gained many valuable skills tailored to my interests. I learned how to communicate with a public audience, a skill I was very limited in prior to my internship. I further learned how to curate artifacts and various preservation methods that museums use in their exhibits. Both of these skills contributed to my career interests in museum-based organizations.

After graduation, I plan to work as an archeological technician for a year and then continue my education at the graduate level. I hope to pursue a career in southeastern archeology and work as a primary investigator for a cultural resource management firm!

Working on inventorying our library