September 01, 2009
Returning from a summer at the Smithsonian
When senior Mikal C. Brotnov returns to campus next week, it won't take him long to get back into the swing of things. He virtually never stopped studying.
With funding from the Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Fund for Scholars of Holocaust Studies, Brotnov spent the earlier part of the summer at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., where he assisted in the development of education materials for school audiences in support of the museum's National Education Initiative.
Brotnov said that growing up on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation gave him an opportunity "to interact with a unique history--one that intersects [his] own familial history with the tribes." His summer internship enabled him to learn how museums and other types of institutions take scholarly work and create meaningful narratives for the public.
In addition to his Belfer award, Brotnov was one of 11 Clark undergraduates who received a Steinbrecher Fellowship to support creative research and community service projects this summer and throughout the 2009-2010 academic year. He used this funding to travel to the National Archives and Record Administration in Seattle to conduct research, and to attend a powwow in Kamiah, Idaho, where he photographed the ritual celebration of the Nimiipuu. He is currently working on creating a photographic essay to showcase how the Nimiipuu's Lookingglass Days helps formulate personal and communal identity.
On being notified of his Fellowship, Brotnov wrote:
Being selected as a Steinbrecher Fellow affords me the unique opportunity to intertwine two passions of mine--archival research and photography. I envision this fellowship fostering various forms of ongoing dialogue between the tribe and me. My goal is to help bridge a gap between the world in which I grew up--the reservation--and the academic world, where I am today.
Brotnov shares the emotions and his experiences on his blog: http://web.me.com/zeropointdl/STEINBRECHER/Blog/Blog.html
An excerpt from his blog on Monday, Aug. 17:
I had completed a research proposal on the missionary Henry Spalding for Writing History in spring 2009 and visiting the site where the mission and the church still reside was gut wrenching for me. I already despised the man before I got there, but words fail me when I try to describe the anger and mixed bag of emotions I had just being near it.
Later that day, Brotnov wrote about documents he came across in his research:
Many scholars who do not think that Native Americans have suffered from genocide have really never read article 2, section e. The government actively participated in genocide through its Indian boarding schools. Reading the letters of mothers pleading with superintendents to allow their children to come home took a toll on me.
Originally from Kamiah, Idaho, Brotnov is a 1994 graduate of Kamiah High School and a first-generation college student. In 2008, he was selected as one of 46 recipients for the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship Foundation. A history major, Brotnov focuses his academic work on two marginalized groups: Native Americans and homosexuals in the Holocaust. He expects to receive his undergraduate degree in 2010 and intends to continue at Clark until he completes his Ph.D. in Holocaust History and Genocide Studies.
According to Clark Sociology Professor Parminder Bhachu, Brotnov "is biographically well suited to this research and will bring his personal experience to bear on developing deeper understanding for this research."
The Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Fund for Scholars of Holocaust Studies was established in 1997 to provide annual awards to two or more undergraduate students for research or internships related to the Holocaust.
Steinbrecher Fellowships encourage and support Clark undergraduates in their pursuit of original ideas, creative research, and community service projects. The Fellowship Program, established in 2006 in memory of David C. Steinbrecher, class of '81, by his parents, Phyllis and Stephen Steinbrecher, class of '55, is funded by generous gifts from them and from other family members and friends of David.