Last Saturday, an Indigenous mother of Karuk descent was forced out of the Portland Museum of Art (PAM) in Portland, Oregon, after an employee told her to remove the traditional Karuk woven baby basket in which she was carrying her toddler on her back. The mother shared on Facebook that a staff member told her the basket violated the museum’s “no backpacks” policy. PAM has since issued a public apology to the mother, citing policy revisions to prevent this from happening again.
“The Portland Art Museum – where being native is cool as long as you’re part of the exhibit and not actually practicing your culture,” the mother’s Facebook post began, directly referencing the Dakota Modern: The Art of Oscar Howe exhibition presented during his visit. She said the visitor services employee, a white woman, asked him to remove the carrier, comparing it to a backpack that would violate the museum’s bag policy.
“However, a cool item,” the employee reportedly told the mother as she was shown the door. The mother also said the employee told her she ‘needed to calm down and take a deep breath’ when she said ‘kill the Indian, save the man’ was once policy. The mother did not immediately respond to Hyperallergic requests for comment, but a museum spokesperson said the visitor had not been removed from the galleries and that “no comments were made about the safety of the baby”.
“The employee who initiated the interaction was attempting to implement museum policy,” the spokesperson continued. “The visitor was asked to remove the carrier from her back, but was not asked to leave the museum.”
After the mother posted the incident on Facebook, a Portland-specific activism account on Twitter shared the story in a Tweeter which has amassed over a million views. Dozens of Twitter users called out the museum for its anti-Indigenous sentiments and posted photos of other museum patrons with backpacks and baby carriers to highlight the hypocrisy of the incident.
The museum has since issued a public apology via Twitter and Instagram saying it has contacted the mother and her family and will revise its baby carrier policies to “prevent this from happening again”.
The PAM spokesperson said the staff member “understands the impact their action has had on the visitor and is extremely regrettable”. The representative also confirmed that the website has been updated effective today, with the new policy stating that bags, backpacks or items larger than 11 x 17 x 6 inches must be left outside the museum, babies in baby carriers are permitted.
