Jodie Dowd
This week Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) staff member Jodie Dowd is travelling from Canberra to Washington D.C. to complete a 10-week Internship at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian in the Collections Management department.
Jodie, a First Nation woman descended from the Noongar people of Western Australia with cultural affiliations to the Minang and Kitja groups of the southwest and Kimberley regions, is passionate about the preservation, interpretation and access of Aboriginal and other First Nation people's cultural heritage materials in museum collections.
“I’m very excited about learning how the National Museum of the American Indian incorporates Indigenous knowledge systems in managing cultural materials within the collections, and I’m looking forward to sharing this knowledge when I return to home,” Jodie said.
In early 2014, Jodie was awarded a three-year study contract at AIATSIS, where she works as a Collections Assistant and studies full time to gain her Master of Heritage and Museum Studies at the Australian National University. Jodie is undertaking the internship with the National Museum of the American Indian as part of her studies.
The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum and research complex, with 19 museums and galleries and the National Zoological Park. On July 1, 1836, Congress accepted the legacy bequeathed to the nation by James Smithson and pledged the faith of the United States to the charitable trust.
The total number of objects, works of art and specimens at the Smithsonian is estimated at nearly 138 million, including more than 127 million specimens and artefacts at the National Museum of Natural History.
If you would like more information about this Smithsonian Internships, Fellowships, and Research Associates check out their website at smithsonianofi.com.
Media enquiries:
commsmedia@aiatsis.gov.au or 02 6246 1605