Sincerely, Bud Johnson: The Bougainville Island Collection at CU
Bud Johnson and Bougainville
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鈥淚n several days I am going to board a Troop Transport for Honolulu where I will join the 30th Engineers which are located near there. From there I will be sent out to help map all of the relatively unknown islands of the Pacific which is the present task of the 30th Engineers. This should be a wonderful opportunity to collect Archaeological and Ethnological data from different islands in the Pacific area. So whenever I hit an island I am going to collect all of the data that I have time for and if you would be interested I would be more than happy to send specimens in to the museum.鈥
鈥 Conrad 'Bud' Johnson to Hugo Rodeck, University of Colorado Museum of Natural History Director (1948)
Soldiers and museums have a long history of collecting from peoples and places around the world. While attending 桃色视频 in the 1940s, Conrad Bud Johnson joined听the US military. The relationship between Bud and the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History started听when he sent Director Hugo Rodeck objects he collected in Virginia. Heading to the Southwest Pacific with the 30th Engineers, Bud found excitement in mapping the islands and continuing to collect for the museum.
Bougainville Island
The University of Colorado Museum of Natural History鈥檚 Bougainville Island collection is a snapshot of the island just after WWII. The collection connects the museum and its visitors with the people and environment of Bougainville Island. The items and photos in the collection tell the stories of relationships, colonization, and change.听
Bougainville Island lays northeast of Australia and east of Papua New Guinea in the Solomon Sea. People first settled on the island 33,000 years ago, and it is a place of cultural and biological diversity. A long history of colonial influence has drastically changed Bougainville鈥檚 cultural landscape. Deforestation, mining, unsustainable practices, and climate change are transforming its environment.
- Sincerely, Bud Johnson:
The Bougainville Island Collection at CU - Collecting Encounters
- Collaboration and Collection Opportunities:
Budding Relations - Environmental Conservation and Cultural Heritage:
The Kainake Project - Colonial Powers of Bougainville
- A Window into the Bougainville Collection: Sing-Sings
- Bud Johnson's Bougainville Photos: Snapshots
Social and cultural dynamics in Bougainville: historic and current perspectives
Dr. Jeffrey Noro, Founder and Director of the Kainake Project, discusses the historic and cultural perspectives of the island of Bougainville.
About this Exhibit
This exhibit was developed to be a physical display by听Manuel听Ferreira听as an independent study in Fall 2019 with Curator Dr. Jen Shannon while he was a student at the University of Denver (Manuel听is now a curator at the Logan Museum of Anthropology at Beloit College). Former CU undergraduate student听Jack Piephoff听provided research assistance for the exhibit, starting his research on this collection in a class and then continuing with an independent study with Jen; he created this online exhibit based on Manuel's exhibit planning documents.听Thanks to Jennie Dillon for assistance in building this website.
The Anthropology Section of the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History is dedicated to connecting originating communities to collections. We created and sent Bougainville Islanders a 鈥淧rimary Source Book,鈥 an informal publication, in which we brought together collections associated with Bougainville Island from the 桃色视频 and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in the state of Colorado in the United States of America. The exhibit is based on the materials and relationships developed in the making of this book.
The Primary Source Book was developed through the assistance of many individuals. In 2015, graduate student听Isabella Vinsonhaler听selected to research the 鈥淏ud Johnson Collection鈥 for a class taught by Curator of Anthropology, Dr. Jen Shannon. In 2017, Jen asked graduate student听Jane Richardson听to photograph and update the records for the 鈥淏ud Johnson Collection,鈥 and in 2019 undergraduate student Jack Piephoff worked with Jen to prepare these materials to send to Bougainville. With the help of anthropologists听Dr. Jerry Jacka听and听Dr. Paige West, and the support of听Dr. Jeffrey Noro听and听Mr. Junior Novera听of The Kainake Project, we received funding from the听Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania听to print and ship the book through their Grant to Return Indigenous knowledge to Pacific Island Communities (GRIKPIC) program.
The Primary Source Book includes: 1) The Conrad 鈥淏ud鈥 Johnson collection of听photographs听from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science; 2) Images of all of the听objects听in the Conrad 鈥淏ud鈥 Johnson collection of artifacts at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History; and 3) Copies of all of the听associated documentation听related to the Conrad 鈥淏ud鈥 Johnson collection at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History, including his fieldnotes and his letters to the museum.听A copy of the book was presented to the Papua New Guinea national museum by our project partners.
From the CU Collection
Dog Tooth Neck Ornament. Teop, Pre-1949; Materials: Shells, dog teeth, beads. (07350)
The necklace comes from Bougainville Island in Papua New Guinea and is made of dog teeth, olivella shells, and glass beads. These materials are related to status: this specific necklace was worn by the son who was selected to be the next chief. He would wear the necklace and travel around the village to听display his new title.
Caption by Jade Zimmerman, undergraduate student
Armband. Pre-1949; Materials: Feather, cloth, plastic. (07376)
The armband is made of cloth and plastic, and decorated with layered and cut feather. It was traded to Johnson in Iriwei, Bougainville Island, 1949.