Making History, Making Change in Collaboration with The Smithsonian: Recovering Voices and the Hopi Pottery Oral History Project Rosenberry Lecture Series (Afternoon Session)

In collaboration with the Making History, Making Change Lecture Series from the Smithsonian, the Rosenberry Lecture Series is proud to present a special lecture featuring Gwyneira Isaac, director for Recovering Voices, and Hopi potter, Karen Kahe Charley. Join us to learn about the role of Recovering Voices in cultural revitalization programming, especially how Hopi potters in the Hopi Pottery Oral History Project look to reconnect their people with the social value of Hopi pottery. This approach speaks to the importance of intergenerational knowledge exchange, which fosters relationships between people and place, as well as the continuity of cultural philosophies that help younger generations to understand the restorative power of these relationships.

The Recovering Voices (RV) program at the Smithsonian Institution was developed in 2009 to support community-led efforts to revitalize endangered languages and cultural knowledge. One of the first and long-standing partnerships for RV has been with the Hopi Pottery Oral History Project, which resulted in numerous visits by Hopi potters to the Smithsonian collections, as well as community-led programming at Hopi in Arizona, such as the Intergenerational Hopi Pottery Festival.

This lecture is part of the 2025-2026 Rosenberry Lecture Series.

Gwyneira Isaac is Curator of North American Ethnology, and director of the Recovering Voices program at the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution. She researches intersections between Native American and non-Native knowledge systems, including how knowledge is reproduced through different media and technology (texts, photography, replicas, life casts, models and 3D printing). Her publications include Mediating Knowledges: Origins of a Zuni Tribal Museum (2007), “Whose Idea Was This? Museums, Replicas and the Reproduction of Knowledge” (2011), as well as Native American concepts of health and wellbeing in “Native American Perspectives on Health and Traditional Ecological Knowledge” (2018). As director for Recovering Voices, she works closely with Indigenous communities who are interested in using Smithsonian collections in their efforts towards revitalizing endangered languages and knowledges.

Karen Kahe Charley is a Hopi potter from Sitsomovi village on First Mesa in northeastern Arizona. A member of the Butterfly and Badger Clan, she was encouraged by her grandmother, Emma Adams, to play with clay and make pottery as a small child. When she returned home after living away from Hopi, her mother, Marcella Kahe, taught her traditional pottery making, including the harvesting of clay, minerals and pigments, as well as how to make her own tools and Hopi stories about specific shapes and designs. She is best known for her Hopi traditional pottery inspired by the pottery shards of Sikyatki, Awatovi, and Payupki, and has been awarded Best of Show, Best of Division, and Best Traditional Pottery at the Museum of Northern Arizona and Santa Fe Indian Market.

The Making History, Making Change Lecture Series is a national collaboration between the Smithsonian and 25 Smithsonian Affiliate organizations, featuring expert-led talks that explore the people, moments, and ideals that have shaped—and continue to shape—the American experience.

The Making History, Making Change Lecture Series is organized by Smithsonian Affiliations as part of the Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250. It is supported in part by the Dreier Family, Johanna and Ken Kim Family, Vaishali Shah Chadha and Family, and Michael Vu & Meridel Bulle-Vu.

A hearing loop assistive listening system is available for this program to assist guests with hearing loss.