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EXPLORATIONS – Indian Museum Education Programs

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EXPLORATIONS – Indian Museum Education Programs
By Marilyn Christiano

Broadcast: Wednesday, December 08, 2004

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

 
The museum celebrates the past, present and future of the American Indian. (Picture - NMAI)
And I'm Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today we tell about how the new National Museum of the American Indian is educating the public.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

A large group of school children waits outside the doors of the new museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. They are loudly talking and laughing with their friends while they wait. Then the doors to the National Museum of the American Indian open.

 
The interior1 of the museum. (Picture - NMAI)
The young students move past the security guards and walk around a metal wall. Suddenly they are very quiet. They are standing2 in a huge round space that is the center of the new building. Light from the sky pours in through a glass opening almost forty meters above them.

This is a space that quiets people. It expresses the American Indian respect for how the sky and the earth join to create the native universe. The sudden silence of the students is evidence they have begun to learn something about American Indians' culture and beliefs. That is the goal of the new museum.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The National Museum of the American Indian opened September twenty-first with a week-long celebration. On opening day, more than eighty thousand people gathered on the Mall to celebrate. About twenty-five thousand American Indians in their traditional clothes marched in the colorful Native Nations Procession. They represented five hundred tribes4 and Native communities from northern Canada to as far south as Chile in South America.

VOICE ONE:

Congress created the NMAI as part of the Smithsonian Institution in nineteen eighty-nine. Planning began the next year to create the first national museum to honor Native Americans.

 
W. Richard West is the Director of the museum. (Picture - NMAI)
W. Richard West, a Southern Cheyenne, has been the director of the museum since nineteen ninety. Mister West explains that Native Americans have had a continuing part in developing the design and goals of the museum and what it should show the public. Meetings were held for years with hundreds of Native people from North, Central and South America. They said that this museum should be different from other museums. They wanted the building to connect to the earth and its surroundings so it looked like it belongs on Indian land. And they urged that the voices and ideas of Native people be heard in all the displays and programs.

VOICE TWO:

Their advice has been followed. The design of the building and its surroundings show its connection to nature. Colors, materials and forms that are found in American Indian lands are used outside and inside the building. Throughout the museum, the voices of Native people describe their world.

Mister West says the museum was created to be a center for learning about the history and cultures of the native peoples of the Americas. He hopes visitors will leave the museum experience knowing that Indians are not just a part of history.

VOICE ONE:

The National Museum of the American Indian has about eight hundred thousand objects in its collection. Most of them were collected by one man, American businessman George Gustav Heye (high). He spent the first fifty years of the last century gathering5 all kinds of American Indian objects that have great artistic6, historic7 and cultural meaning.

The collection now is in three different buildings. Some of the objects are shown in the George Gustav Heye Center in New York City. Most of the collection is kept in the Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, Maryland, which opened in nineteen ninety-eight. This is also where people can do research.

The new museum in Washington, D.C. has about eight thousand objects in its exhibits. It also has space for educational activities, ceremonies and performances.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Representatives of Native communities helped develop the three main exhibit areas in the new museum. One area is called Our Universes: Traditional Knowledge Shapes Our World. It shows the spiritual links between people and the natural world. And it shows how these links are honored in many different ceremonies throughout the year.

Eight Native communities are represented in the Our Universes area. Tessie Naranjo helped choose the objects and the theme of the Santa Clara Pueblo8 exhibit.

Mizz Naranjo says the goal is to help visitors understand how the Santa Clara people look at life. This is done, she explains, through storytelling, which is used throughout the museum. All tribal9 stories have a teaching purpose, she says. Stories express the values of each Native community and the way community members are connected to the universe.

So the Santa Clara exhibit tells about the importance of water, maize10, and the four sacred mountains that surround the reservation in New Mexico. Visitors learn how young people in Santa Clara are taught to listen to older people and to honor the land.

VOICE ONE:

Another major exhibit area is called Our Peoples: Giving Voice to Our Histories. It explores events that have shaped the lives of Native Americans since Europeans arrived in fourteen ninety-two. It shows how American Indians have struggled to save their traditions.

The third exhibit area is called Our Lives: Contemporary Life and Identities. It tries to answer the question of what is an American Indian. Visitors see objects, pictures, and films and hear spoken words. They learn about the difficulties native peoples face to survive economically, save their languages, and keep their culture and arts alive.

VOICE TWO:

Genevieve Simermeyer, a member of the Osage tribe3, is the school programs coordinator11 for the museum. She says the museum education office has developed three programs for different age groups of school children. Nine Native Americans act as tour guides or cultural interpreters. They meet school groups in the large open space. Then they take the students through different areas of the museum. They explain about some of the exhibits and answer questions.

Before a group of school children visits the museum, their teacher receives materials to help prepare them. The youngest children from ages five to eight explore the idea of old things and new things. At the museum they discover links between the past and present in American Indian life.

VOICE ONE:

For groups of school children nine to eleven years old, the visit to the museum is about the cultural values of Native Americans. They explore how American Indians have dealt with change. Older children learn how modern issues such as borders and treaties have affected12 the culture, language and traditions of native peoples.

Mizz Simermeyer says the guided tours for school children are so popular they are already filled through May. But school groups can visit the museum without a guide. There are teaching materials to help them prepare for the visit.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Storytelling takes place throughout the museum. There are short films that tell American Indian stories. Voices in some of the some exhibits tell stories that explain native beliefs. The cultural interpreters also tell stories.

Adults and children also enjoy the hands-on parts of the museum. Computer games and instructional devices that provide learning experiences are very popular. So are teaching boxes that contain objects that visitors can touch. For people who cannot get to the museum, education materials can be found on the Internet at AmericanIndian.si.edu.

Amy Drapeau (drah-poe) is a spokesperson for the National Museum of the American Indian. She says the education program helps the general public understand that American Indians are not just from the past and are not all the same. They live in many different places. They speak hundreds of different languages. And their traditions are very different.

VOICE ONE:

Children who visit the museum seem to enjoy what they learn. You can hear their excited comments as they make discoveries for themselves. "Wow." "Come look at this!" "I did not know that."

Adults learn, too. A woman from Silver Spring, Maryland, says she learned that present day Native Americans still have traditions they know and value. She says that made her think about her own family traditions and what has happened to them. "The Museum of the American Indian," she says " is a powerful place."

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Marilyn Christiano. It was produced by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 interior 54gyR     
adj.在内的,内部的,内地的,国内的;n.内部
参考例句:
  • There is water in the interior of the cave.在山洞的内部有水。
  • They went into the interior room.他们进了内室。
2 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
3 tribe XJ2zS     
n.部落,种族,一伙人
参考例句:
  • This is a subject tribe.这是个受他人统治的部落。
  • Many of the tribe's customs and rituals are as old as the hills.这部落的许多风俗、仪式都极其古老。
4 tribes f3d6790faa976a2695d01a08f7b2ba64     
n.部落( tribe的名词复数 );(动、植物的)族;(一)帮;大群
参考例句:
  • tribes living in remote areas of the Amazonian rainforest 居住在亚马孙河雨林偏远地区的部落
  • In Africa the snake is still sacred with many tribes. 非洲许多部落仍认为蛇是不可冒犯的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 gathering ChmxZ     
n.集会,聚会,聚集
参考例句:
  • He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
  • He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
6 artistic IeWyG     
adj.艺术(家)的,美术(家)的;善于艺术创作的
参考例句:
  • The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
  • These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。
7 historic AcNxw     
adj.历史上著名的,具有历史意义的
参考例句:
  • This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
  • We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。
8 pueblo DkwziG     
n.(美国西南部或墨西哥等)印第安人的村庄
参考例句:
  • For over 2,000 years,Pueblo peoples occupied a vast region of the south-western United States.在长达2,000多年的时间里,印第安人统治着现在美国西南部的大片土地。
  • The cross memorializes the Spanish victims of the 1680 revolt,when the region's Pueblo Indians rose up in violent protest against their mistreatment and burned the cit
9 tribal ifwzzw     
adj.部族的,种族的
参考例句:
  • He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
  • The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。
10 maize q2Wyb     
n.玉米
参考例句:
  • There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
  • We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。
11 coordinator Gvazk6     
n.协调人
参考例句:
  • The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下,负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
  • How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室?
12 affected TzUzg0     
adj.不自然的,假装的
参考例句:
  • She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
  • His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

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