Maggie Rice Cunningham

About Maggie

• I’m part of the Pawnee Nation and grew up in Oklahoma.
• I earned my bachelor’s degree in studio art from Dartmouth College with a minor in Native American studies—college was a culture shock and Native American studies really grounded me.
• I interned at the Hood Museum of Art, where I decided to pursue a career as a Native curator.
• After a few years, I went back to school for my master’s degree in museum studies.
• I wrote my thesis and interned at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and was blown away by the dedication to Indigenous experiences and collections.
• Inspired by that experience, I came back home and utilized my education to work for my tribe as a NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) project coordinator.
• I started to become discouraged by the lack of opportunity to really make an impact in the museum world within the context of cultural heritage.
• I jumped at the opportunity to become a producer for “Osiyo, Voices of the Cherokee People,” which filled the missing impact piece that I was looking for in my career.