Curator at The Nanticoke Indian Museum
Job Title: Curator
Job Status: Full-time
Location: Millsboro, DE
Salary: $55,000 – $60,000
Description
The Nanticoke Indian Association (NIA) is offering a unique opportunity for a highly motivated curator to lead the transformation of its Nanticoke Indian Museum into a centerpiece for community engagement and outreach. This three-year position, made possible by the generous support of the Mellon Foundation, is a stepping stone towards a permanent role, demonstrating our commitment to the museum’s future and the curator’s potential impact.
About the Nanticoke Indian Museum: The Nanticoke Indian Museum, a living testament to our rich history and culture, is not just a building but a symbol of our heritage. It stands on our Nanticoke homelands, less than one mile from what is now known as Indian River Bay, and less than fifteen miles from the Delaware Beach towns of Rehoboth, Dewey, and Bethany. The Museum, operated by the Nanticoke Indian Association, Inc., is the governing body of the state-recognized Nanticoke Indian Tribe. The NIA Museum, which opened in 1984, is housed in a building that was once a segregated Indian School, one of only thirteen on the National Register of Historic Places owned by an Indigenous community. This rich history and our ambitious future plans, including a building addition and grounds redesign, make this an inspiring time to join us.
Currently, the Museum offers 2,400 square feet of indoor exhibition space. Its collection of roughly 4,000 artifacts reflects lifeways not only among the Nanticoke over time, but also artifacts from distant communities, such as the Diné, Nde, and Maya, providing insight into Indigenous craft, culture, and trade across North America over the last 8,000 years. The Museum’s two-acre grounds regularly host community events, though the annual Nanticoke Pow-wow now attracts up to 15,000 people and is held at another location.
As the Museum embarks on a transformative journey over the next five years, with a building addition and grounds redesign, the role of the curator becomes even more crucial. This revamp will enhance the site’s power to tell the Nanticoke story in ways that heighten awareness of the Tribe and give a sense of place to a region experiencing record tourism and residential population growth as well as growing environmental challenges associated with sea level rise. The NIA, recognizing the need for a trained professional to help the Museum realize its potential in this context, has received generous funding from the Mellon Foundation to hire its first full-time curator. This is a testament to the importance of this role in our future.
Requirements
Responsibilities:
-Administration (30%)
•Takes leadership role in strategic planning for the museum, including working with the Association’s Museum Committee to finalize a new Mission Statement, and Collections and Interpretive Plans
•Creates policies that bring the Museum’s collections and interpretive practice into accord with professional standards
•Recruits, manages, and trains volunteers to staff museum visitor desk and programming
•Contribute to Museum renovation planning
• Manages annual Museum operating budget of roughly $200,000 (with bookkeeping assistance)
• Identifies and submits grant proposals that help the Museum meet its mission and sustainably expand its capacity
-Collections (40%)
• Manages and grows Museum collections in accord with the above-mentioned Mission Statement and Collections Plan, including:
-monitoring environmental and security conditions
-conduct or supervise inventory, and enhance and reconcile collections documentation, including Past Perfect catalog records
-prioritize conservation needs and carry out small-scale preventive care projects as funding allows
-further develop the collection through new acquisitions
-Interpretation (30%)
• Work with existing partners and stakeholders, and cultivate new ones, to collaboratively develop new and engaging programming and exhibitions that connect with local residents, visiting tourists, and Nanticoke community members by highlighting Nanticoke history and culture, particularly through the lens of the unique places and landscapes that comprise our Nanticoke homelands.
-Crucial to the above work will be conceptualizing an updated gallery space, with existing grant funding and an external design team
• Contribute to Powwow and other event planning and staffing
Desired Qualifications:
• Master’s Degree in History, Indigenous Studies, Museum Studies, or a related field, and knowledge of or interest in the history and culture of the Nanticoke People.
• At least twelve months experience in paid curatorial or programming roles at museums, cultural centers, parks, or related institutions (may include time as full-time or part-time staff, as well as internships or fellowships). Experience in inventorying and/or cataloging collections as well as developing and delivering content through programming and/or exhibitions strongly preferred.
• Experience working with members of Tribal communities on cultural or environmental sector programs and/or projects.
• Proven self-starter, problem-solver, and goal-driven professional with a record of meeting deadlines while managing multiple projects and tasks. Project management experience is a plus.
• Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal skills, including demonstrated experience building trusting and positive mutual relationships with diverse stakeholders and partners by exhibiting emotional intelligence and the receptive, empowering, diplomatic, and collaborative approaches required to thrive together.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and Google Drive. Working knowledge of Past Perfect is preferred.
• Physical ability to lift 25 pounds
Compensation:
Starting salary range of $55,000-$60,000, with health insurance benefits and two weeks paid leave annually. An annual travel/training allowance of $3,500 is also included.
To Apply:
Send a resumé, contact information for three references, and a cover letter addressing your approach to museums and curation to the attention of Chief Avery at info@nanticokeindians.org. Please compile and submit application materials as a single PDF file.
Applications are due by July 1.
Any questions may be directed to info@nanticokeindians.org
Equal Opportunity Employer Statement:
The Nanticoke Indian Association Inc. is an equal-opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.
This policy applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, training, and apprenticeship. The Nanticoke Indian Association Inc. makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.
The Nanticoke Indian Association seeks individuals from all backgrounds to join our organization, and we encourage our employees to bring their authentic, original, and best selves to the workplace.