An Ohio museum exhibit created in collaboration with 10 tribal nations has lost the remainder of its federal grant.
St. Clair’s Defeat Revisited: A New View of the Conflict first went up to display in November 2023, after seven years of exhibit planning and consultation with tribal scholars and citizens, as well as Ball State University faculty. Ball State faculty declined an interview with WYSO.
The exhibit describes St. Clair’s Defeat, a battle in Fort Recovery, Ohio, between nine tribal nations and the U.S. military over two centuries ago, as well as the lasting effects on the tribal communities today.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Ohio event to shed light on one of U.S. military's greatest defeats by Native Americans
It was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, with an award of $200,000 starting in 2022. The exhibit was created with the intention of traveling to museums in Indiana, Ohio, and Oklahoma. In a letter obtained by WYSO, the staff received notice of the grant cancellation on April 2, and that it was effective immediately. They were supposed to be funded through August 31 of this year, according to the National Endowment’s website.
In the letter, signed by Michael McDonald, acting chairman for the National Endowment for the Humanities, the reasoning cited was a February executive order titled “Commencing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy.”
“Your grant’s immediate termination is necessary to safeguard the interests of the federal government, including its fiscal priorities,” the April 2 letter reads.
Ball State staff are one of hundreds of NEH grant recipients across the country to have their grants revoked. That includes Ohio Humanities, which lost its grant worth $1.8 million that makes up a majority of its operating budget.
In a press release from NEH regarding its cancelled awards, the agency wrote it's targeting grants "that are at variance with agency priorities, including but not limited to those on diversity, equity, and inclusion (or DEI) and environmental justice, as well as awards that may not inspire public confidence in the use of taxpayer funds."
“We are losing important and impactful education and relationship-building. This isn't about saving money or being more efficient and responsive. It is tearing down community-built products and accomplishments.”
An estimated 20,000 people have seen St. Clair’s Defeat: Revisited since its opening day.
The exhibit is currently on display at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, its final destination. It also had stints at history and cultural centers in Fort Wayne, Indiana; Miami, Oklahoma and Fort Recovery, Ohio.
Chief Ben Barnes of the Shawnee Tribe was one of the tribal leaders consulted for the exhibit. He said he’s disappointed at the grant suspension because the exhibit explored the Native American side of history that often goes untold.
“The telling of history is one that when it's done well, you tell the history as it exists and as it is without coloring up or glossing over the unsavory elements of it,” he said. “And if it does upset you, that's great. That means this is something to learn from so that our country will never repeat it again. So the National Endowment of Humanities at its best, it helps institutions like Ball State…collect and tell stories,” said Barnes.
According to a source who asked not to be named for fear of repercussions, there was less than $10,000 left to be distributed in the grant, which would’ve gone towards disassembly costs and project team work expenses.
“We are losing important and impactful education and relationship-building. This isn't about saving money or being more efficient and responsive,” wrote the source in an email. “It is tearing down community-built products and accomplishments.”
The source said the discontinuation of NEH funds will also disrupt the potential for the exhibit, such as other grants that may have otherwise been available through Ohio Humanities to continue sharing the exhibit.
The exhibit is still available to view at the Ohio History Center in Columbus until Aug. 31. A smaller banner version of the exhibit is still en route to its next destination in Akron starting May 16. A digital version of the exhibit can be found here.
