Abstract
This thesis appraises two United States National Parks and their presentation of historical narratives to critique the treatment of Indigenous history in federal public lands and suggests strategies to improve Indigenous acknowledgement. Often historical narratives presented on public land center on a settler narrative, leaving the longer history of the land, the genocide of Indigenous people, and modern Indigenous ties to the land out of the story. As movements for Indigenous rights and decoloniality achieve more awareness, some parks are beginning to incorporate a more complete narrative of the land’s history.
Two case studies, Bryce Canyon National Park and Everglades National Park provide comparisons of varying levels of commitment to combating Indigenous erasure. The interpretive signage and exhibits presented within the parks, as well as the media communication on the parks’ websites and social media (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube), offer examples of varying extents of park efforts in acknowledging Indigenous connections to the park land. Suggestions to increase collaborative curation based on the case studies are offered to improve inclusivity of interpretive narratives,which can also be utilized by other sites of federal public land to incorporate Indigenous perspective in their site interpretation.