The American Philosophical Society’s collection of Native American materials, started by Thomas Jefferson in the late 18th century, is one of the oldest and deepest in the world.  The photographs in these multimedia exhibits come from the APS collections of two distinguished anthropologists, Frank G. Speck and A. Irving Hallowell.  The voices that bring these photographs back to life are those of Cherokee, Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, and Ojibwe wisdom keepers who visited the APS for the “Building Bridges between Archives and Indian Communities” in May of 2010.  From their perspective, the Native American materials at the APS are considered to be animate objects “reawakened” by the telling of stories. These stories have enabled the APS to understand its collections in important new ways.  We hope the exhibits will also help scholars, the general public, and Native American / First Nations communities appreciate the aesthetic and cultural beauty of the images and stories presented here.  This new partnership has already produced exciting outcomes, strengthening language revitalization projects within the communities and providing valuable descriptive and interpretive information to the Society about its collections.  As Tom Belt, a Cherokee elder, noted during his visit: “If [the APS] can work directly with the tribes with that kind of understanding, I think that we will all benefit from it.  I think that the institutions will be serving their purpose as stewards of these things.  And rather than just housing data and housing artifacts, they now begin to house the very kinetic energy that is the soul of our lives and can create things with it.  Kind of like bringing the dead back to life.  Or at least in a good way making sure that your life continues on in the manner in which it is supposed to.  And wouldn't that be a wonderful thing.”