Sacred Landscapes of the Native Americas

In the fall of 2025, the O’Sullivan Gallery presented “Sacred Landscapes of the Native Americas,” an exhibition curated by art history professor Khristin M. Montes, Ph.D., and her students in a class of the same name. Throughout the course, students had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with pieces of the Dayton Memorial Library’s Special Collections. The students specifically interacted with indigenous artwork and items from Latin America and the American Southwest.

The artifacts that the students worked with, as they arrived in the archives, came with “metadata,” or the historical, cultural and physical information about each object. Historically, metadata for indigenous objects has failed to be culturally conscious or completely historically accurate. Taking inspiration from her own time as a student, Montes provided an indigenous framework for her students to begin their research.

“For many Native American communities, even to this day, in many ways, there's no real separation between an artifact and the or the or the art and the architecture and the landscape or the people,” said Montes. “It's all in one kind of interactive, beautiful relationship."

Students worked throughout the semester with their chosen objects, recontextualizing the metadata with their own research, and created their own displays for the exhibition. While some made more traditional written descriptions, others created videos, maps and artwork discussing their objects.

Students Jayden Berry, a junior studying finance, and Emmelly Alvarez, a senior majoring in business administration, worked together with their object from the archives to create an installation for the exhibition, elevating the framework of the “sacred landscapes.”

“Sacred landscapes just means something that has a deeper meaning to a certain group of people, whether it's spiritual, whether it's just the landscape itself, whether it's cultural or familial,” said Berry. “I understand them to be like physical locations that are considered to be alive or charged with a lot of spiritual significance.”

The object that the duo chose was a metlatl, the Nahuatl word for a “metate,” which is a grindstone used for grains and seeds in Mesoamerican tradition. Initially, the duo gained interest in the object because of Alvarez’s personal connection.

As a young Latina woman, Alvarez described how she and her family commonly use a modern version of the metlatl while cooking during family events.

“I didn't know a lot of historical facts about the metlatl.” Alvarez continued, “and I just thought it would be a great opportunity for me to just grow more and dive deeper within my culture and my family's roots.”

Throughout the research process, the students encountered both successes and dead ends in examining the existing metadata. Taking this research into their own hands, the students became stewards of the existing archives, ensuring that they are historically and culturally sensitive.

For student Celeste Anaya Garcia, her research process took an unexpected turn when she discovered that the Owl effigy pipe she was working with was likely from a burial context. Garcia discovered that the piece went far beyond its original attributed uses but was intended for use in end-of-life ceremonies. Out of respect, the piece was not included in the exhibition, and Garcia focused on a new topic.

Creating the opportunity for students to interface with the University archives directly mirrors the tenets of Regis’ Jesuit mission. Kate Burns, Interim Library Head of the Archives and Digital Collection, imparted the importance of fostering openness and access to institutional archives for the future.

“You can think of objects in an archive, if they aren't loved and brought out and honored, presented with dignity, they are underserved.” Burns continued, “and so walking with objects as well as people, I think, is a way that that mission comes alive for the students.”