Hearth & Home, Preserving a People's Culture

McDaniel provides a much needed scholarly treatment of the complex relationship between material culture and the human/cultural element. The dichotomy that is inherent in the treatment of material artifact and human use is exposed. Museums that misinterpret home interiors and pull objects out of social and cultural context are issues dealt with directly. Through oral history, McDaniel shows that artifacts (namely houses) are used in quite different ways than the museums might interpret. He fills what are presented as empty dwellings, void of any human aspects, with the lives of the past inhabitants. A work that illustrates the profound usefulness of oral history and the dangers that are present in any museum setting that disregards the maker or users of the traditional material being exhibited.