Sincerely, Bud Johnson: The Bougainville Island Collection at
Bud Johnson and Bougainville
“In several days I am going to board a Troop Transport for Honolulu where I will join the 30th Engineers which are located near there. From there I will be sent out to help map all of the relatively unknown islands of the Pacific which is the present task of the 30th Engineers. This should be a wonderful opportunity to collect Archaeological and Ethnological data from different islands in the Pacific area. So whenever I hit an island I am going to collect all of the data that I have time for and if you would be interested I would be more than happy to send specimens in to the museum.”
— Conrad 'Bud' Johnson to Hugo Rodeck, University of Colorado Museum of Natural History Director (1948)
Soldiers and museums have a long history of collecting from peoples and places around the world. While attending Boulder in the 1940s, Conrad Bud Johnson joinedthe US military. The relationship between Bud and the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History startedwhen he sent Director Hugo Rodeck objects he collected in Virginia. Heading to the Southwest Pacific with the 30th Engineers, Bud found excitement in mapping the islands and continuing to collect for the museum.
Bougainville Island
The University of Colorado Museum of Natural History’s Bougainville Island collection is a snapshot of the island just after WWII. The collection connects the museum and its visitors with the people and environment of Bougainville Island. The items and photos in the collection tell the stories of relationships, colonization, and change.
Bougainville Island lays northeast of Australia and east of Papua New Guinea in the Solomon Sea. People first settled on the island 33,000 years ago, and it is a place of cultural and biological diversity. A long history of colonial influence has drastically changed Bougainville’s cultural landscape. Deforestation, mining, unsustainable practices, and climate change are transforming its environment.
- Sincerely, Bud Johnson:
The Bougainville Island Collection at - Collecting Encounters
- Collaboration and Collection Opportunities:
Budding Relations - Environmental Conservation and Cultural Heritage:
The Kainake Project - Colonial Powers of Bougainville
- A Window into the Bougainville Collection: Sing-Sings
- Bud Johnson's Bougainville Photos: Snapshots
Social and cultural dynamics in Bougainville: historic and current perspectives
Dr. Jeffrey Noro, Founder and Director of the Kainake Project, discusses the historic and cultural perspectives of the island of Bougainville.
this Exhibit
This exhibit was developed to be a physical display byManuelFerreiraas an independent study in Fall 2019 with Curator Dr. Jen Shannon while he was a student at the University of Denver (Manuelis now a curator at the Logan Museum of Anthropology at Beloit College). Former undergraduate studentJack Piephoffprovided research assistance for the exhibit, starting his research on this collection in a class and then continuing with an independent study with Jen; he created this online exhibit based on Manuel's exhibit planning documents.Thanks to Jennie Dillon for assistance in building this website.
The Anthropology Section of the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History is dedicated to connecting originating communities to collections. We created and sent Bougainville Islanders a “Primary Source Book,” an informal publication, in which we brought together collections associated with Bougainville Island from the University of Colorado Boulder and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in the state of Colorado in the United States of America. The exhibit is based on the materials and relationships developed in the making of this book.
The Primary Source Book was developed through the assistance of many individuals. In 2015, graduate studentIsabella Vinsonhalerselected to research the “Bud Johnson Collection” for a class taught by Curator of Anthropology, Dr. Jen Shannon. In 2017, Jen asked graduate studentJane Richardsonto photograph and update the records for the “Bud Johnson Collection,” and in 2019 undergraduate student Jack Piephoff worked with Jen to prepare these materials to send to Bougainville. With the help of anthropologistsDr. Jerry JackaandDr. Paige West, and the support ofDr. Jeffrey NoroandMr. Junior Noveraof The Kainake Project, we received funding from theAssociation for Social Anthropology in Oceaniato print and ship the book through their Grant to Return Indigenous knowledge to Pacific Island Communities (GRIKPIC) program.
The Primary Source Book includes: 1) The Conrad “Bud” Johnson collection ofphotographsfrom the Denver Museum of Nature and Science; 2) Images of all of theobjectsin the Conrad “Bud” Johnson collection of artifacts at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History; and 3) Copies of all of theassociated documentationrelated to the Conrad “Bud” Johnson collection at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History, including his fieldnotes and his letters to the museum.A copy of the book was presented to the Papua New Guinea national museum by our project partners.
From the Collection
Dog Tooth Neck Ornament. Teop, Pre-1949; Materials: Shells, dog teeth, beads. (07350)
The necklace comes from Bougainville Island in Papua New Guinea and is made of dog teeth, olivella shells, and glass beads. These materials are related to status: this specific necklace was worn by the son who was selected to be the next chief. He would wear the necklace and travel around the village todisplay his new title.
Caption by Jade Zimmerman, undergraduate student
Armband. Pre-1949; Materials: Feather, cloth, plastic. (07376)
The armband is made of cloth and plastic, and decorated with layered and cut feather. It was traded to Johnson in Iriwei, Bougainville Island, 1949.