Lines of Discovery on Inuit Needle Cases, Kakpiit, in Museum Collections

Abstract

Drawing on examples of museum collections research by Indigenous people, including my own research experiences, I argue for the importance of Indigenous people's access to museum collections for cultural and language museum anthropo lo gy

Whose Information? What Knowledge? Collaborative Work and a Plea for Referenced Collection Databases

“…Instead, they said that it was not them to tell as they did not know how and why the people who collected the plants decided as they did. This statement might count as an expression of their awareness of the subjectivity and the context-dependent or situational character of all knowledge, also stated by other indigenous researchers (Kovach 2009; Zawadski 2018).…”

“…This corresponds to demands by Khwe individuals who have repeatedly asked me for access to Köhler’s materials. It also corresponds to my own understanding of ownership of cultural heritage, and the current zeitgeist in anthropology, concerned with collaboration and decolonization of ethnographic collections (e.g., Ames 1999; Clifford 1997; Krmpotich and Peers 2013; Lonetree 2012; Peers and Brown 2003; Philips 2011; Turner 2015) or with indigenizing collections (Zawadski 2018). It also relates to ideas that access and participation generate and stimulate memories, contribute to creating richer cultural heritage, and will sustain or revitalize cultural traditions (e.g., Fienup Riordan 2003; Fluehr-Lobban 2008; Howarth and Knight 2015; Zawadski 2018).…”

“…As it is impossible to escape the subjectivities and biases of any knowledge, no matter whether academic or local, and no matter how meticulously efforts at triangulation might be, it is necessary to reflect on the processes of knowledge production, to provide references and thereby take responsibility for one’s perspectives and writings (cf. Zawadski 2018). This is true no matter whether “experts” are academics or community members.…”

“…At the same time, physical contact and interaction with historical artifacts can trigger more memories and generate richer cultural heritage (e.g. Fienup-Riordan 2003; Zawadski 2018).…”