Woyuha Hnébi ne Dââ Îbathûptabich (Studying Museums in a Good Way)

Abstract

Material conditions of colonialism have separated Indigenous people from many belongings, which now reside in museums and other collections. As Indigenous people advocate for access to their belongings in museums, they face significant institutional and structural barriers. This research explored the potential in reconnection with belongings in museums and collections with Îethka winchastabi (Stoney Nakoda people). Guided by a methodology developed in consultation with community members, this dissertation examines museum history, issues of representation, and recent moves in Canadian museology to engage with Indigenous people. This dissertation outlines a process of visiting undertaken with Îethka artists, storytellers and Elders in museums and similar spaces to consider relationships between community, belongings, and museums. The work includes a descriptive analysis of visiting over 20 sites that hold and present Indigenous belongings or representations, some of which are controlled by Indigenous people. It also describes complications to identifying Îethka belongings within museum records and databases, given the complexities and impositions of ethnographic categorization on individual works of art and groups of Indigenous people. The findings of this work suggest that processes of building relationships resultant from connection with belongings contain potential for cultural resurgence, relational and collective wellbeing, and opportunities for self-representation and authority over knowledge; this potential is tempered by coloniality. In particular, museums have undertheorized the impact of economic conditions on Indigenous peoples’ access to collections. Alleviating conditions that pose barriers for Indigenous people’s access to museums and the belongings within them is a process imbricated within Indigenous justice writ large; indicating that museums must view commitments to engage Indigenous people as multifaceted projects with implications throughout the institution and beyond.