Museums, heritage and indigenous voice decolonising engagement

• Main Author: Onciul, Bryony (Author)
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: New York Routledge 2015
• Series: Routledge research in museum studies 10
• Subjects: Museums > Social aspects > Canada; Museums and Indians > Canada; Museums > Political aspects > Canada; Ethnological museums and collections > Canada
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.
• Physical Description: xiv, 267 pages : 24 cm
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references and indexes
• ISBN: 9781138781115

Current discourse on Indigenous engagement in museum studies is often dominated by curatorial and academic perspectives, in which community voice, viewpoints, and reflections on their collaborations can be under-represented. This book provides a unique look at Indigenous perspectives on museum community engagement and the process of self-representation, specifically how the First Nations Elders of the Blackfoot Confederacy have worked with museums and heritage sites in Alberta, Canada, to represent their own culture and history. Situated in a post-colonial context, the case-study sites are places of contention, a politicized environment that highlights commonly hidden issues and naturalized inequalities built into current approaches to community engagement. Data from participant observation, archives, and in-depth interviewing with participants brings Blackfoot community voice into the text and provides an alternative understanding of self and cross-cultural representation.