Indigenous Museum Curatorship in the United States and Canada: Roles and Responsibilities

Abstract

AbstractIndigenous curatorship has become an increasingly visible presence in the public sphere as part of the long process of North American Native people’s efforts to regain control over the representations and uses of their cultures in Western societies. Even though scholars consider this profession fundamental to Native American struggles for sovereignty, many do not have a clear understanding of what it involves. In the context of scarce scholarship on Indigenous curatorship, this qualitative study relies on interview and textual data to articulate Indigenous curators’ understandings of their work of preserving and promoting Indigenous knowledge. It emphasizes the uniqueness of Indigenous curatorship by mapping out this profession’s specific roles and responsibilities within the broader arena of museum curatorship. The study identifies two main directions Indigenous curators take in their work, namely activism and engagement of the public. Activism consists in Indigenous curators’ efforts to critique oppressive knowledge structures, raise awareness of controversial topics of public interest related to Indigeneity, and support Native artists and tribal communities. Engagement of the public refers to Indigenous curators’ strategies of involving source communities in the design of exhibits and diverse audiences in the interpretation of exhibitions.