Museum collection decolonization and indigenous cultural heritage in an island community: East Greenland and the ‘Roots 2 Share’ Photo Project

Abstract

The Roots 2 Share project, a collaboration between two Dutch and two Greenlandic museums, was established to share museum collections and photographs housed in the Netherlands with the Tunumiit people of East Greenland. The Tunumiit regard the collections in the Netherlands as belonging to their cultural heritage, yet the Dutch maintain authority over the collections, leading to imbalanced power relations. This unequal relationship has its basis in museums’ colonial pasts and hinders the sharing and exchange of cultural heritage. As an island, Greenland is often regarded as the periphery in contrast to mainland centres of Denmark. Physical and cultural distance, as well as a power imbalance, prevent the Tunumiit of East Greenland from reconnecting with museum collections containing their own indigenous cultural heritage. The Roots 2 Share project was set up using the internet to overcome this distance, exploring new possibilities and techniques for providing access and giving indigenous communities a voice. New means of open communication, sharing authority, cooperation and exchange, and providing space for alternative stories may facilitate a decolonization of museum collections in island communities.