Repositioning Habitus as Cultural Capital in Sami Museum Collections

Summary

Ethnographic museum collections are frequently presented as regional culture histories, portraying a timeless native past. In the Sámi regions of Finland, institutionalized courses and individuals seek to manufacture of museum objects anew, and exhibit this present revival in concert with the past. The recreated objects are not only shown in their present living contexts but removed from museums and used at local cultural events. These new forms of representation emphasize living use and community memory as a form of cultural capital. Exploring the intersection of Bourdieu’s concepts of cultural capital and habitus, I examine museum spaces and objects in indigenous communities and how they are shifting to reflect new values. In these cases, an emphasis on community memory, local experiences and participation transforms the ways of thinking needed to engage with exhibits and their contents.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Reconstructing Indigenous Practices in Museum Settings: Perspectives and Approaches

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15111